PORTER’S JOURNAL* 
and many other articles of provisions and stores, which would be 
necessary for us, to enable me to meet at the last appointed rendez¬ 
vous ; that being the only one that I cotdd now reasonably expect 
to meet commodore Bainbridge, as he had appointed me at Pra~ 
ya, Fernando de, Noronha, and at Cape Frio. St. Sebastians was 
the fourth place appointed ; but as he had changed his whole 
plan in remaining off Bahia, I thought it just as likely that he 
would touch first at St. Catharines, the fifth place of rendezvous* 
as at St. Sebastians. 
On the 12th, gave chace to and spoke the Portuguese cor- 
vette, Calypso, of 22 guns, on a cruize ; caused them to send a 
boat, with an officer, on board the Essex ; and then sent lieute¬ 
nant Downes to ascertain, to a certainty, whether she was a Por¬ 
tuguese vessel: both ships prepared for action until 8 o’clock, 
when he returned. 
The Portuguese officer could not be persuaded that we were 
Americans ; and left us, as I am convinced, under the belief that 
we were English. 
On the 13th, spoke a Portuguese brig, from Rio, bound 
to Oporto, out 29 days. As this vessel had left Rio long be¬ 
fore the convoy, I still entertained some hopes of falling in 
with it. 
From the 12tli until the 17th the weather continued remark¬ 
able fine ; between those periods we saw and spoke but few ves¬ 
sels, and they Portuguese coasters, chiefly from Rio Grande* 
bound to the north, with jerked beef. From those vessels we 
could obtain no information respecting the enemy, that could be 
of any service to us. The crew continue in fine health, except 
an old man, named Edward Sweeny, who has long been affected 
by a pulmonary complaint and the stone. This man was upwards 
of 64 years old ; and I should not have brought him to sea with 
me, had he not generally been useful in tending the stock. 
Since I have left the United States, the crew have been on 
two-thirds allowance of salt provisions, generally on half allow¬ 
ance of bread, and full allowance of rum; and every month I 
caused them to be paid the amount due them for undrawn rations. 
To this regulation they submitted cheerfully; not a murmur was 
