114 WHALING 



and the Hornet. Not finding Bainbridge at St. Jago, Porter 

 pushed on to the second rendezvous. 



There, although he did not find Bainbridge, he did find a 

 note from Bainbridge. He sent Lieutenant Downes ashore in 

 civiHan dress, who represented the Essex as ''the Fanny, 

 Captain Johnson, from London via Newfoundland, bound to 

 Rio Janeiro for a cargo; out sixty days; short of water; crew 

 down with the scurvy; refreshments greatly needed; all anchors 

 lost but one; cables bad and unable to anchor." They ex- 

 changed gifts with the Governor — porter and cheese for a 

 supply of fruit — and learned that two frigates reporting them- 

 selves as H. M. S. Acasta, forty-four guns. Captain Kerr, and 

 H. M. S. Morgiana, twenty guns, bound to India, had left a 

 letter ''for Sir James Yeo, of the British frigate Southampton, to 

 be sent to England by the first opportunity." So the captain 

 of the ''Fanny" sent word that a gentleman on board his ship, 

 who was to return directly to London from Brazil and who was 

 intimately acquainted with Sir James Yeo, would willingly 

 undertake to deliver the letter. The Governor thereupon sent 

 out the letter; Porter, having been instructed to represent 

 himself under certain conditions as "Sir James Yeo," suspected 

 well enough who had written it, and therefore broke the seal 

 before putting to sea. It ran thus: 



My dear Mediterranean Friend: 



Probably you may stop here; don't attempt to water; it is attended with 

 too much difficulty. I learned before I left England that you were bound to 

 the Brazil coast; if so, perhaps we may meet at St. Salvadore or Rio Janeiro. 

 I should be happy to meet and converse on our old affairs of captivity; 

 recollect our secret in these times. 



Your friend of H. M. S. ship Acasta, 



Kerr. 



(Bainbridge and Porter had been imprisoned together in TripoH, 

 which gave particular significance to "My dear Mediterranean 

 Friend," and "our old affairs of captivity.") 



By the heat of a candle flame, Porter made visible a postscript 

 written in sympathetic ink: 



