he Havannah. This news
elated us. We were all lynx-eyed and on the alert. The youngsters were
constantly at the masthead with glasses, in the sanguine hope of being the
first to announce such good fortune. Alas! we cruised from the mouth of
the Mississippi to the Bay of Campechy for five long weeks, at the period
of which we saw a vessel we made certain was that which was to make our
fortunes, and our heads were filled with keeping our kittereens and having
famous champagne dinners at Spanish Town. After a chase of seven hours, we
came up with her, but judge of our chagrin! She was the same rig as the
American captain described. I was sent on board her, and expected to have
returned with the boat laden with ingots, bars of gold and silver cobs.
Oh, mortification! not easily to be effaced! On examining her, she proved,
with the exception of four barrels of quicksilver, to have no cargo of any
value. I really was so disappointed that I was ashamed to return on board,
and when I did, and made my report, there was a complete metamorphosis of
faces. Those that were naturally short became a fathom in length, and
those that were long frightful to behold. The order was given to burn her
and take out the seven Spaniards who composed her crew. On interrogating
the patroon, or master, of her, he informed us that the vessel with the
precious metal had sailed from Mexico two months before, and had arrived
at the Havannah. The Yankee captain who had given us this false
information, and made us for five weeks _poissons d'Avril_, was remembered
in our prayers; whether they ascended or descended is a problem unsolved.
We remained in the Gulf of Mexico jogging backwards and forwards, like an
armadillo in an enclosure, for ten days longer, and then shaped our course
for the coast of Cuba, looked into the Havannah, saw nothing which
appeared ready for sailing, and made all sail for the Florida shore. The
following morning it was very foggy, when about noon we had the felicity
of finding that the ship had, without notice, placed herself very
comfortably on a coral reef, where she rested as composedly as grandmamma
in her large armchair. We lost no time in getting the boats and an anchor
out in the direction from whence we came. Fortunately it was nearly calm,
otherwise the ship must have been wrecked. The process of getting her off
was much longer than that of getting her on. The mids, I understood,
declared she was tired of the cruise and wis