CHAPTER XIX. 



transactions at nooaheevah, after captain 

 porter's departure : compiled trom the 



JOURNAL OF LT. GAMBLE. 



Having thus continued the particulars of my cruise 

 down to the arrival of the Essex Junior at New-York, it 

 is now time to turn the attention of my readers to the 

 prize ships left at Madison's Island, under the command of 

 lieutenant (now Captain) Gamble, of the Marines, on the 

 13th of December, 1813; and to the events which occurred 

 subsequently to that date. These were the Greenwich, 

 Sir Andrew Hammond, and Seringapatam,"^ and their 

 crews amounted, in the aggregate, to three officers, and 

 twenty men, exclusive of six prisoners of war. Lieut. 

 Gamble was instructed to remain at the Island five and a 

 half calendar months, and at the expiration thereof, incase 

 he did not see or hear from me sooner, to repair to the port 

 of Valparaiso on the Main. On arriving at Valparaiso, if 

 he did not find the Essex, or instructions from me relative 

 to the ships, he was authorized to dispose of the three 

 prizes then laying at that port, remove their crews to those 

 under his command, and repair to the United States. 



For several days subsequently to the departure of the 

 Essex, lieut. Gamble employed his men in completing the 

 cargo of the New Zealander with oil from the other ships, 

 in order that she might depart for the United States, at an 

 early day. On the 1 5th, the weather being pleasant, and the 

 wind fresh, the natives set fire to the dry grass in the valley, 

 near the encampment, contrary to the injunctions of lieut. 

 Gamble. He however, alarmed them considerably, by shoot- 

 ing over the heads of several, in the afternoon, as they were 

 carrying torches near the houses, and setting fire to the grass. 

 On the 16th, the wind blowing fresh from the N. E. the Sir 

 Andrew Hammond parted her lower cable in a severe 

 squall, and they w^ere under the necessity of waiting for a 

 land breeze, or a calm, in order to moor her effectually 

 and safely. Six men on board the New Zealander were 



* There was another — the New Zealander j but she departed for the 

 United States, in a few days. 



