ow on his ship's bottom, and he took good care to keep that of
the _Tiger_ pretty clean. Those were stirring times. England was
engaged in a fierce war, both by sea and by land, with the larger
proportion of the civilised nations in the world, and it was more easy
to find an enemy than a friend wherever we sailed. I cannot say that we
had any complaint to make with that state of things, as we came off
generally the victors, and made lots of prize-money. The more of the
latter we got the more we wanted, and we spent it as lavishly as if
there would be no end of it. We had taken several prizes, when we
received notice that a large French privateer was in those seas,
committing a good deal of havoc among our merchantmen. It is said that
everything is fair in love and war--in war, it may be the case; in love,
nothing is fair that is not straightforward and honourable. Our captain
considered that stratagem in war was, at all events, allowable, and he
used to disguise the frigate in so wonderful a way, that even we
ourselves, at a little distance, should not have known her. By this
means many an unwary craft fell into our clutches. One day we lay
becalmed, with our seemingly black and worn sails hanging against the
masts, our ports concealed by canvas, painted to represent the
weather-beaten sides of a big merchantman, our yards untrimmed, and all
our rigging slack. At length a breeze was seen coming towards us,
bringing up a large ship. When the stranger was within a couple of
miles the wind fell. We were soon convinced that our trap was well
baited, for we saw the stranger lower three boats, which came rapidly
towards us. We, in the meantime, lowered three others, well armed and
ready at a moment's notice to pull off in chase, when the enemy should
discover his mistake. Not, however, till the Frenchmen were close up to
us, did they find out that we were not what we appeared. We saw by
their gestures of astonishment that they suspected all was not right.
Before, however, they had time to pull round, our boats were after them.
I was in one of them. We were alongside in two minutes--they attempted
to defend themselves; they had better have been quiet; a few were
knocked overboard and hauled in by our fellows, and all three boats were
taken. We found that we had got the captain and second and third
officers of the stranger among our prisoners, and that she was the
privateer of which we were in search. The French