CHAPTER V.

Cruising up the Mediterranean.

AFTER lying at Gibraltar a short time to refit and refresh, and exchanging spruce-beer for wine, we had the admiral's orders to proceed up the Mediterranean, as several French privateers, from their fast sailing, escaped our cruisers and greatly annoyed the Leghorn and Smyrna trade. This was exactly to all our wishes.

We sailed with a roving commission, but met with nothing in our passage to Leghorn, where we put in for intelligence: we made a short stay, procured better wines, with abundance of fresh stores, and then proceeded to sea, eager to fall in with some of the rich French Levanters.

It would be tiresome and useless to give a regular detail of the ship's various courses and the ports which we visited for a few hours or days, as it happened, in the course of three separate long cruises which we fitted out for. Sicily, Smyrna, Zant, Cyprus, Alexandria, and St. Jean d'Acre, we repeatedly visited; the little island of Lampadocia, likewise, served extremely well to lie by in.

Upon the whole, we were fortunate enough to pick up several French polacres; some valuable, others only worth ransoming for what little sum the captains or super-cargoes of them would agree to.

Such circumstances as appear worth relating, during more than sixteen months cruising in almost every part of the Mediterranean, I insert here, though not at all connected in point of time.

We had but one smart skirmish in all the three cruises; this was with a privateer, off Cape Bona. She sailed incomparably well, beat us in light airs, and rather out-rowed us with her sweeps in a calm; our boats were therefore all manued to board her, and we must have had a tight contest, had it not been for a breeze springing up when we were nearly within hail, while she was firing from her stern chasers, swivels, and small arms. Finding that she drew from us, and our ship catching the breeze, we returned on board; and, the wind freshening, at last began to overhaul her, and, after several hours chace, from day-light until evening, captured her just before she could reach Malta, whither she was flying for refuge.

At another time, we had a narrow escape. Having laid the ship to, most of the night, at break of day three vessels were discovered about a league to leeward, but at some distance apart

from each other. We bore down on the largest, in the centre, who edging away considerably from the course she was first steering, and the other two ships continuing under the same easy sail, we concluded her to be a Frenchman, and a prize of course: but, day-light opening fast, we discovered she had a double row of teeth; and, the headmost ship then tacking, we deemed it prudent to haul our wind and make out what they were, before we proceeded to farther inti

macy.

We were not long in suspense: having fired a gun to leeward and hoisted our English colours, our salute was returned, and all three displayed the white flag. Signals, also, passed between them, which showed they were in company. Putting the best face upon things, we fired a shot in defiance; and, making all possible speed, they immediately crowded sail after us. They consisted of two frigates and a fifty-gun ship: one of the frigates kept our way, and we doubted whether she could not have come up with us; but, as her companions dropped fast a-stern, she seemed a little bashful.

Having increased our distance sufficiently from the others, we bantered our neighbour by firing a gun and hoisting a small coil of rope at our mizen peak, signifying we would give him a tow, and soon after shortened sail, to let him run up along side if he chose it; when, finding we

were so very civil, he hove to, as if to wait for farther instructions from his commodore, and we proceeded on our cruise.

We were also hummed out of a small prize, by the master of a polacre, who declared he had the plague on board and earnestly requested us to take him and the Frenchmen out of his vessel, and give her up to several Turks he had on board, passengers from Alexandria to Constantinople. An officer, however, was sent on board to examine cautiously. I suppose he was over cautious: his report confirmed the Frenchman's assertion, and we declined farther intercourse with him.

He was met with by the Fame, privateer, a few days after, who, not being so credulous, captured and brought him into Zante while we were lying there.

CHAPTER VI.

In love, masquerades, the plague and consequences, dispute with the Turkish Bashaw at St. Jean d'Acre, and with the French ships there.

Ar Leghorn, during the Carnival season, I became intimate with a youth about my own

age, whose father and mother were french, but settled long enough at Leghorn to make my friend and his sister Italians. He was very desirous of making a short trip to sea, and I obtained permission of Captain R--to indulge him with a cruise; but a master of one of our prizes, proving to be a relation of his father's, dissuaded him from his project.

On our return to Leghorn, in the richest prize we had taken, under Lieutenant Lindsay, as prize master, I was continually solicited by his family to be there as often as I could obtain permission to go on shore; nor did I require much pressing, for his sister was more beautiful than language can express. She was constantly challenging me to dance or teach her English: I was soon over head and ears in love, and Signora did not appear much behind hand.

What the old people could contemplate by encouraging our being so much together, I never could discover, unless their object was to make me a convert to the Roman Catholic religion. I honestly confess, had they not taken the measures which they did, my passion then, was so strong for the beautiful object, that they, or rather ma belle Signora might have moulded me into any form.

We were both very young and very foolish ; but, as we grew older, our wisdom increased. She possessed a noble, bold, commanding, coun