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Its current movement does not in high water exceed three miles an hour, and when the Mississippi is at low water, it is almost imperceptible. Large steamers, brigs, and schooners come into it when the river is at flood, and carry out three or four hundred tons of freight each at a time.
And the fishing barks and lighter craft with broad sails and slender masts, stealing across the sky in tow of inconspicuous tugs, were coming in, faster and slower, towards the devouring ogre, who from time to time seemed to have had a surfeit, and spewed out to the open sea another fleet of steamers, brigs, schooners, and three-masted vessels with their tangled mass of rigging.
The Brazilian fleet, then commanded by the celebrated Lord Cochrane, consisted of one ship of the line, two frigates, three brigs, and some smaller vessels. Inconsiderable as was this force, it was in good order, and under the direction of its skilful and heroic commander, had done wonders.
The Americans now gathering up their strength, irritated by their repeated failures on the land, and disheartened, but yet not discouraged by their original weakness on the lakes, were about, in some degree, to be compensated more suitably for their inland losses than by the capture or rather by the negative kind of advantage of destroying at considerable cost and risk, frigates and sloops of war at sea, inferior in every respect, the bravery of the sailors and the skill of the officers excepted, to the huge and properly much esteemed American double-banked frigates and long-gunned brigs.
They continued to send slow-sailing brigs and ill-armed sloops-of-war, for the protection of large fleets of merchantmen, with valuable cargoes, while the frigates of the enemy, in search of them, whether in the calm or in the storm, were faster than British seventy-fours, and were equal to British ships of the line in armament.
I won't puzzle you any more, my Peter I'm spaking helligorically, which I believe means telling a hell of a lie. It's one of your ten-gun brigs, to the best of my knowledge." I then told O'Brien what had occurred, and how the master was angry with me. O'Brien laughed very heartily, and told me never to mind, but to keep in the lee-scuppers and watch him.
His oft-told story of the events by which he had gained the sobriquet of “Admiral” never failed to delight his hearers, and when he was desired to repeat it for my benefit, the rest of the crew crowded round with as much interest as if they were listening to the tale for the first time. A number of Greek brigs and brigantines were at anchor in the bay of Beyrout.
A dead calm succeeded, and we were for two hours exposed to a heavy fire from the batteries, in addition to that from the two frigates, the brigs Pezuela and Maypeu, and seven or eight gunboats. Nevertheless the northern angle of one of the principal forts was silenced by our fire.
Preparatory to this, it was necessary that they should lay in sufficient store of provisions. General Leslie had been preparing for this necessity and, late in July, a numerous fleet of small vessels, conveying eight hundred men, and convoyed by galleys and armed brigs, left Charleston to proceed, as it was conjectured, against Georgetown. This compelled Marion to hasten in that direction.
I expected to have seen an immense floating platform, but the vessels which we saw, were made like brigs of an unusual breadth, with two low masts. The sincerity of this project has been much disputed, but that the french government expended considerable sums upon the scheme, I have no doubt.
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