d well
acquainted with the harbor, for he had sailed a voyage out of Boston,
it would have been easy for him to slip quietly over the bow and swim
to the shore, where, it is possible, he might have escaped the fearful
punishment that awaited him for his crimes. But he made no effort
to escape, and was now conducted below by the mate, handcuffed, and
confined to his quarters in the half-deck.

We had no sooner anchored off Long Wharf than Captain Allen went ashore,
and in about an hour the United States Marshal, accompanied by a posse
with handcuffs and shackles, came on board and demanded the prisoner.
Petersen was brought on deck and delivered into his hands. But his
countenance had undergone an appalling change within a few hours. He
seemed suddenly to have realized the horrors of his situation. His
features were pale, and his eye seemed glazed with fear as he looked
upon the officers of justice, and, trembling in every limb, was assisted
into the boat. A sense of his guilt, and the terrible consequences, now
seemed to weigh upon his spirits. The penalty exacted by the laws for
the crimes of piracy and murder stared him in the face.

We arrived in Boston on the 24th of October, 1817, having been
fifty-four days on our passage from Gottenburg. I had not accumulated
treasures during my wanderings, but I had improved my constitution,
acquired a habit of resignation and cheerfulness which bade defiance to
the freaks of fortune, gained some knowledge of the world, and rejoiced
in robust health, one of the greatest of earthly blessings, and which as
often cheers and enlightens the condition of the poor man, as his more
fortunate fellow-mortal rolling in riches.

When paid off, I found myself in possession of means to rig myself out
in decent apparel, and provide myself with other exterior appurtenances
of a gentleman; and also to defray my expenses on a visit to my
relations in New Hampshire, from whom I had so long been separated, and
whom I longed to convince by tangible proofs that I was still in the
land of the living. And thus I returned from my wanderings after
an absence of nearly seven years, during which I had witnessed many
eventful scenes, and had studied the page of human nature in various
climes.

Notwithstanding my occasional hard fortune at sea, a seafaring life
still possessed many powerful attractions. I was bound to it by a charm
which I did not attempt to break. Besides, I had put my hand to the
plou