DEPARTURE FROM HAMPTON ROADS 



war, of 780 tons, having the accommodations of a small 

 frigate; the Peacock, a sloop-of-war, of 650 tons; the 

 Porpoise, a gun-brig, of 230 tons; and the Relief, a slow- 

 going store-ship. Besides these, two New York pilot- 

 boats, the Sea-Gull, of no tons, and the Flying-Fish, of 

 96 tons, were attached as tenders. Wilkes took com- 

 mand of the Vincennes, Hudson of the Peacock, Ringgold 

 of the Porpoise, and passed midshipmen Reid and Knox 

 were in charge of the two tenders. The pilot was dis- 

 missed off Cape Henry, on Sunday morning, August 

 iQth, a beautiful day, the sea smooth, and the wind 

 light. All hands were called to muster for divine wor- 

 ship. The commander writes that he was deeply im- 

 pressed by the service on the Vincennes. It required, he 

 says, " all the hope he could muster to outweigh the 

 intense feeling of responsibility that hung over him." 

 He compared his lot to that of one " doomed to destruc- 

 tion." No doubt he remembered that Cook and Langle 

 had been murdered, that La Prouse and his ships had 

 disappeared, and that D'Entrecasteaux, with a third of 

 his crew, had died at sea. He was beginning a four 

 years' cruise, which might be successful and fortunate as 

 a whole, but was sure to be chequered by peril, appre- 

 hension, and possibly by disaster. 



