Exaggerated accounts reached the
forecastle. Battles had been fought, a large French fleet was in the
Pacific, etc., etc.; and one of the boat's crew of the Ayacucho said
that when they left Callao, a large French frigate and the American
frigate Brandywine, which were lying there, were going outside to have
a battle, and that the English frigate Blonde was to be umpire, and
see fair play. Here was important news for us. Alone, on an
unprotected coast, without an American man-of-war within some
thousands of miles, and the prospect of a voyage home through the
whole length of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans! A French prison
seemed a much more probable place of destination than the good port of
Boston. However, we were too salt to believe every yarn that comes
into the forecastle, and waited to hear the truth of the matter from
higher authority. By means of a supercargo's clerk, I got the
account of the matter, which was, that the governments had
difficulty about the payment of a debt; that war had been threatened
and prepared for, but not actually declared, although it was pretty
generally anticipated.
Pages:
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370