, was so peculiarly barbarous and
repellent.

On board the _Guerriere_ was Captain William B. Orne, of the Salem
merchant brig _Betsy_, which had been taken as a prize. His story of the
combat is not widely known and seems worth quoting in part:

At two P.M. we discovered a large sail to windward bearing about
north from us. We soon made her out to be a frigate. She was
steering off from the wind, with her head to the southwest,
evidently with the intention of cutting us off as soon as possible.
Signals were soon made by the _Guerriere_, but as they were not
answered the conclusion was, of course, that she was either a
French or American frigate. Captain Dacres appeared anxious to
ascertain her character and after looking at her for that purpose,
handed me his spyglass, requesting me to give him my opinion of the
stranger. I soon saw from the peculiarity of her sails and from her
general appearance that she was, without doubt, an American
frigate, and communicated the same to Captain Dacres. He
immediately replied that he thought she came down too boldly for an
American, but soon after added, "The better he behaves, the more
honor we shall gain by taking him."

When the strange frigate came down to within two or three miles'
distance, he hauled upon the wind, took in all his light sails,
reefed his topsails, and deliberately prepared for action. It was
now about five o'clock in the afternoon when he filled away and ran
down for the _Guerriere_. At this moment Captain Dacres politely
said to me: "Captain Orne, as I suppose you do not wish to fight
against your own countrymen, you are at liberty to go below the
water-line." It was not long after this before I retired from the
quarter-deck to the cock-pit; of course I saw no more of the action
until the firing ceased, but I heard and felt much of its effects;
for soon after I left the deck the firing commenced on board the
_Guerriere_, and was kept up almost incessantly until about six
o'clock when I heard a tremendous explosion from the opposing
frigate. The effect of her shot seemed to make the _Guerriere_ reel
and tremble as though she had received the shock of an earthquake.

Immediately after this, I heard a tremendous crash on deck and was
told that the mizzen-mast was shot away. In a few moments
afte