d to one of our
old cruising grounds, the Isle de Vache, and although our noble captain
had some days before come to a kind of secondhand determination of not
sending boats away from the ship, on a large schooner heaving in sight
towards the evening, I volunteered with the purser, if he would allow us
the two cutters, as the wind had died away, to go after her. He, after a
brown study of about half an hour, granted our request. "But," said he,
"be cautious, and if you find her heavily armed, try to decoy her off
shore, but by no means attempt boarding her. We have suffered too much
already." Having prepared the boats, away we started, and after a most
fatiguing pull, came up with her as she was making for Jacmel. Fortunately
for us, the land-breeze was blowing rather fresh, which obliged her to
make several tacks, and we boarded her whilst in stays. The people on
board appeared astonished to see so many armed men so suddenly on her
deck, as she had in the obscure light taken us for fishing canoes. She
proved a French schooner, laden with bags of coffee. We soon rejoined the
ship, quite elated with our prize, and sent her to Jamaica in charge of
the purser. In the course of this cruise we fell in with two American
sloops of war, which we chased, and as they did not shorten sail nor
answer the private signal, we fired at the nearest; the shot passed
through her cutwater. This event roused the minds and, I presume, the
Yankee blood of both Jonathans, for they bore up, and we could hear their
drums beating to quarters. We shortened sail, and they soon bowled
alongside of us, with their sails spread like the tail of a turkey-cock.
"You have fired into me," said the nearest. "Have I?" said our skipper,
very coolly; "I intended the shot to go ahead of you. You must blame your
superior sailing for the accident. You fore-reached so rapidly that the
shot had not time to go ahead of you." "I don't know anything about that,"
was the reply. "We are American cruisers, and no one has a right, I guess,
to fire into the United States men-of-war." "Then the United States
men-of-war should have answered the private signal and hoisted their
colours," returned our captain, "as we did ours." Here they hailed each
other, and soon afterwards hoisted their colours. Another boat adventure
and the capture of a beautiful small schooner without any accident was the
wind up of this cruise.

We anchored at Port Royal once more. About a week after our