18 CAPTAIN ZACHARY G. LAMSON 



war insurance and the expense of convoy, 

 American commerce gained rapidly, and 

 was soon second only to that of Great 

 Britain. Coffee and sugar from the French 

 West India islands were shipped in enor- 

 mous quantities by United States vessels to 

 the United States, and then transhipped 

 and sent on to the continent. This England 

 allowed where the transaction was a bona 

 fide one, that is where the cargo was landed, 

 and duties paid in the United States, but 

 in 1805 British merchants began to com- 

 plain that the United States was not act- 

 ing fairly in the matter. Goods from the 

 French West India islands were brought to 

 the States, landed, duties paid and then re- 

 shipped on the same vessel, with practi- 

 cally all the duty refunded. In the year 

 1800, in the case of the "Polly" the High 

 Admiralty Court had decided that this 

 cleared the law, but in 1805 the "Essex," 

 Capt. Orne, took a cargo at Barcelona, 

 landed it at Salem, gave bonds for the pay- 

 ment of duty if the goods were not exported, 



