116 WHALING 



next evening sighted a cruiser disguised as a whaler. The 

 stranger showed Spanish colours; the Essex, English colours, 

 for Porter recognized the stranger, by a description he had re- 

 ceived, as one of the vessels that had been raiding the American 

 whaling fleet. The stranger fired a shot off the bows of the 

 Essex, drawing a few high shot, in return, as a summons to ap- 

 proach, and sent an armed boat aboard; whereupon Porter, still 

 maintaining the character of an English officer, sent the boat 

 back with an order that the Spaniard should run under the lee 

 of the Essex and apologize for firing on an English frigate. 



When Porter ran out his guns the Spanish lieutenant, still 

 believing that the Essex was a British ship, came on board 

 and reported that it was they who had taken the Walker and 

 the Barclay. Their vessel was a Peruvian privateer — the 

 Nereyda, of fifteen guns — and they were looking for the British 

 letter of marque, Nimrod, which had driven the Nereyda' s prize 

 crew out of the Walker, to get satisfaction. The ingenuous, 

 or ingenious, Peruvians were seizing American ships because 

 they believed that Spain, being at the mercy of England, must 

 soon declare war on the United States, which declaration would 

 render legal the Nereyda' s prizes. 



Convinced that the Nereyda had acted illegally in taking the 

 Walker and the Barclay, Porter ran up the American flag, fired 

 two shots over the Spaniard, at which she struck her colours; 

 he then threw overboard her guns, small arms, and ammunition, 

 rescued her American prisoners, got from her all possible in- 

 formation about the shipping thereabouts, and left her only top- 

 sails and courses with which to make her way back to Callao. 



When on the 29th the Essex sighted three vessels standing in 

 for Callao — in the meantime her men had so painted her sides 

 as to make her appear to have a poop, and had otherwise made 

 her resemble, so far as possible, a Spanish merchantman — she 

 crowded on sail and made every effort to intercept them. That 

 she in any way succeeded was owing to the wind, for the nearest 

 vessel was becalmed when she doubled San Lorenzo, and the 

 Essex, then three miles away, kept the wind until she came near 

 enough to take the chase with her boats. 



