Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/459

CH. XXXII.] however which I experienced at being out of the fell swoop of the pirates made all these difficulties light. On the 14th we came up with and boarded the Mary and Jane of Costine, Boston, and bought some beef and biscuit, which came to about five or six pounds sterling, and which we had some difficulty in making the master take. His name was Usher Dyer, bound for Martinique, with stores and provisions, but unfortunately he had not a drop of grog to spare.

19th. We were in lat. 39° 52′; long. 54° 58′, under a strong breeze, the sea running higher than, during my little nautical experience, I had ever seen. The next day was calm and the next a hurricane, in the midst of which we saw a brig bound to Newfoundland: she was within hail; but it was useless to hail her. Up to the 26th we had seen three brigs and a schooner, and this day, with a nine knot's breeze passed a ship close enough to read her log, but did not hail her. The next, we