less than acknowledging that they were not a match for one American frigate, but that they were pretty well assured they would be able to capture us with the assistance of one of their line of battle ships.

After this circumstance comes to be made public, I hope we shall hear no more braggadocio boastings from Englishmen: such as that of one Englishman being able to beat two Yankees, or that one frigate of 36 guns, officered and manned with full-blooded Englishmen was able and could with ease capture two American frigates in consort, each of 36 guns, and officered and manned with fullblooded Yankees.* These, and the like expressions were quite frequent with them when I was a prisoner among them, both at sea and on shore. The English ship of the line by this time finding we outsailed her took in her steering sails and hauled upon a wind towards the English shore, and we soon lost sight of her. We cruised several days between Ushant and the land's end of England, during which time we met with nothing but neutral ships and small vessels. We afterwards shaped our course and steered for Cape Finester.

There is one circumstance which I had forgot to mention which is this: During our cruise in the Good Man Richard we had captured several prizes, in consequence of which Captain Jones's officers and crew while we lay at the Texel, thought they had a right to some small advance in money on account of their prize money; particularly the first, who had lost all their clothes in the late action. Captain Jones was petitioned on this account by both officers and men repeatedly, as their wants had become very urgent on account of the severe cold weather; and it appeared to us all to be cruel to oblige us to go to sea in our then almost naked situation. Jones

*I often hear Englishmen make such kind of bombastic expressions in the United States, who on my merely mentioning in their hearing the battle between the Good Man Richard and the Serapis will shut their mouths and walk off humming for some time to themselves as though they did not hear me.

made fair promises from time to time; and at length a few days before we sailed from the Texel we were informed that there was a large sum of money sent on board of our ship from the American agent at Amsterdam; and that it was to be distributed among the officers, men and boys belonging to, or who did belong to the Good Man Richard, but when it came to be divided the officers received only about five ducats apiece, without having any regard to rank, and the sailors, marines, boys, &c., one ducat each (not far from half a guinea). We were all very much disappointed, but particularly the sailors, some of whom, as soon as they had received each a ducat in a fit of rage, threw them as far as they could from the ship into the sea. Who was to blame I know not; neither do I know how much money was sent on board of our ship at this time. However. it was said, and believed by most of Captain Jones's officers, that he had reserved the greater part of this money for himself.

In a few days after this affair, shaping our course for Cape Finester we made the land and the third day after our arrival here we took two prizes laden with powder, lead, &c., which we manned and ordered them both to the United States. And after cruising here several days longer, being in want of water and fresh provisions we put into Caronia,* in Spain. While we lay here numbers of the Spaniards came on board to see us and our ship. Among them were some of the Spanish nobility, who, when they arrived on board, took much pains to let us know they were of that order by showing our officers as they came upon our quarterdeck their finger nails, which were remarkably long and clean; in consequence of which they expected a great deal of attention paid to them while they remained on board. This port is a very remarkably good one for large ships; the harbour is large, and vessels may here ride at anchor with safety, it being entirely land-locked. It lies in latitude

*Corunna.

37.30 north, and in longitude 5.35 west. The town is pretty large and built mostly of white hewn stone; the dwelling-houses are from three to five stories high; the land which encompasses the harbour is also very high.

We lay at this place about a fortnight, got what provisions and other necessaries which we stood in need of, and then Captain Jones ordered the frigate to be got under way; but the sailors refused to assist and declared that they would not do their duty, nor go to sea again without first having received part of their wages then due, or some part of their prize money, which last they said ought to have been paid to them long since, as Captain Jones had promised them before we left the Texel, upon his honour and credit that he would go direct from that place to L'Orient in France, where they should soon after our arrival have their prize money paid them; but contrary to his promise he had cruised several weeks at sea without attempting to get into that port. Jones now used every kind of persuasion to the sailors in order to get them willing to go to their duty, but all to no purpose. They remained inflexible, and appeared to adhere to their determination of not going to sea again without money. He then urged his officers to try their endeavours to prevail upon the sailors to do their duty; who at length succeeded by fair promises, &c., with a part of them to get the ship under way. Jones here declared again in the presence of his officers and crew, and pledged his word and honour, that as soon as his ship was clear of the land, she should make the best of her way to L'Orient, the wind being favourable to steer for that port, where he said he wished to arrive as soon as possible. The ship had now got under way and stood out for sea. We had got but a few miles from the land before Jones had his officers convened in the great cabin, where after a short and pertinent harangue, he told them his intentions were to cruise at sea about twenty days before he should proceed to L'Orient

and says he, with a kind of contemptuous smile, which he was much addicted to: 'Gentlemen, you cannot conceive what an additional honour it will be to us all, if in cruising a few days we should have the good luck to fall in with an English frigate of our force, and carry her in with us;' and added 'this would crown our former victories, and our names, in consequence thereof would be handed down to the latest posterity, by some faithful historian of our country.'* We told him we had no objections to cruising a few days longer, had we but clothes to shift ourselves, as he well knew that we had lost all our wearing apparel in the late action excepting what we then had on; that it was the winter season and that he must be sensible we were not in a situation to remain upon deck and do our duty. In fine, we assured him (all being agreed) that in our present disagreeable circumstances we could not think of cruising any longer; and one of Captain Jones's lieutenants added, that his crew were then in a state bordering upon mutiny, and that in his belief we should hazard our own lives by such a procedure.t1 'Well then,' says Jones, 'I mean to cruise as long as I please. I do not want your advice, neither did I send for you to comply with your denial, but only by way of paying you a compliment which is more than you deserve, by your opposition. Therefore you know my mind. Go to your duty, each one of you, and let me hear no more grumbling.' He said this in a rage, and with a stamp of the foot, and bade us get out of his sight. We obeyed these absolute commands, and the Alliance continued to cruise seventeen days longer, during which time we saw an English frigate, and came so near her that we saw plainly she was a 32 gun ship, but our crew swore they would not fight, although if we had been united we might have taken her

* Jones had a wonderful notion of his name being handed down to posterity.

† Our crew at this time were certainly ripe for a revolt.

'That the loss of the Chesapeake was due in part to refusal of payment of prize money, is matter of history.—[ED.]

with a great deal of ease. This being known to Captain Jones, our courses were dropped, and we in our turn ran from her, and made all the sail we could, by his orders. All this time he appeared much agitated, and bit his lips often, and walked the quarterdeck muttering something to himself. Night set in, and we lost sight of the frigate who was in chase of us. Three days after, we arrived safe in the port of L'Orient, came to anchor and moored ship. Here we found the Serapis with several of our prizes; this was in February. Soon after we had orders from the American minister at Paris, to get the Alliance ready for sea again with all possible dispatch in order to carry the public dispatches (or mail) to America. During the last cruise in the Alliance Captain Jones's officers who had belonged to the Good Man Richard, and captain L-'s' officers often had high words and squabbles with each other in the ward-room (as I before observed we had two sets of officers on board of the Alliance). Their quarrels were so frequent that they would sometimes challenge one another, all on account of the cowardice of Captain L― during the late battle. His officers, or those who had served under him, maintained that Lbrave a man and had been as often proved as Captain Jones. The officers of the latter as strenuously maintained quite the reverse of this; so that our ward-room during the last cruise exhibited nothing but wrangling, jangling and a scene of discord among our superior officers.

was as

We that had belonged to the Good Man Richard until she was lost, now applied to a Mr. Moylan, the American agent here, and who appeared to be the agent in fitting her out from this port prior to her last cruise. I say, we made application to him for our prize money, who declared to us that he had nothing to do with our prize money, and that we must apply to the board of war in America for it. In consequence of this, a number of Americans became beggars in a