e reply
is that the brig had been in commission since the end of
1812,--sixteen months; time sufficient to bring even an indifferent
crew to a very reasonable degree of efficiency, yet not enough to
cause serious deterioration of material. That after the punishment
received the men refused to board, if discreditable to them under the
conditions, is discreditable also to the captain; not to his courage,
but to his hold upon the men whom he had commanded so long. The
establishment of the "Epervier's" inefficiency certainly detracts from
the distinction of the "Peacock's" victory; but it was scarcely her
fault that her adversary was not worthier, and it does not detract
from her credit for management and gunnery, considering that the
combat began with the loss of her own foresails, and ended with
forty-five shot in the hull, and five feet of water in the hold, of
her antagonist.

By dark of the day of action the prize was in condition to make sail,
and the "Peacock's" yard had been fished and again sent aloft. The two
vessels then steered north for Savannah. The next evening two British
frigates appeared. Captain Warrington directed the "Epervier" to keep
on close along shore, while he stood southward to draw away the enemy.
This proved effective; the "Epervier" arriving safely May 2 at the
anchorage at the mouth of the Savannah River, where the "Peacock"
rejoined her on the 4th. The "Adams," Captain Morris, was also there;
having arrived from the coast of Africa on the day of the fight, and
sailing again a week after it, May 5, for another cruise.

On June 4 the "Peacock" also started upon a protracted cruise, from
which she returned to New York October 30, after an absence of one
hundred and forty-seven days.[252] She followed the Gulf Stream,
outside the line of British blockaders, to the Banks of Newfoundland,
thence to the Azores, and so on to Ireland; off the south of which,
between Waterford and Cape Clear, she remained for four days. After
this she passed round the west coast, and to the northward as far as
Shetland and the Faroe Islands. She then retraced her course, crossed
the Bay of Biscay, and ran along the Portuguese coast; pursuing in
general outline the same path as that in which the "Wasp" very soon
afterwards followed. Fourteen prizes were taken; of which twelve were
destroyed, and two utilized as cartels to carry prisoners to England.
Of the whole number, one only was seized from September 2, when the