ore, there was no chance of our being
ready for sea under two or three months. The _Joan d' Arc_ schooner
privateer was still lying there, but had not been fitted out for want of
men; and the admiral proposed to O'Brien that he should man her with a
part of his ship's company, and send one of his lieutenants out to
cruise in her. This was gladly assented to by O'Brien, who came on board
and asked me whether I should like to have her, which I agreed to, as I
was quite tired of Barbadoes and fried flying fish.

I selected two midshipmen, Swinburne, and twenty men, and having taken
on board provisions and water for three months, I received my written
instructions from O'Brien, and made sail. We soon discovered that the
masts which the American had sold to the schooner, were much too large
for her; she was considerably overmasted, and we were obliged to be very
careful. I stood for Trinidad, off which island was to be my cruising
ground, and in three weeks had recaptured three West Indiamen, when I
found myself so short of hands, that I was obliged to return to
Barbadoes. I had put four hands into the first vessel, which, with the
Englishmen, prisoners, were sufficient, and, three hands into the two
others; but I was very much embarrassed with my prisoners, who amounted
to nearly double my ship's company remaining on board. Both the
midshipmen I had sent away, and I consulted with Swinburne as to what
was best to be done.

"Why, the fact is, Mr Simple, Captain O'Brien ought to have given us
more hands; twenty men are little enough for a vessel with a boom
mainsail like the one we have here; and now we have only ten left; but I
suppose he did not expect us to be so lucky, and it's true enough that
he has plenty of work for the ship's company, now that he has to turn
everything in afresh. As for the prisoners, I think we had better run
close in, and give them two of our boats to take them on shore. At all
events, we must be rid of them, and not be obliged to have one eye
aloft, and the other down the hatchway, as we must now."

This advice corresponded with my own ideas, and I ran in-shore, gave
them the stern boat, and one of the larger ones, which held them all,
and sent them away, leaving only one boat for the schooner, which we
hoisted up in the star-board chess-tree. It fell a dead calm as we sent
away the prisoners; we saw them land and disappear over the rocks, and
thought ourselves well rid of them, as they were twe