that
to lead them into action would have been imprudent, Morris abandoned
the pursuit, and, putting into the Penobscot, dropped anchor off
Hampden. Here, for the present, we will leave the "Adams."

The "Peacock"--a second of the new sloops-of-war, bearing the name of
a captured British vessel--put out from New York in March, and made
her way to the southward, selecting as her cruising station the waters
off the coast of Florida. For some time it seemed that the exertions
of the sailors were to be of no avail. Not a sail was to be seen, and
the chances for prize-money seemed to be small indeed. But on the 29th
of March three merchant-vessels were made out in the offing; while a
heavy-built, square-rigged, trim-looking craft that hovered about them
was evidently a man-of-war. The strangers seemed to have sighted the
American vessel; for the merchantmen were seen to hastily haul up and
run off to the north-east, while the man-of-war edged away for the
American ship.

The stranger was His British Majesty's brig sloop-of-war "Epervier,"
of eighteen guns, and carrying a crew of one hundred and twenty-eight
men. The "Peacock" was a ship-sloop of twenty-two guns, with a crew of
one hundred and sixty-six men. The advantage, therefore, lay with the
Americans; but, in the battle that ensued, the damage they inflicted
upon the enemy was out of any proportion to their excess of strength.

The two ships bore down gallantly upon each other, and at a little
after ten in the morning passed, exchanging heavy broadsides. The shot
of each took effect in the rigging; but the "Peacock" suffered the
more, having her foreyard totally disabled,--an injury that compelled
her to run large during the rest of the action, and forego all
attempts at manoeuvring. The two vessels having passed each other, the
"Epervier" eased off, and returned to the fight, running on a parallel
course with the American ship. The interchange of broadsides then
became very rapid; but the British marksmanship was poor, and few of
their shot took effect. The "Epervier," on the contrary, suffered
severely from the American fire, which took effect in her hull,
dismounting several guns, and so injuring the brig that a British
naval officer, writing of the action some years later, said, "The most
disgraceful part of the affair was that our ship was cut to pieces,
and the enemy hardly scratched."

The injury aloft which both vessels sustained caused the battle to
take on