nted with heavy
guns, and if these were brought to bear upon the "George Washington,"
she would certainly be blown to pieces without much chance of defending
herself; and, moreover, such a conflict would surely bring about a war
with Algiers, and it was not at all desirable that an American officer,
bound upon friendly business, should provoke war between his country and
another.

This reason was a very bitter dose for Captain Bainbridge; but after
consideration he found himself obliged to take it. If he refused, there
would be a United States ship the less; and he knew not how many
American ships, now sailing without fear upon the Mediterranean, might
be seized and burned, and their crews thrown into horrible slavery. He
had no right to precipitate anything of this sort, and consequently,
under protest, he agreed to take the Algerine ambassador to
Constantinople. But this was not all the high-minded Dey demanded. He
insisted that when the "George Washington" sailed out of the harbor, she
should sail, not as a United States vessel, but as a ship of Algiers,
and that she should carry on the mainmast, where generally floated the
stars and stripes, the Algerine flag, while he kindly consented that the
flag of her own country might float from the foremast. It was as
difficult to refuse this second demand as it was the first, and so the
"George Washington" went out of Algiers with the pirate's flag proudly
floating from its mainmast.

As soon as he got out of sight of land, Bainbridge hauled down the
Algerine flag and put up his own; but this was a very small satisfaction
and not particularly honorable.

When the "George Washington" reached Constantinople, she created a
sensation. Never before in the waters of the Golden Horn had the stars
and stripes been seen, and the people of the city could not imagine
where this strange ship came from. Some of these people had heard of
America and the United States, but they knew of it only in a vague and
misty way, very much as we understand some parts of the interior of
China. If Captain Bainbridge had told them he was from New Jersey, he
might as well have told them he came from the moon.

But the Americans were very well received in Constantinople, and the
officers of the government were glad to welcome them and do them honor.
Captain Bainbridge and the Turkish admiral became very good friends; and
when the latter heard how the former had been treated at Algiers, he
condemned t