DIARY OF CAPTAIN LAMSON 213 



I consequently made all dispatch and com- 

 pleted my lading and sailed about the 

 fourth of December, 1807, having fine wind. 

 I passed Gibraltar in twenty-five days, and 

 on the next day spoke Captain John Hoi- 

 man of Salem, and Captain Ross of New- 

 buryport; both told me that their papers 

 were indorsed by the English cruisers then 

 cruising off Cape Palos. 



I immediately obtained all the informa- 

 tion from them I could, how the English 

 vessels cruised, what time they were off 

 Alicante and what time they stood off. As 

 Captains Holman and Ross's accounts 

 agreed, although several hours' difference 

 in my speaking them, I thought I would 

 evade them. I had a strong wind, and by 

 carrying sail I could reach Alicante by day- 

 light, at the time I supposed the Cruiser 

 would be off Majorca. I consequently 

 made all sail at midnight. I went around 

 Cape de Palos within pistol shot, blowing 



fore the Non-importation Bill went into effect and eighteen 

 days before the embargo. 



