in revolt against the mother country.
Privateering, having booty as its sole motive, rapidly tends to
indiscriminate robbery, if not held strictly responsible by the country
using it; and the remote, extensive, and secluded shores of Cuba, Haiti,
and the South American coast defied the careless supervision of the weak
Spanish Government. When within a few days' sail of the United States,
the America fell in with an armed brig showing the colors of the new
Colombian republic; but a flag was little guarantee for the character of
a vessel if other signs told against her. Farragut describes both
captain and crew of the America as being so overwhelmed with fear that,
though expecting no mercy, they entertained no idea of resistance. Under
the circumstances he took command; and having, fortunately, as
passengers two seamen from the squadron going home sick, these formed a
nucleus around which rallied the courage of the others, paralyzed only
through disuse. It was, however, the firmness of the lad of eighteen,
supported by his position as an officer and acting upon the two men
prepared to recognize him as such, that redeemed the others from
imbecility to manhood. The incident had no results, the stranger proving
to be a regularly commissioned cruiser, and treating them with civility.
Farragut's thoughtful, not to say philosophical, turn of mind was shown
in his recorded reflections upon the difference between the conduct of
the man-of-war's men and the merchant seamen, which he justly attributed
not to inherent difference of natural courage, but to the habit of arms
and of contemplating danger under a particular form.

On the 20th of November, 1820, Farragut again landed in the United
States, having been absent four years and a half. He felt himself a
stranger, having left as a mere boy, and knowing no one but Commodore
Porter and his family. His examination soon followed, and was passed;
but apparently not quite to his own satisfaction. A period of
comparative quiet followed, spent principally in Norfolk, Virginia,
during which he formed the attachment which resulted in his first
marriage. In May, 1822, he was again ordered to sea in the sloop-of-war
John Adams, in which he made a short cruise in the Gulf of Mexico and to
Vera Cruz, where the Spanish power in Mexico was then making its last
stand in the well-known fortress, San Juan de Ulloa. The ship returned
to the United States early in December, 1822, when Farragut found