d described the sensations of
the echoes that had the honor of bearing, "for the first time in the
history of the world," the sounds of Yankee guns among the startled
islands of the Pacific. But the bards were wrong. The echoes performed
that office during the first administration of George Washington as
President of the United States.

The incident is one which apparently has escaped the notice of historians,
else it would have been recalled shortly before the close of last year
when political circles in France were somewhat fluttered by a rumor that
as a result of a series of secret negotiations the French government had
expressed its willingness to sell to the United States the island of
Tahiti.

The rumor was soon denied officially, but in the meantime thousands of
Americans had taken down their atlases, looked up the situation of the
island, and asked themselves what the United States wanted with it anyway.

But there was a little story concerning the island of Tahiti, formerly
known as Otaheite, that the atlases and gazetteers did not give them--the
story of a Yankee skipper's revenge. It tells how American guns commanded
respect for the flag in the South Seas in the year 1790.

The Yankee skipper was Captain Metcalfe, who then was in command of an
armed trading vessel named the Elinora. The Elinora was a snow--which, it
may be worth while to explain, was an old-fashioned variety of brig. Her
crew consisted of Americans, Portuguese, and some natives picked up at
Manila. The account of the remarkable adventure is printed in _The
Gentleman's Magazine_, published in London, April, 1791. The writer, who
was one of the officers of the Elinora at the time, relates his story with
brutal frankness, and his narration resulted in a vast deal of comment
abroad that was somewhat galling to the citizens of the new-born republic
of the United States.

The account, as published in _The Gentleman's Magazine_, is as follows:

Story Told by an Officer.

Mobee, Lat. 19 N., Long. 168 E.

On or about the 30th of January, 1790, we anchored under
Ladrone Mount, and commenced a trade with the natives for
hogs, fruit, limes, fish, etc.; but not liking the
situation, we weighed anchor and went two miles farther up
into a bay, and came to anchor about 4 P.M.

At eleven or twelve o'clock, midnight, some of the natives
swam off and cut away the cutter from astern. At 1 P.M. we
discovered th