ne small, narrow riband
of red--her raking masts were clean scraped--her topmasts, her
cross-trees, caps, and even running-blocks, were painted in pure white.
Awnings were spread fore and aft to protect the crew from the powerful
rays of the sun; her ropes were hauled taut; and in every point she wore
the appearance of being under the control of seamanship and strict
discipline. Through the clear smooth water her copper shone brightly;
and as you looked over her taffrail down into the calm blue sea, you
could plainly discover the sandy bottom beneath her, and the anchor
which then lay under her counter. A small boat floated astern, the
weight of the rope which attached her appearing, in the perfect calm, to
draw her towards the schooner.

We must now go on board, and our first cause of surprise will be the
deception relative to the tonnage of the schooner, when viewed from a
distance. Instead of a small vessel of about ninety tons, we discover
that she is upwards of two hundred; that her breadth of beam is
enormous; and that those spars, which appeared so light and elegant, are
of unexpected dimensions. Her decks are of narrow fir planks, without
the least spring or rise; her ropes are of Manilla hemp, neatly secured
to copper belaying-pins, and coiled down on the deck, whose whiteness is
well contrasted with the bright green paint of her bulwarks: her
capstern and binnacles are cased in fluted mahogany, and ornamented with
brass; metal stanchions protect the skylights, and the bright muskets
are arranged in front of the mainmast, while the boarding-pikes are
lashed round the mainboom.

In the centre of the vessel, between the fore and main masts, there is a
long brass 32-pounder fixed upon a carriage revolving in a circle, and
so arranged that in bad weather it can be lowered down and _housed_;
while on each side of her decks are mounted eight brass guns of smaller
calibre and of exquisite workmanship. Her build proves the skill of the
architect; her fitting-out, a judgment in which nought has been
sacrificed to, although everything has been directed by, taste; and her
neatness and arrangement, that, in the person of her commander, to the
strictest discipline there is united the practical knowledge of a
thorough seaman. How, indeed, otherwise could she have so long continued
her lawless yet successful career? How could it have been possible to
unite a crew of miscreants, who feared not God nor man, most of whom had
p