ned in such
perfection the qualities of perfect seamanship, cool but dauntless
courage and skill in fighting.

Of course, no matter how daring our cruisers, they did not always escape
disaster. At the close of the Revolution there had been twenty-four
vessels lost, carrying 470 guns. Several of these met their fate through
shipwreck. Contrast with this the loss of Great Britain, which was 102
war vessels, carrying in all 2,624 guns. The total vessels of all kinds
captured from the English by our cruisers and privateers was about 800.

Captain Jones had made so successful a cruise with the _Ranger_ that he
felt, upon returning to Brest, in France, he was entitled to a better
ship. He wrote to Benjamin Franklin, expressing himself plainly on that
point, and the American commissioner, after several months' delay, had a
ship of 40 guns placed under the command of Jones. Her original name was
the _Duras_, but at Jones's request it was changed to the _Bonhomme
Richard_. This was in compliment to Franklin, who was often called "Poor
Richard" by his admiring countrymen, because for many years he had
published "Poor Richard's Almanac," filled with wise and witty sayings.

This ship was an old Indiaman, in which 42 guns were placed, and the
final number of her crew was 304. The 32-gun frigate _Alliance_, Captain
Landais, was put under the orders of Captain Jones and a third, the
_Pallas_, was bought and armed with thirty guns. A merchant brig and a
cutter were also added to the squadron. It was found very hard to man
these vessels and any other captain than Jones would have given up the
task as an impossible one. It seemed as if about every known nation in
the world was represented and some of the men of the most desperate
character. Maclay says in his "History of the American Navy" that the
muster roll of the _Bonhomme Richard_ showed that the men hailed from
America, France, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland,
England, Spain, India, Norway, Portugal, Fayal and Malasia, while there
were seven Maltese and the knight of the ship's galley was from Africa.
The majority of the officers, however, were American.

[Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.]

This squadron sailed from L'Orient on June 19, 1779. Almost immediately
trouble occurred. Captain Landais, without any show of reason, claimed
that the command, by right of seniority of commission, belonged to him.
On the first night out the _Alliance_ and _Bonhomme R