hey carried their prizes. They
kept possession of the place for some considerable time,
bidding defiance to the authorities on that coast. Governor
Claibourne, of Louisiana, afterwards issued a proclamation,
offering these pirates a free pardon on condition that they
would join the army then under command of General Jackson, for
the defence of New Orleans. They accepted of the Governor's
terms, repaired to that place with all their men, and put
themselves under the command of the General, who placed them in
the hottest part of the battle, where they fought in the most
gallant manner. Lafitte and Mitchell both held commissions
under the government of the Republic of Columbia at this time.

The staple produce of the above named island is cotton. The soil is
fertile and produces plantains, yams, sweet potatoes, and Tropical
fruits in abundance. The inhabitants raise plenty of hogs and poultry,
which they fatten on cocoa nuts, the oil from which, while fresh, is
equal to lard for cooking fish, &c. and after it becomes rancid burns
well in lamps.

About the first of January, 1816, I made a contract with the Messrs.
Cotheal & Hoff and Mr. A. S. Hallett, merchants of New-York, to take
charge of a small sloop called the Biddle, of thirty-two tons burthen. I
was to proceed to Musquito Shore, land at the island of Old Providence,
(if I saw no suspicious looking vessels in the harbor;) and open a trade
with the Indians for the purchase of tortoise shell, which was very
valuable at this time; these Indians furnish large quantities of that
article. I likewise had orders to exchange my goods for hides,
deer-skins, cochineal, gum elastic or India rubber, gum copal, cotton,
fustic, sarsaparilla, &c.

I took on board an assorted cargo, calculated for a barter trade. As I
was totally unacquainted with the trade, this voyage was considered an
experimental trip. On my arrival the inhabitants informed me that they
had not seen the American flag flying there for the last fourteen years.

I could not procure any correct charts of that coast. I found many
shoals that never had made their appearance on any chart, so little had
these seas been surveyed. I suppose young mariners have less difficulty
in that respect now, as Queen Victoria has become god-mother to the
young king of Musquito Shore, and taken him under her parental care, to
assist him in robbing his neighbors' territories.