our boat got clear of the quarter of the ship,
a shot struck her right in the middle, and
killed one man and wounded two more; and
it being very dark by this time, and our boat
being very soon full of water, we could not
give any assistance to our shipmates, nor
could we pull back to the prize; so we were
obliged every man to do the best they could
for themselves, and I was once more left in
a bad situation; but, thanks be to God, I
could swim very well, and I seeing a vessel
laying pretty close to me, I swam to her, which
proved to be an American schooner. I hung
on by her cable some time, and the people
being all on deck, I could hear them speak
English; and at last one of them looking over
the bows of the schooner, I spoke to him, and
asked him to let me come on board, and
he gave me a rope's-end, and I soon got
on board. When I first got on board of
her, I was taken aft to the mate, and I told
him how I came there, and he told the captain,
who told me that he would be obliged to take
me on shore in the morning to the Governor;
but ordered some of the men to give me some
dry clothing and something to eat and to
drink; and, in fact, they behaved very well
to me. All this time the ship kept firing at
the boats, and the boats where obliged to
retreat with their one prize; for the forts,
getting alarmed by this time, began to open
fire; but the boats got their ship safe out,
for we could not see anything of her in the
morning. When morning was come, and I
could see what sort of people I had got
amongst, I saw a young man on board of the
schooner that I thought I had seen somewhere;
and, when I came to inquire, I found
that he was an old shipmate of mine, and
fellow-apprentice in the "Joseph and Ann,"
and he was second mate of the schooner, and
his name was James Martin. And, when we
began to know one another, he told the
captain of the schooner that I was a man that
served my time to the sea service; and, the
schooner being short of hands, the captain of
the schooner sent for me, and told me, that,
as I was a young man that served my time
out of Boston—and he had no business to
know what Boston it was, whether it was
Boston in England or America—and if I
had a mind to sign the Articles, he would
put me on the schooner's books, and give
me thirty dollars a month; and he would
take good care no one should know how I
got there. Now you may depend I was
not long considering about what to do;
for, if I had refused to join the schooner, I
should have had to go to a Spanish prison; so
I agreed with the captain of the schooner—
she was called the "Speedy," of Baltimore.
Now, this schooner had brought out a new
Governor, from Cadiz, for the Islands, and she
was going to carry the old one home again, to
any part of Spain or France she might be able
to pitch into; and we laid at Teneriffe for
nearly two months before the Governor was
ready to go, and by this time I got quite
comfortable on board of her. And we sailed in
the latter end of February, 1799, from
Teneriffe. And, after being chased by many
of the English cruisers, for the "Speedy"
sailed remarkably fast, we got into a place
called Cordivan, in France, the entrance of
the Bordeaux River, by the latter part of
March; and we got up to Bordeaux by the
beginning of April. And, after the Governor
was landed, and his things out of the schooner,
and there being no freights for the schooner, the
captain sold her to the French Government,
she being a very fast-sailing vessel. And the
crew, me in number, were paid our wages,
and sent about our business; and me and my
old shipmate, James Martin, went and shipped
on board of a large ship, under Hamburgh
colours, that was taking in a cargo of wine
for Hamburgh; and you may depend that
me and my friend were glad to go somewhere,
for it was dangerous to be ashore;
for, if the police knew that you was a sailor,
and not belonging to any ship, they took
you and sent you on board of one of their
frigates; but, thanks be to God, we kept
ourselves clear of them; and, by the latter
part of April, our ship being loaded, we sailed
from the town of Bordeaux, and we got clear
of the river by the beginning of May. And,
after being at sea some days, our captain
called all the men aft, and told them that
he was not bound to Hamburgh, but that
he expected to go to London, but that his
orders were to go to the Island of Guernsey
and wait for orders; and, after a long and
tiresome passage, we arrived at Guernsey in
the middle part of June. And me and my
old shipmate, knowing well enough that if the
ship went to London we should be pressed,
and having such a great dread of an English
man-of-war, on account of the usage I had
received, we went to our master, who was a
very good man, and asked him for our
discharge from the ship; and, after telling him
our reason for doing so, he gave it to us, and
paid us our wages; and ashore we went at
Guernsey. And, after staying ashore three
or four days, me and my shipmate joined a
privateer, called the "Blue-Eyed Maid of
Guernsey."

Our vessel was lugger-rigged, and mounted
sixteen guns; and we carried one hundred
and twenty men, with six months' protection
from the press; and, thanks be to God, we
were very lucky in her, for we took a great
many prizes and recaptures—the lugger being
a very fast-sailing vessel; and me and my
partner stopped in her till the year 1801.
When peace came, we were paid off, and
I had about three hundred and fifty pounds
wages and prize-money altogether; and me
and my friend went from Guernsey to
London, intending to go to Boston, where
we had served our time, and to see our old
friends. But this is the way of the world,
for men appoints, and the Almighty disap-