PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
53 
/heard from any person on board. I now, however, found it necessa¬ 
ry to reduce the allowance of rum, in the same proportion as the salt 
provisions, when every man in the ship refused to receive any of 
that precious liquor, unless he could get full allowance; stating 
that when there should be no more on board, they would willing¬ 
ly go without; but so long as it lasted, they wished their full al¬ 
lowance. However, as there was but a small quantity in the ship, 
and believing that a sudden privation of it altogether, would be 
the cause of producing dejection and sickness among them, I 
determined not to indulge them in their wishes; and directed, 
that the grog-tub should be upset in fifteen minutes after they 
were called to grog; the consequence was, that every man hast¬ 
ened to the tub, for fear of losing his allowance ; and after this, 
no further complaint was made. 
Since leaving Port Praya we had had no opportunity of get¬ 
ting refreshments; our water was getting short, and it became 
necessary to ascertain what prospect we had of getting a supply 
of salt provisions, bread, and rum. I therefore determined to 
proceed for the island of St. Catharines, and with a view of ena¬ 
bling the officers and crew to provide themselves with such arti¬ 
cles as they might need, I distributed among them a large pro¬ 
portion of the prize money taken from the Nocton. Giving it, 
however, to the seamen, before they had an opportunity of spend¬ 
ing it, (although it had the effect of producing cheerfulness 
among them,) was attended with evil consequences, as it intro¬ 
duced gambling, which was the cause of some thefts. I, how¬ 
ever, soon put a stop to it, by signifying that he who asked for, 
or paid a gambling debt, should be punished ; and that all mo¬ 
nies, staked in gambling, should be forfeited to the informer, 
whose name should remain secret. 
On the 18th spoke a Portuguese vessel from Rio Janeiro, who 
informed me that the Montague had sailed on the 6th of the 
month, in pursuit, as was reported, of an American frigate and 
sloop of war, off Bahia; and in confirmation of this sent me a 
newspaper, mentioning her departure. He could not tell me 
whether the admiral had gone to sea in her or not. He was dis¬ 
posed, however, to give me all the information in his power on 
