60 
PORTER’S JOURNAL 
Americans had captured a convoy of Indiamen; and that a packet 
had been taken by them from Rio, with a great deal of specie in- 
Feeling confident that the captured vessel was the Hornet, 
and having strong apprehensions of being blockaded, and indeed 
attacked by a superior force in this port, knowing the little res¬ 
pect the British have for the Portuguese, I determined on getting 
to sea again with all possible expedition. I therefore returned to 
the ship, made a signal for every person to repair on board, hove 
up, and dropped down below the fort, where I anchored, to give 
the officers an opportunity of getting the clothes on board, which 
were all on shore to wash ; and at 8 o’clock at night, on the 25th, 
got under way with the loss of one anchor (the cable parted), and 
proceeded for sea, leaving on shore Joseph Hawley and Allan 
Jones, who absented themselves from the boat. Previous to my 
departure, I gave permission for five of my prisoners to proceed 
to Rio Janeiro, in a small Portuguese schooner belonging to the 
king, that was to sail next day, to wit: captain Charles Helt, John 
Haywood, mate; John Martin, Jonas Walker, and Thos. Wailey, 
seamen. During the night, Edward Sweeny departed this life, 
and Samuel Gross unfortunately fell from the main-yard while 
loosening the main-sail, and in a few hours ended his existence : 
his loss was much regretted by us all, as he was one of the best 
men we had in the ship, and highly esteemed by every person on 
board. 
We were clear of all the islands about 4 o’clock on the morn- 
ing of the 26th. It was then necessary to decide promptly on my 
future proceedings, as our provisions were getting short; I called 
on the purser for a report of them, and found that we had but 
three months’ bread at half allowance; there was no port on this 
coast where we could procure a supply, without the certainty of 
capture, or blockade (which I considered as bad); to attempt to 
return to the United States, at a season of the year when our 
coast would be swarming with the enemy’s cruizers, would 
be running too much risk, and would be going diametrically 
opposite to my instructions. I was perfectly at a loss now where 
to find the commodore, as, in remaining before Bahia, he had de¬ 
parted from his original intentions, and had already disappointed 
