64 
PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
The N.E. point of St. Catharines, Ponte de Bottle, lat. 27° 46' 
49" S.; long. 47° 42' 48" Wt 
Variation of the compass 6° 27' E. 
On liberating capt. Helt, and the men accompanying him, 1 
caused them to sign an obligation not to serve against the United 
States during the existing war, unless regularly exchanged. X 
gave to capt. Helt a letter for the British admiral at Rio Janeiro, 
and another for the American minister, which he promised, on 
oath, to deliver. 
To Sabine X gave a letter, to be delivered to the commander 
of any American frigate that should put in to St. Catharines ; he 
gave me assurances that it should be delivered : the letter ran as 
follows : 
Your letter of the 3d December has been received. Yeo has 
been punctual. I have taken but two vessels. It is much to be 
regretted that we have not yet met. I have just heard of the cap* 
ture of the Hornet. Should we not meet by the 1st of April, be. 
assured that, by pursuing my own course , I shall have been actuat¬ 
ed by views to the good of the service, and that there will have 
been an absolute necessity for my doing so. 
As an American , I have been treated well here ; X am afraid 
to trust more to this letter. 
January 20 th, 1813. 
St. Catharines has been the usual stopping place for all Ame¬ 
rican vessels engaged in the southern whale fishery, on their re¬ 
turn to the United States : four fishing vessels had left it for 
America, about one month before I arrived; and there received 
the first intelligence of the war. 
Vessels should always moor here, as the irregularities of the 
currents will otherwise soon occasion them to foul their anchors. 
The tide enters to the north and south, and rises about 4i feet. 
The usual anchorage for large vessels is about the spot occupied 
by us ; vessels drawing not more than 16 feet water, can go up to 
the town. 
