Captain John Crane, 1800-1815

It required the unlocking and opening of several doors to reach the office of the commandant; and at each door the orderly was obliged to exhibit a permit from the commandant fo...

The castaways whom we took on board from the Evelyn were in a destitute condition; at least the sailors were, and so was the second mate. Captain Graham had saved a bag of gold...

On the courses which the two vessels had been running we would have crossed each other's track very nearly together, and it was evidently our captain's intention to avoid doing...

Little was seen of the British officer and his family during that day, and that little was when Captain Dawson or either of our mates had occasion to visit the cabin. The femini...

I am a modest, bashful sort of man, though I say it myself, and have been a sailor for a goodly number of years. Perhaps on board a ship I am not so bashful, and especially when...

Two or three minutes elapsed after the order was given, and as all on board the Washington had heard it, we were anxiously awaiting the result. Suddenly there was a loud hissing...

"We're in for it now," said the captain, "and must take our chances. We'll hug the Spanish coast pretty closely, and if they press us hard we may have to take refuge in some of...

"The first time our government ran against Algerine pirates," said Haines, "was in 1785, when they captured two vessels from the United States, and sold their crews--twenty-one...

Both of them kept firing, but doing little damage, as they began when they were out of effective range of each other's guns. But as they drew nearer, Hull endeavoring to lay his...

"We'll ship a crew for each of these craft," said I, "a small crew, just enough for inland navigation, and we'll have three or four carpenters in each crew in addition. First on...

Hardly were the birds out of their nests or down from their roosts in the morning, before we were roused and served with a scanty breakfast of tea, mush, and bread, with a piece...

At daylight the next morning the Warwick was about four miles ahead and a little to the south of the Washington. The night had been clear with a steady wind blowing, and each sh...

Well, we are out of danger now, and safe inside the sheltering arms of the harbor. As we turn the Hook, a pilot boards us. He is an old acquaintance and friend, and gives me the...

"As to the Flying Dutchman," said Haines, "there's a good many stories about him, and I don't know which is the true one. The one that's oftenest told about him is that a Dutch...

We had a good sixty miles to walk, yes, sixty-five of them, from our homes to Boston. There was a stage coach which ran daily each way, but it was five miles from our house to t...

The reasons that the men gave for wishing to swear allegiance to the American flag and be released from confinement in the hold were simple and plausible enough. They wanted to...

I thought of the escape of the Constitution under similar circumstances, and prepared accordingly. The British ships shortened sail to avoid the peril of capsizing; I kept every...

Along in the spring of 1808, David and I arrived in Boston; he from a voyage to Sweden, and I from one to China. The owners of our ships announced that they would be laid up for...

It is proper to say that the Shannon, while ranking as a thirty-eight-gun ship, really mounted fifty-two guns, while the Chesapeake, with the same rating, mounted forty guns. Sh...

In the morning the last of the crew came on board, or rather were brought there, as the most of them were so intoxicated that they were unable to walk. I told David I didn't wan...

"Well, sir," replied the sailor, "I was standing near the mainmast about a quarter of an hour or so after eight bells (midnight), in the larboard watch. I was looking for'ard at...