o 



porter's jourisai.. 169 



Brazil,) as the most likely to supply my wants, and, at the 

 same time, afford me that inteUigence necessary to enable 

 me to elude the British ships of war on the coast, and ex- 

 pected there. I here could procure only wood, water, 

 and rum, and a few bags of flour ; and hearing of the 

 Commodore's action with the Java, the capture of the 

 Hornet by the Montague, and of a considerable augmenta- 

 tion of the British force on the coast, several being in pur- 

 suit of me, I found it necessary to get to sea as soon as 

 possible. I now, agreeably to the Commodore's planj 

 stretched to the southward, scouring the coast as far as Rio 

 de la Plata. I heard that Buenos Ayres was in a state of 

 starvation, and could not supply our wants ; and that the 

 government of Monteviedo was very inimical to us. The 

 Commodore's instructions nov/ left it completely discre- 

 tionary with me what course to pursue, and I determined 

 on following that which had not only met his approbation, 

 but the approbation, of the then secretary of the navy. 

 I accordingly shaped my course for the Pacific ; and 

 after suffering greatly from short allowance of provisions, 

 and heavy gales off Cape Horn, (for which my ship and 

 men were ill provided) I arrived at Valparaiso on the 

 14th of March, 1813. I here took in as much jerked 

 beef, and other provisions, as my ship would conve- 

 niently stow, and ran down the coast of Chili and Peru. 

 In this track 1 fell in with a Peruvian corsair, which had on 

 board twenty-four Americans as prisoners, the crews of 

 two whale ships, which she had taken on the coast of Chili. 

 The Captain informed me that, as allies of Great Britain, 

 they would capture all they should meet with, in expecta- 

 tion of a war between Spain and the United States. I 

 consequently threw all his guns and ammunition into the 

 sea, liberated the Americans, and wrote a respectful letter 

 to the viceroy, explaining the cause of my proceedings, 

 which I delivered to her Captain. I then proceeded for 

 Lima, and recaptured one of the vessels as she was enter- 

 ing the port. From thence I shaped my course for the 

 Gallipagos islands, where I cruised from the 17th April, 

 until the 3d October, 1813. During this time T touched 

 only once on the coast of America, which was for the pur- 

 pose of procuring a supply of fresh water, as none is to be 



