behaved remarkably well, and appears to me to be a very worthy character. He is determined to use his interest with the Duke de Orleans, that the Terpsicore, may be substituted for the Ariel.

I am not less a friend now, than I was formerly to Madam Chaumont and her family. Pray have you seen my fair friend the Countess of N.-she is I understand returned from Aix, and I am very anxious to hear from her.

I am, &c. A more particular account of this calamity is contained in the following document :

We, the officers of the ship of war Ariel, in the service of the United States of America, do hereby declare, that having been detained in the road of Groaix by stormy and contrary winds from the 4th ult: so that it was impossible to proceed on our voyage to America, before the 7th current; we on that day weighed anchor at 2 in the afternoon, the wind being at N. N. W. and the weather having a very good appearance. We had under convoy two brigantines belonging to America named the Duke of Leinster and Luke, partly laden with public stores, and one lugger named the belonging to France. In the night the wind fell very moderate, and the weather was very serene. At - o'clock in the morning of the 8th the wind sprung up a moderate breeze at S. by W. At 8 o'clock the island of Groaix bore by compass Ñ. E. by E. distance 5 leagues. It was then squally weather with showers of rain, the wind at S. by W., and immediately afterward we lost sight of the land. The weather became very thick and the wind increased. By this time the storm had become so violent, that the lee fore yard-arm was frequently under water. The lee gangway was laid entirely under the water, and the lee side of the waist was full. The water in the hold flowed into the cockpit, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the chain pumps. In this distress at 11 we let drop the best bower anchor in 30 fathom, but it would not bring the ship's head to the wind. The captain ordered the weather shrouds of the fore-mast to be cut, and the ship then brought up and rode head to the wind. The heel of the fore-mast carried away from the bow the stream and kedge anchors. The agitation of the elements was so violent that the main-mast could not stand, but reeled about like a man

drunk. Orders were therefore given to cut away the starboard shrouds so as to let it fall over the larboard side to save, if possible, the mizen-mast. Before this could be done the larboard shrouds and chain-plates gave way, and the main-mast fell over the starboard side, carrying with it the mizen-mast and quarter gallery. The main-mast had worked the heel out of the step. The ship leaked, though less than might have been expected, and the people were employed at the pumps and to clear away the wreck; on the 9th at noon, saw the sun, and observed the latitude 47 deg. and 47 min. The storm continued with very little intermission until the morning of the 10th, and the agitation rendered it impossible to erect jury-masts; we made the best preparation we could for that purpose, and succeeded so as to be able to cut our cable at 1 o'clock in the morning of the 11th. The wind had then come round to W. N. W., and we steered out S. S. W. till 4 o'clock, and finding then 10 fathom water, we bore away, E. S. E. At 8 o'clock, steered easterly; at 10 o'clock saw the island of Groaix bearing E. N. E., and at 6 in the evening anchored in the road of Groaix. In the morning of the 12th we got a pilot from L'Orient, who, at 3 o'clock, brought the Ariel to an anchor in the harbor of L'Orient, where we now attest and subscribe all the circumstances of the within deelaration as matters of fact. And we apprehend that part of the public stores on board are damaged. Done on board the Ariel in the harbor of L'Orient, this 13th of October, 1780.

Signed by the officers.

He sailed again on the 18th of December, and arrived safely in the United States.

The following extract from the journal, given by him to His Majesty the King of France, will illustrate the dexterity with which on the following occasion he extricated himself from peril, and the more so at this particular time, as the Ariel was deeply laden with military stores for the use of the army:

"After having met several vessels I at last met the frigate Triumph of 20 guns, belonging to the British navy.

As that frigate sailed much faster than the Ariel, I could not avoid an engagement, but I so well manœuvred and so well concealed my preparations for an engagement that the

enemy thought of nothing else than making an easy conquest and a good prize.

As the night approached the Triumph hailed the Ariel, and the enemy was much surprised to find he had to contend with a force so nearly equal to his own. As the two frigates carried the English flag, there ensued a conversation between the commander of the Triumph and me, by which I learned the situation of the English affairs in America. At last I pretended not to believe that the Triumph belonged to the British navy, and I insisted that the captain should come on board the Ariel to show me his commission. The captain excused himself by saying that his boats leaked, and that I had told him neither my name nor that of my frigate, I answered I had no account to give to him, and that I allowed him only five minutes to determine. That time having expired, and the Ariel being situated abreast and to leeward, about 30 feet distant, I hoisted the American flag and began the engagement. Never was I in any preceding action, so much pleased as in this of the Ariel, with the regular and vigorous fire of the tops and the deck guns. This proceeded from the arrangement and preparation which had preceded the action, by placing the officers and passengers of the Ariel in different parts of the ship to prevent the men from deserting their posts, and to encourage 'them to do their duty; which proves the advantage of having good officers, for there never was a more indifferent crew than that of the Ariel.

After a short resistance the enemy struck his colours; the captain of the Triumph begged for quarters, saying that he surrendered, and that half of his people were killed. I immediately ordered the firing to cease, and there were several huzzas on board the Ariel, as is usual after a victory; but a minute afterward the captain of the Triumph had the baseness to fill his sails and run away. It was not in my power to prevent this, the Triumph sailing much faster than the Ariel. But if the British government had that feeling of honor and justice which becomes a great nation, they would have delivered up to the United States that frigate as belonging to them; and would have punished in the most exemplary manner, her captain, for having thus violated the laws of war, and the custom of civilized nations."

Complaints by Mr. Lee and Capt. Landais, had, no

doubt, preceded him; for he was immediately afterward called upon by the Board of Admiralty to answer forty-seven interrogatories, the answers to which would embrace the whole of his public transactions, from the period of his departure from Portsmouth in the Ranger, until his return to the United States in the Ariel. On the 20th of February 1781, Mr. John Brown enclosed the interrogatories to him in the subjoined terms:

Admiralty Office, February 20th, 1781. Captain Paul Jones is hereby required to answer the following questions in writing, as soon as possible; and to produce the original orders.

By order of the Board,

JOHN BROWN, Secretary.

With this requisition Jones complied on the 21st of March, and as the copy of the answers is in his own hand writing, being indeed, the original thereof, they are here introduced, as containing a precise narrative of the incidents of his life during a very interesting period of it :

Philadelphia, March, JOHN BROWN Esq., Secretary of Admiralty.

SIR,

1781.

I have the honor to give the following answers to the questions proposed to me by the board of Admiralty, February 20th, and March 1st, 1781:

Answer 1st. I sailed from Portsmouth in New Hampshire, the first day of November 1777, by order of the Marine Committee, dated September 6th, 1777; having on board the despatches respecting the victory of Saratoga, and being bound for France, to take command of a large ship then building for America at Amsterdam, agreeable to orders from the Secret Committee, dated May 9th, to the commissioners at Paris.

2. I took two brigantines on the passage, laden with fruit, wine, &c., bound from Malaga for London. I ordered the prize masters to deliver them to the Continental agents, Mr. Thomas Morris, and Mr. Alderman Lee in France, in conformity to the orders I had formerly received from the Committee of Congress. One of these prizes arrived at Bourdeaux,the other at Nantes. Being at Nantes myself, I proposed to send the one arrived there to America, finding she

would fetch very little in France, but this Mr. Morris would not agree to. I believe Mr. Dunlap had his authority either from the agents, or the commissioners. He had no appointment from me. He accounted at last for the captors' part of the sale to Mr. Williams, who paid them before the Ranger left France for America; and I suppose he accounted for the Continental part to the commissioners. The commissioners sent for me to Paris, to consult on future operations respecting the ship of war Indien, built for America at Amsterdam, and proposed to be put under my command; but after I had remained at Paris three weeks, the commissioners informed me they had assigned over the property of that ship to the King of France, whose property she still seems to be. As nothing had been hitherto done for the relief of the unfortunate Americans confined in English dungeons, I determined if possible to effect their exchange, and to put an end to the cruel burnings of our enemies on this continent. The commissioners were not in my secret, as appears by the unrestraining papers I then received from them, dated Paris, January 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th, 1778.

I returned to Nantes, and sent the commissioners the scheme that was afterward adopted for Count d'Estaing's expedition. I also demanded, and obtained a salute from the flag of France, both at Quiberon, and at Brest, before the treaty of alliance was announced. I sailed from Brest in the Ranger into the Irish channel, made a descent at Whitehaven with 30 men only, surprised and took two strong forts, with 30 pieces of cannon, and set fire to the shipping, where there lay 300 or upwards, in the dry pier. That both the shipping and town, containing from 40 to 50 thousand inhabitants was not burnt to ashes, was owing to the backwardness of some persons under my command. I landed the day afterward in Scotland, in order to take some nobleman prisoner, as an hostage for the good treatment and exchange of our countrymen in England. The Earl of Selkirk lived near the shore, and it was my intention to take him; but he being from home, I was obliged to give way to the murmurs of my party, and suffer them to bring away the family plate. I have since purchased it, and restored it to the fair owner. We took the sloop of war Drake of 20 guns, and an hundred and seventy-five men, sent in pursuit of the Ranger. I had but an hundred and twenty-three men and 18 guns in the Ranger. We took also five other prizes.