coast. He soon determined to put to
sea on an adventure of spirit. On April 10, 1778, he sailed from Brest
on a cruise in British waters. Directing his course to the haunts of
his youth, he captured a brigantine off Cape Clear, and a London ship
in the Irish Channel; planned various bold adventures on the Irish
coast, which he was not able to carry out from adverse influences of
wind and tide, but well-nigh succeeded in burning a large fleet of
merchantmen in the docks of Whitehaven. In this last adventure, he
made a landing at night, and advanced to the capture of the
town-batteries, leaving his officers to fire the ships, of which there
were about two hundred in the port. His orders were not obeyed, either
from insufficient preparations or the relenting of his agents, when he
himself set fire to one of the largest of the vessels. It was now day,
and the people were warned by a deserter from his force, but Jones
managed to hold the whole town at bay till he made good his retreat.
This daring affair was an impromptu of Jones's genius, justified in
his view by similar depredations of the British on the American coast;
but it had an ugly look of ingratitude to the place which had
sheltered his youth, and first given him promotion in the world.

Nor was this all. He immediately crossed to his native shore of
Scotland, with the intention of seizing the Earl of Selkirk, at his
seat on the promontory of St. Mary's Isle, on the Solway, near
Kirkcudbright. Landing at the spot he ascertained that the earl was
from home. Disappointed in his object, he would have returned, when
the officers in his boat insisted upon a demand for the family plate.
Jones demurred, but yielded with the proviso that the thing was to be
done in the most delicate manner possible. His lieutenant, Simpson,
undertook the business, and introduced himself to Lady Selkirk, who
was, conveniently enough for his purposes, engaged at breakfast. She
had at first taken the party for a press-gang, and had offered them
refreshments; on being informed of the nature of their visit, their
request, backed by the armed crew at the door, was complied with.

It is said that Jones apologized personally to Lady Selkirk, and we
shall presently find him, at the first interval of leisure, taking
measures to repair the act. For the moment, however, he had more
serious work on hand. In his upward voyage along the Irish coast, he
had looked into Belfast Lough, after his Majesty's