PORTER'S JOURNAL. 
4$ 
iy estimated their rate of sailing by our own, proportioning theirs 
to ours as 5 to 7; and as I had possession of the log-book of the 
prize, and ascertained the point of their departure, it may be sup¬ 
posed, that, as respected the distance made by them, I could not 
be much out in my calculation. The greatest embarrassment was 
as to the course they had steered : but knowing that they would 
endeavour to get to the eastward, I steered that course along 
shore, which would prevent, as I believed, the possibility of their 
keeping in shore of us, without being seen; and when I believed 
myself nearly as far to the east as them, I steered away to the 
south-east, with a view of traversing their course; and, after 
running about 30 miles, steered north-east. 
In the course of this pursuit, there appeared an evident desire 
on the part of the captain of the prize to deter us from going off 
St. Salvador, and in pursuit of the Bonne Citoyenne ; and to effect 
his object, he stated a number of circumstances which we knew 
to be false, and, among others, that the admiral had sailed from 
Rio Janeiro to give her convoy, when we had the most certain 
intelligence of his being at Rio Janeiro with all his sails unbent. 
From his apparent eagerness on the occasion, I was induced to 
believe, that the convoy were bound there to join the Bonne 
Citoyenne; and what served to strengthen this belief was, that 
the Juniper sailed from Rio Janeiro with only a small quantity of 
water on board; added to this, it was understood, that she was not 
to convoy the vessels beyond a certain distance, when she was to 
leave them and proceed to Halifax, the station to which she be¬ 
longed. These considerations induced me to make the best of 
my way to intercept them off St. Salvador. 
On the 1st January, 1813, the man at the fore-top-gallant-mast¬ 
head, cried out a sail, and, in a few minutes after, three more. The 
ship was immediately in an uproar, every person hurrying on deck 
to give chace, as there was not a doubt of its being the convoy; but 
in a few moments we were undeceived : it proved to be nothing 
but small clouds rising from the horizon, that bore strongly the 
appearance of ves sels. 
On the 2d, at day-light, discovered two sail to windward; gave 
chace to one which bore the appearance of a brig of war, the 
other being a polacca, and had the appearance of a Portuguese. 
VOL. i. G 
