PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
m 
As the ball was to succeed the dinner in the tent, we walked 
round with the governor to look at the fortifications, which we 
found to be in tolerable order; and on our return found the ladies 
assembled, dressed in all their splendour, and unusually bedaubed 
with paint. The night was spent with much hilarity, and at one 
o’clock in the morning we repaired on board. Having now iittle 
to detain us, I intended sailing early; but the ladies seemed de¬ 
termined not to be cheated out of a visit to the ship, for the gov¬ 
ernor, his wife, with a boat-load of other ladies, came on board 
about nine o’clock, and remained until twelve, and on their leaving 
us, I saluted them with eleven guns. We now prepared to weigh 
our anchor ; but the arrival of an American whale-ship, that had 
been carried into Lima, and there liberated (after great loss of 
fame, and paying costs of suit), occasioned some iittle delay, as I 
was desirous of obtaining the news from her. The captain (Worth), 
on coming on board, informed me, that a few days before he had 
spoken with two English armed whalers, one off the Island of 
Mocha, the other off’ the harbour of Conception ; that three other 
American whalers were in company; and that the English ships 
were the first that gave them the intelligence of the war, and in¬ 
formed them that they had no orders to Capture American ves» 
sels, but were in daily expectation of authority to that effect. 
Captain Worth also informed me, that several English whale- 
ships were cruizing among the Gallipagos islands, and off the har¬ 
bor of Payta, on the coast of Peru, and recommended by all means 
my proceeding to those places, where I should be certain of meet- 
ing them; he also gave me such information as would render my 
falling in with them probable while running along the coast. He 
represented our whale-fishers, which were very numerous, as in 
a helpless and unprotected state, entirely exposed to attack and 
capture by the armed English ships in those seas, carrying from 
14 to 20 guns, and well manned : he stated that, as our whale- 
ships sometimes kept the sea for six months at a time, most of 
them were ignorant of the war, and would fall an easy and unsus.- 
pecting prey to the British ships: he informed me that he had 
heard of the capture of one American ship, which had been taken 
by a British letter of marque, and carried to Lima; but that the 
