IvO 



porter's .iolrnal. 



of her altering her course, and thus eluding us. I contimi- 

 ed, however, to carry all the sail the ship would bear, iii 

 order to near her as much as possible ; and being well 

 aware of the prevalence of cairns in this quarter, I had 

 strong hopes that, as usual, it would fall calm before morn- 

 ing, and keep us in sight of each other. But as the wind 

 continued fresh, andbeheving she would change her course 

 as soon as it grew dark, I hove to, at nine o'clock, for the 

 other vessels to come up, when I directed the Montezuma 

 to run northwest (which was his bearing when we last saw 

 him) seven miles, and then heave to, the Barclay to run tlie 

 same distance to the east, and I intended sending the Policy 

 to the southwest, but she did not come up in time. This 

 arrangement I hoped would enable one or the other of the 

 vessels to get sight of the chase in the morning, and I was 

 not disappointed ; for next day the Montezuma made a sig- 

 nal for a sail to the northward, and at the same time we 

 bore away in pursuitof her with all the sail we could carry, 

 but it was not until two hours after we had given chase to 

 her, that we could discover her from our mast-heads. About 

 meridian the wind began to die away ; I had now sight of 

 the stranger from, deck, and had no doubt of his being an 

 enemy. The Montezuma was still between us and him, and 

 distant from us about six miles, I determined now that he 

 ghould not again escape us, for I was fully convinced this 

 was the same vessel we had chased the day before. I di- 

 rected three of the fastest rowing; boats to be manned with 

 as many armed men as they could carry, and to proceed, 

 under the command of lieutenant Vv ilmer, to the Montezu- 

 ma, with orders to take three of that ship's boats, and before 

 night to proceed to take his station astern of the stranger, 

 so that he could keep sight of him, placing the other in a 

 line astern of him, so that a communication could be had 

 by signal from the headmost boat to the Montezuma, and 

 from thence to the Essex. By this arrangement I hoped 

 to be guided by flashes in my pursuit of the enemy, and 

 prevent the probability of his escaping. I directed lieute- 

 nant Wilmer not to make any attack on her, unless it should 

 prove perfectly calm, and then to row up with muffled oars, 

 and board her by surprise. To prevent any other mode of 

 attack being made, I allowed them no other arms than a 

 pistol, cutlass, and boarding-axe each. 



