Discourtesy of Americans at Sea. 237 



are not able to make such frequent observations as ships of 

 war. Before anything else, however, it was necessary to settle 

 the question of saluting ; and this the obstinate Yankee, in 

 spite of the warning signal, seemed resolved not to notice, 

 although he well knew the seriousness of his position, as was 

 abundantly evident in the celerity with which several ladies 

 and gentlemen, whom we could discern on deck, flew to seek 

 shelter below I A second report, accompanied by a ball over 

 his stern, at last brought this pertinacious captain to his senses, 

 and the whistling of the shot had the desired eff*ect. The 

 " Stars and Stripes " were run up, upon which we signalled the 

 required latitude and longitude. Probably it was but a 

 petulant explosion of a silly national vanity, as also the con- 

 sciousness of commanding a handsome crack *' clipper," that 

 could speedily run out of gun-shot, which led to this premedit- 

 ated and persistent violation of one of the most ordinary rules of 

 politeness. Indeed, even the vessels of the North American 

 navy itself are frequently compelled in the open sea to treat 

 their fellow-countrymen in a similar manner ; and the captain 

 of the war-steamer Minnesota, looking after the North American 

 interests in China, was obliged, as we learned afterwards at 

 Shanghai, to enforce a compliance with established sea usages 

 on one of his seafaring compatriots, by dint of cannon-shot, 

 in accordance with the undoubted practice of all maritime 

 nations. 



The south-east Trade, which we had hoped would drive 

 us on our destined course, was not so strong or so steady as we 



z 



