ed with the coast, and was ordered to join me again before night. I approached the shore in the afternoon, but the Cerf did not appear; this induced me to stand off again in the night in order to return and be rejoined by the Cerf the next day; but to my great concern and disappointment, though I ranged the coast along and hoisted our private signals, neither the boats nor the Cerf joined me. The evening of that day, the 26th, brought with it stormy weather, with an appearance of a severe gale from the S. W., yet I must declare I did not follow my own judgment, but was led by the assertion which had fallen from Captain Lapdais, when I in the evening made a signal to steer to the northward and leave that station, which I wished to have occupied at least a week longer. The gale increased in the night with thick weather; to prevent separation, I carried a top light and fired a gun every quarter of an hour. I carried, also, a very moderate sail, and the course had been clearly pointed out by a signal before night; yet with all this precaution, I found myself accompanied only by the brigantine Vengeance in the morning, the Granville having remained astern with a prize; as I have since understood the tiller of the Pallas broke after midnight, which disabled her from keeping up, but no apology has yet been made in behalf of the Alliance.

On the 31st, we saw the Flamie Islands situated near the Lewis, on the N. W. coast of Scotland; and the next morning, off Cape Wrath, we gave chase to a ship to windward, at the same time two ships appearing in the N. W. quarter, which proved to be the Alliance and a prize ship which she had taken, bound, as I understood, from Liverpool to Jamaica. The ship which I chased brought too at noon ; she proved to be the Union letter of Marque, bound from London for Quebec, with a cargo of naval stores on account of government, adapted for the service of the British armed vessels on the lakes. The public despatches were lost, as the Alliance very imprudently hoisted American colors, though English colors were then flying on board the Bon homme Richard. Captain Landais sent a small boat to ask whether I would man the ship or he should, as in the latter case he would suffer no boat nor person from the Bon homme Richard to go near the prize. Ridiculous as this appeared to me, I yielded to it for the sake of peace, and received the prisoners on board the Bon

homme Richard, while the prize'was manned from the Alliance. In the afternoon another sail appeared, and I immediately made the signal for the Alliance to chase; but instead of obeying, he wore and laid the ship's head the other way. The next morning I made a signal to speak with the Alliance, to which no attention was shown; I then made sail with the ships in company, for the second rendezvous, which was not far distant, and where I fully expected to be joined by the Pallas and the Cerf.

The second of September we saw a sail at daybreak, and gave chase; that ship proved to be the Pallas, and had met with no success while separated from the Bon homme Richard.

On the 3d the Vengeance brought too a small Irish brigantine, bound homeward from Norway. The same evening I sent the Vengeance in the N. E. quarter to bring up the two prize ships that appeared to me to be too near the islands of Shetland. While with the Alliance and Pallas, I endeavoured to weather Fair Isle, and to get into my second rendezvous, where I directed the Vengeance to join me with the three prizes. The next morning, having weathered Fair Isle, and not seeing the Vengeance nor the prizes, I spoke the Alliance and ordered her to steer to the northward and bring them up to the rendezvous.

On the morning of the 4th the Alliance appeared again, and had brought too two very small coasting sloops in ballast, but without having attended properly to my orders of yesterday. The Vengeance joined me soon after, and informed me that in consequence of Captain Landais' orders to the commanders of the two prize ships, they had refused to follow him to the rendezvous. I am to this moment ignorant of what orders these men received from Captain Landais, nor know I by virtue of what authority he ventured to give his orders to prizes in my presence and without either my knowledge or approbation. Captain Ricot further informed me that he had burnt the prize brigantine, because that vessel proved leaky; and I was sorry to understand afterward that though the vessel was Irish property, the cargo was property of the subjects of Norway.

In the evening I sent for all the captains to come on board the Bon homme Richard, to consult on future plans of operation. Captains Cottineau and Ricot obeyed me, but Captain Landais obstinately refused, and after sending me vari

ous uncivil messages, wrote me a very extraordinary letter in answer to a written order, which I had sent him, on finding that he had trifled with my verbal orders. The next day a pilot boat came on board from Shetland, by which means I received such advices as induced me to change a plan which I otherwise meant to have pursued; and as the Cerf did not appear at my second rendezvous, I determined to steer towards the third in hopes of meeting her there.

In the afternoon a gale of wind came on, which continued four days without intermission. In the second night of that gale, the Alliance, with her two little prizes, again separated from the Bon homme Richard. I had now with me only the Pallas and the Vengeance, yet I did not abandon the hopes of performing some essential service. The winds continued contrary, so that we did not see the land till the evening of the 13th, when the hills of the Cheviot in the S. E. of Scotland appeared. The next day we chased sundry vessels and took a ship and a brigantine, both from the Firth of Edinburgh, laden with coal. Knowing that there lay at anchor in Leith road an armed ship of 20 guns, with two or three fine cutters, I formed an expedition against Leith, which I purposed to lay under a large contribution, or otherwise to reduce it to ashes. Had I been alone, the wind being favorable, I would have proceeded directly up the Firth, and must have succeeded as they lay there in a state of perfect indolence and security, which would have proved their ruin. Unfortunately for me, the Pallas and Vengeance were both at a considerable distance in the offing; they having chased to the southward; this obliged us to steer out of the Firth again to meet them. The Captains of the Pallas and Vengeance being come on board the Bon homme Richard, I communicated to them my project, to which many difficulties and objections were made by them; at last, however, they appeared to think better of the design after I had assured them that I hoped to raise a contribution of 200,000 pounds sterling on Leith, and that there was no battery of cannon there to oppose our landing. So much time, however, was unavoidably spent in pointed remarks and sage deliberation that night, that the wind became contrary in the morning.

We continued working to windward up the Firth without being able to reach the road of Leith, till on the morning of the 17th, when being almost within cannon shot of the

town, having every thing in readiness for a descent, a very severe gale of wind came on, and being directly contrary, obliged us to bear away, after having in vain endeavoured for some time to withstand its violence. The gale was so severe, that one of the prizes that had been taken on the 14th sunk to the bottom, the crew being with difficulty saved. As the alarm by this time had reached Leith by means of a cutter that had watched our motions that morning, and as the wind continued contrary, (though more moderate in the evening) I thought it impossible to pursue the enterprise with a good prospect of success; especially as Edinburg, where there is always a number of troops, is only a mile distant from Leith, therefore I gave up the project.

On the 19th, having taken a sloop and a brigantine in ballast, with a sloop laden with building timber, I proposed another project to Mr. Cottineau, which would have been highly honorable though not profitable; many difficulties were made, and our situation was represented as being the most perilous. The enemy, he said, would send against us a superior force, and that if I obstinately continued on the coast of England two days longer, we should all be taken. The Vengeance having chased along shore to the southward, Captain Cottineau said he would follow her with the prizes, as I was unable to make much sail, having that day been obliged to strike the main-top-mast to repair damages; and as I afterward understood, he told M. De Chamillard that unless I joined them the next day, both the Pallas and the Vengeance would leave that coast. I had thoughts of attempting the enterprise alone after the Pallas had made sail to join the Vengeance. I am persuaded even now, that I would have succeeded, and to the honor of my young officers, I found them as ardently disposed to the business as I could desire; nothing prevented me from pursuing my design but the reproach that would have been cast upon my character, as a man of prudence, had the enterprise miscarried. It would have been said, was he not forewarned by Captain Cottineau and others?

I made sail along shore to the southward, and next morning took a coasting sloop in ballast, which with another that I had taken the night before, I ordered to be sunk. In the evening, I again met with the Pallas and Vengeance off Whitby. Captain Cottineau told me he had sunk the brigantine, and ransomed the sloop, laden with building tim

ber that had been taken the day before. I had told Captain Cottineau the day before, that I had no authority to ransom prizes.

On the 21st we saw and chased two sail, off Flamborough Head, the Pallas in the N. E. quarter, while the Bon homme Richard followed by the Vengeance in the S. W. the one I chased, a brigantine collier in ballast belonging to Scarborough was soon taken, and sunk immediately afterward, as a fleet then appeared to the southward: it was so late in the day that I could not come up with the fleet before night, at length, however, I got so near one of them, as to force her to run ashore, between Flamborough Head and the Spurn. Soon after I took another, a brigantine from Holland belonging to Sunderland; and at daylight the next morning, seeing a fleet steering towards me from the Spurn, I imagined them to be a convoy, bound from London for Leith, which had been for some time expected, one of them had a pendant hoisted, and appeared to be a ship of force, they had not, however, courage to come on, but kept back, all except the one which seemed to be armed, and that one also kept to windward very near the land, and on the edge of dangerous shoals where I could not with safety approach. This induced me to make a signal for a pilot, and soon afterward two pilot boats came off; they informed me that the ship that wore a pendant was an armed merchant ship, and that a king's frigate lay there in sight, at anchor within the Humber, waiting to take under convoy a number of merchant ships bound to the northward. The pilots imagined the Bon homme Richard to be an English ship of war, and consequently, communicated to me the private signal which they had been required to make. I endeavoured by this means to decoy the ships out of the port, but the wind then changing, and with the tide becoming unfavorable for them, the deception had not the desired effect, and they wisely put back. The entrance of the Humber is exceedingly difficult and dangerous, and as the Pallas was not in sight, I thought it not prudent to remain off the entrance; I therefore steered out again to join the Pallas off Flamborough Head. In the night we saw and chased two ships, until 3 o'clock in the morning, when being at a very small distance from them, I made the private signal of recognizance, which I had given to each captain before I sailed from Groaix, one half of the answer only was returned. In this position both