54 
PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
the subject, as he was fully impressed with the belief of our be¬ 
ing an English frigate, from the River of Plate. I was desirous 
of ascertaining whether the admiral had sailed in the ship, as my 
conduct would in a great measure be governed by that circum¬ 
stance. Had he sailed in the Montague, I should have calculated 
on having more time to remain at St. Catharines before being 
blockaded, as I did not suppose that the reinforcements, which I 
knew were expected from England, would be enabled to sail in 
pursuit of me, even if they had heard of my being at that place, 
before receiving his instructions. I, however, determined to re¬ 
main as short a time as possible, and hoped to get out before they 
could hear of me. Our latitude on the meridian of this day was 
26° 46' 43" S., long, by chronometer 47° 44' 58" W. 
On the 19th made the island of St. Catharines, bearing S.W. 
and stood for the passage between the East Point and the isl¬ 
and of Alvarade, until 8 at night, when, being at the distance 
of between 12 and 15 miles, I lay off and on until morning, when 
we ran in with light winds from the north-east. As I had no per¬ 
son on board who knew any thing of the place, I was compelled 
to go entirely by the lead ; therefore kept it constantly going, from 
the time we first got soundings in 70 fathoms, until we anchored 
in 6 ; and nothing conld have been more regular or gradual than 
their diminution. The bottom is also remarkable ; for, from the 
time of first striking soundings, until you get inside of Alvarade 
in 10 fathom water, it is a blue and tenacious mud, and so soft 
that the lead would sink a considerable distance into it ; and from 
thence to the anchorage, it was composed of fine sand mixed 
with mud. With these soundings, and keeping in the middle of 
the bay, I ran up until 2^ miles from the principal fortification, 
which stands upon an island, at the distance of about one hun¬ 
dred yards from the continent. I then anchored, with the middle 
of the large barracks in the fort bearing, by compass, N. | E., dis¬ 
tant f of a mile. 
Immediately on anchoring, I dispatched a boat with lieutenant 
Downes, to inform the commander of the fort, that we were 
Americans, and in want of supplies, and to come to an under¬ 
standing about a salute. He returned in about two hours with 
