PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
147 
tion of the British force on the coast, and of several being in pur- 
suit of me, I found it necessary to get to sea as soon as possible? 
I now, agreeably to the commodore’s plan, stretched to the south¬ 
ward, scouring the coast as far as Rio de la Plata. I heard that 
Buenos Ayres was in a state of starvation, and could not supply 
our wants; and that the government of Monteviedo was very ini¬ 
mical to us. The commodore’s instructions now left it complete¬ 
ly discretionary with me what course to pursue, and I determined 
on following that which had not only met his approbation, but the 
approbation of the then secretary of the navy. I accordingly 
shaped my course for the Pacific; and after suffering greatly from 
short allowance of provisions, and heavy gales off Cape Horn, 
(for which my ship and men were ill provided) I arrived at Val¬ 
paraiso on the 14th of March, 1813. I here took in as much jerk¬ 
ed beef, and other provisions, as my ship would conveniently stow, 
and ran down the coast of Chili and Peru; in this track I fell in 
with a Peruvian corsair, which had on board twenty-four Ameri¬ 
cans as prisoners, the crews of two whale ships, which she had 
taken on the coast of Chili. The captain informed me that, as the. 
allies of Great Britain, they would capture all they should meet 
with, in expectation of a war between Spain and the United States. 
1 consequently threw all his guns and ammunition into the sea, 
liberated the Americans, wrote a respectful letter to the viceroy, 
explaining the cause of my proceedings, which I delivered to her 
captain. I then proceeded for Lima, and recaptured one of the 
vessels as she was entering the port. From thence I proceeded 
for the Gallapagos islands, where 1 cruised from the 17th April, 
until the 3d October, 1813; during which time I touched only 
once on the coast of America, which was for the phrpose of pro¬ 
curing a supply of fresh water, as none is to be found among those 
islands, which are perhaps the most barren and desolate of any 
known. 
While among this group, I captured the following British 
ships, employed chiefly in the spermaceti whale fishery, viz? 
VOL. n. 
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