FRENCH PRIVATEERING IN THE WEST INDIES. Can sons of Neptune, generous, brave, and bold, FALCONER. DURING the late wars, from the facility with which private vessels of war could be fitted out in the ports of the different islands belonging to France and Spain in the West Indies, the Caribbean Sea teemed with small privateers, which, notwithstanding the utmost vigilance of the officers commanding British men-of-war, committed great depredation upon our trade. Our merchants and ship-owners, although they knew that such a system of privateering existed in the West, from feeling its effects, yet they were, perhaps, ignorant of the pertinacity with which it was carried on by the numerous daring commanders of the enemy's private armed vessels; and, I dare say, have often thought and complained of a want of activity in our cruisers, at the very time that the greatest exertions were used for the capturing and destroying those picaroons: these recollections may serve to explain the matter briefly; and to show that our naval commanders had to deal with a most subtle and clever enemy, that often bade defiance to all their skill and perseverance. The Spaniards engaged in this pursuit were never equal to the Frenchmen who embraced the same line of employment; they were deficient in that activity and skill possessed by the latter; and were more intent upon petty predatory exploits, such as landing upon the unprotected coasts of Jamaica and stealing negroes, than running any hazard by attempts to capture our vessels at sea: a resolute disposition on the part of our merchant ships to contest for victory, generally had the effect of driving them off; but it was very different with the Frenchmen; they were not to be frightened so easily by a display of courage on the part of our merchantmen. Of the war of 1794, Pierre Olanger was considered one of the most clever and resolute commanders of French privateers, but he appears to have been a great scoundrel. In the last war, Jacque Mathieu (by the privateer's-men themselves called Jacca Matu, and by our sailors Jack Mathew) became notorious for his enterprise and success on the Jamaica station. I shall here relate, briefly, one of the tricks he played off, which may give some idea of his expertness, skill, and intrepidity:A British sloop-of-war fell in with a small felucca commanded by this man, and by dint of carrying sail off the wind, brought her alongside. Mathieu lowered his sails, and the ship hove-to; whilst a boat was preparing to take possession of the prize, the captain of the sloop-of-war went into his cabin to take some refreshment, but had scarcely seated himself when he was surprised at hearing the discharge of several cannon, the balls from which broke his cabin windows and swept the decanters and glasses off the table! Hastening upon deck, he had the mortification to see the daring Frenchman luffing his little vessel so close as nearly to touch the ship's quarter: all sail was soon set, and chase given to the privateer, but she having had time to gain the wind, U. S. JOURN., No. 58, Sept. 1833. P from superior sailing close-hauled, and under cover of the night, after a long trial, effected her escape! I have often heard the captain relate this circumstance, and he said that, although he never had more cause, in his encounters with privateers, to be surprised and chagrined, yet he could never revert to the subject without laughter, it was altogether so unexpected, and placed the ship-of-war in such a ridiculous light,—a lion stung by a mosquito; besides, at every turn he took upon deck he met long faces," which, but a few minutes before, were drawn out quite the other way by smiles at the golden prospect. The fellow certainly deserved to escape, the ruse of lowering his sails and appearing to give up all as lost, in order to put his enemy off his guard, was one of those clever tricks Jacque had often played off on British men-of-war. Long before this he had displayed, under very trying and hazardous situations, an extraordinary promptitude of action in taking advantage of the slightest circumstance that afforded a chance of escape; and with the exception of Captain Love, who was the king of the picaroons, Mathieu was certainly the most enterprising, audacious, and successful among the French privateer's-men. At night it was a very difficult matter to catch one of those "low, sneaking-looking things," as the sailors termed the Ballahous and other small vessels of the enemy; it was by no means easy to retain sight of them, even with the aid of good night-telescopes, they were such small objects on a wide horizon; especially as they were constantly trying some manœuvre to deceive or elude the vigilant eyes they well knew were aching in keeping them in view; and sometimes when they were even under your bows they would steal away, and puzzle you exceedingly to catch another glimpse of them; indeed, I have known an instance where one of these vessels, after nearly carrying away a frigate's flying-gibboom at noon-day, actually effected her escape. At times, when the moon shone brightly, they would "lead you a dance" almost round the compass, until they arrived at the sweep of the horizon which was most obscure, when they would lower down every sail, so that, in an instant, the person in the chaser employed with the night-glass would lose sight of the chase, and in nine cases out of ten not see her again! At other times they would allow the light in their binnacle to be seen by the man-of-war in chase, and then dropping a cask with a lantern suspended to a pole fixed in it, extinguish their own light, alter their course, and laugh in their sleeves, in anticipation of the chagrin which the English captain would feel in taking possession of an old tar-barrel instead of the expected privateer! Until you had actually removed the men from one of these French craft, you could not be sure she was your prize, although under your stern, crossing under your bows, or, indeed, in any position; this has been proved in several instances besides that which I have just related. 1 recollect a schooner in the Mona Passage, (between Hispaniola and Porto Rico,) giving us, in a corvette, a chase of twelve hours, during which time, at night, we described a circle: that is to say, from before the wind to a close hard-on starboard-tack-tacked-close haul on Jarboard tack-then gradually off until before the wind again! At daylight the point of the schooner's gaff-top-sail was alone visible above the horizon. The object the commander of the schooner aimed at, and which ultimately was successfully gained, was to try our rate of sailing upon all points, and that which gave him the advantage of distancing us, he followed. To those unacquainted with naval affairs, I may remark, that all vessels do not sail equally well upon all points; some holding their superiority only off the wind; others alone by the wind; whilst some few sail swiftly both by and large. Heavy squalls intervening during a chase, the privateers often bear away before the wind, and, if seen, of course draw the chaser upon the same point of sailing; at such times, the air being loaded with aqueous vapour, the sight is obstructed even to within a short distance, and objects consequently hid from view; under such a cover, when the cunning privateer's-man calculates that his enemy is drawing nigh, he yaws his vessel either to the right or left for some distance out of the direct line he was pursuing, and then lowers all his sails; the man-of-war under a press of sail, carrying through all obstacles to come up to the chase, unknowingly dashes past her! When the squall ceases, and the atmosphere becomes again clear, the captain of the English ship is surprised to find himself running a race with the wind; the vessel he was in chase of, on looking about him, he observes two or three miles "dead in the wind's eye of him!" Perhaps there is nothing which provokes a testy skipper more, than to be outwitted in this manner by a mere French picaroon, or to be teased for a whole day by four or five of these saucy fellows, without being able with all his skill, powder, and ball, to catch one of them; and truly, I think, albeit they who command others should know how to command themselves, there is great excuse for it: sailors are not philosophers-and nemo mortalium, &c. It has happened, however, that, from due want of care on the part of the privateer's-man-from the man-of-war having made a reciprocal movement-or from mere accident, the vessel of the former has been run down, and the crew lost: this was the fate of the celebrated Captain Love, and two or three others of less note. Jacque Mathieu, in his little ballahou, the Maringouin, or Musquito, has often annoyed our ships of war, particularly the frigate, for a whole day. Confident in the swift-sailing quality of his vessel, Jacque would heave her to the wind, and there lie in the most unconcerned manner, until the ship of war had worked up so far to windward as to be within gun-shot, when the wily rover would fill his sails, shoot off like an arrow, and, by making one or two tacks, be sufficiently out of reach of the guns of the English ship to heave-to again; and so on alternately until the cover of night, when he would slip away unperceived! It must be observed, that all the labour and anxiety were on our side; such as setting and trimming sails, trimming the ship, working the guns, &c.; whereas the Frenchman, in his petite barque, had nothing more to do than to draw in or ease off his sheets, and to put his helm down. In the intermediate time, the crew were lying about in perfect repose, smoking cigars! On the north side of St. Domingo (Hayti), to the eastward of Cape François (Cape Haytian), there is a singularly-shaped hill, or rather rock, stretching into the sea, and almost insulated. It has been named by the Spaniards Monte Christo; but is, with more propriety, by the French called La Grange. There is a small port here, which afforded shelter to the privateers when cruising off the coast. Whenever chased, they made directly for it, and sought protection under the guns of the fort. Our boats, however, in 1803, more than once, in despite of this protection, cut out several vessels under a formidable fire. In January, 1804, the frigate chased two privateers into this anchorage; and although every stitch of canvass that the ship could bear was set, we had no chance of success with them, as, unfortunately, the frigate, which had been at a former period a swift sailer, no longer retained that first-rate quality; and we had often the mortification of being baffled in our pursuit of the enemy's light vessels in consequence. Our frigates generally were not so successful as the smaller classes of vessels of war on this station, in capturing privateers. In fine weather and light winds, it was difficult for a square-rigged vessel, even under a crowd of sail, to catch one of these little schooners, with no more than four or five sails set. The majority of instances, however, were unfortunate. In very heavy weather, indeed, and by the intervention of some fortuitous circumstance, some of these, it is true, were taken, even by two-decked ships. I may observe here, that the little schooners built at Bermuda, (such as the Pike, Bream, Cuttle, &c.), carrying four guns, although well constructed, were not a match for the larger privateers, nor, indeed, for the smaller classes, when cruising, as these did often, three, four, and five in consort. Even the Supérieur, carrying twelve or fourteen guns, under the gallant Lieutenant Fromo, got severely handled by two or three privateers off St. Domingo; and the Gracieuse, and another schooner, met with a spirited resistance from Jean Marie in the Vengeance. Two days after our unsuccessful essay (as stated above), we spoke an American schooner, the master of which informed us that, six hours before our speaking him, he had seen a French privateer capture a British ship, and make sail with her to the westward. This intelligence instantly acted like a talisman; and although we had found such authority not always to be depended upon, yet, in a short time, our gallant ship was under a press of sail in pursuit, according to the received information. Among the naval evolutions, there are, perhaps, none which produce a more beautiful effect than those of making and shortening all sail, when performed by a well-disciplined crew. Our Yankee informant, who was leaning listlessly over the quarter bulwark of his little low vessel, close to us, seemed perfectly astounded at the rapidity of our movements. Indeed, the mere casual spectator, who views the slow and (from want of hands) awkward manner in which a merchant vessel sets and reduces her sails, can form no conception of the rapidity and simultaneous movement with which those of a man-of-war can be loosened and set, or reduced and furled. Jonathan appeared quite delighted at the noble appearance of the frigate, with her studding-sails alow and aloft, and, as we dashed by him, greeted us with a wish of success. During a delightful moonlight, and a fine, steady breeze, the old ship pressed her way to the westward. Many an anxious eye strained towards the horizon of that quarter: not a speck, however, met the view, until the open morn presented, directly in our line, a lofty sail. In an hour's time we were alongside of her. This vessel proved to be an English letter of marque, and had not been molested by any of the enemy's cruisers; consequently, she was not the ship alluded to by the American. We therefore made all sail again, and in the forenoon captured a French felucca, having on board two thousand dollars. This little privateer had but recently been fitted out; the crew were novices, and her capture was occasioned by their want of skill. In March of the same year, we discovered a privateer under the land of Cape St. Nicholas, on the west side of St. Domingo, and immediately chased her. During the night, we got sufficiently near to fire several shots at her, and were congratulating ourselves upon our unusual good luck her capture appearing certain--when, most provokingly, the wind died almost away, and the arch rogue very soon evaded us by the use of his sweeps. The next day, to our surprise, we saw her at a long distance outside of us, when we had expected to find her hemmed in between the land and our ship. Our partial success the evening before had inspired us with vain hopes; and the moment the sea-breeze permitted, we again made all sail in chase, and continued it for thirtysix hours, until we reached Cape François, when she fairly run us out of sight! In this chase, there was a fine display of what can be performed by nerve and good seamanship. Our worthy young captain, now, unhappily, no longer among us, with the sterling quality of a thorough seaman, possessing energy, activity, and intrepidity, in an eminent degree, conducted the duty throughout this long chase. We had, what was then considered unusual, a westerly wind; and in following the privateer, we got close in with the western part of the island of Tortudas. The little fugitive barely weathered it; but having done so, went off with a flowing sheet. Her object, that of drawing us so much into the bight as to oblige us to make a tack, had nearly been accomplished. Up to the last moment, it was doubtful whether the frigate would weather the point. To take the channel between the island and main would not do, as the privateer would, on seeing this, haul her wind, and leave us, on emerging from the eastern extreme of the channel, dead to leeward, as the wind then was. The master thought the old ship could not accomplish the weathering of the point ;-try it, however, the captain was determined. "She must do it," was often repeated; after which all was silent expectation until within a biscuit's throw of this bold projection; when, all being in readiness, the helm was promptly put down, and in a few seconds, after "shaking her cloths in the wind," and gallantly showing her stern to the rocks, the "Old Lady was again in the wake of the astonished Frenchman, parallel with the shore. The night set in; the moon, with her silvery light, was up behind the hills aback of Cape François; and the ship lay becalmed in the shadow of that huge promontory, which, in its contour, at a certain point of view, bears some resemblance to the celebrated rock of Gibraltar; but its shape varies remarkably at almost every point of bearing. From one position, it appears a huge mass of rocky land, with several conical peaks; at another, it forms a saddle mount, and again, altering the line of view, it looks lengthened out like a vast lion reposing. The grey morning had scarcely dawned upon us, ere the mast-headman reported, with a cheerful voice, " Sail, oh!" and in a moment after, another, and another; and by the time the horizon became clearly exposed to view, we found no less than five privateers surrounding the ship, like as many sharks their expected prey. They doubtless had seen the ship at the close of the last day, from their anchorage at Monte Christo, and believing her to be a merchantman, had sallied forth during |