12 CAPTAIN ZACHARY G. LAMSON 



lish or French West Indies a cargo of 

 American produce and bring back, say, 

 sugar, coffee or molasses, but she could not 

 sail direct from those islands to any other 

 than an American port. The reason for the 

 limitation of the size of the vessel was to 

 make a voyage to Europe unprofitable, if 

 not hazardous. Once, however, a cargo 

 was landed in a port of the United States 

 and the duty paid, it became American 

 property and could be shipped to any part 

 of the world. 



Fortunately for the United States the nat- 

 ural course for vessels sailing from the West 

 Indies to England was to follow the Gulf 

 Stream up the coast and take the short 

 meridian. It was not much of a detour then 

 to land a cargo in Salem or Boston, pay the 

 duties, reload into a larger vessel and com- 

 plete the voyage to the Continent. This 

 was called breaking the voyage, and cleared 

 the law in 1800. 



Trade with the Spanish West Indies was 

 at times allowed and occasionally forbid- 



