CONCLUSION. 



437 



Independence. The French brig of war Griffon, Captain Du 

 Pettit Thouar, hoisted the American ensign, and fired a salute, 

 which we returned ; then followed the same compliment from 

 the U. S. Schooner Dolphin (Lt. Commandant J. C. Long), 

 another from a French sloop of war, and again several guns 

 were fired from on board of a whale ship, all of which we re- 

 plied to in turn, as we glided steadily over the smooth surface 

 of the bay, followed in our motions by the Dolphin, now full 

 of ladies, who had come from Lima to see us off, waving their 

 white handkerchiefs, as the vessel passed gracefully under our 

 stern, and stood in to her anchorage. Our band was on the 

 poop, playing Peruvian airs, till nearly off the point of San 

 Lorenzo, when the Dolphin's crew mounted the rigging, and 

 gave three hearty cheers, which were heartily returned by 

 the Falmouths. — Then our music told us of ^'Home ! sweet 

 Home," and we filled away with a gentle breeze, and placed 

 the island between us and the harbor, as the sun dipt below 

 the western horizon. 



We lingered in a calm during the early part of the next day, 

 close to San Lorenzo ; the sea was glassy ; the sails flapped 

 mournfully; and our gorgeous stripes hung motionless ; the very 

 ship seemed to regret leaving the placid waters and ever be- 

 nign skies of the Pacific. 



About meridian, the breeze sprang up, and gradually fresh- 

 ened, carrying us in thirteen days and some hours to our an- 

 chorage in Valparaiso. There we found H. M. Frigate Dublin, 

 with whose commander and officers we had been for two years 

 on the most cordial and intimate terms, frequently entertaining 

 each other with dinners and balls on board, whenever we met. 



In Chile, though perhaps equally sincere, the parting scene 

 was not so vivid in demonstrations of regret as in Peru. We 

 were dinnered, danced, and saluted, ashore and afloat, as long 

 as we remained. As an evidence of the feeling which existed 

 between the English and American naval officers in the Pacific, 

 I beg to introduce the following letters. Such letters cannot 

 be but gratifying both to Americans and Englishmen, and, 

 being equally honorable to the heads and hearts of their writ- 

 ers, I take the liberty (for which I ask their forgiveness,) of 



