ber 9 spoke a Swedish brig.

This was the last that was ever heard of the gallant Wasp. She never
again appeared, and no trace of any of those aboard her was ever found.
Whether she was wrecked on some desert coast, whether she foundered
in some furious gale, or what befell her none ever knew. All that is
certain is that she perished, and that all on board her met death in
some one of the myriad forms in which it must always be faced by those
who go down to the sea in ships; and when she sank there sank one of the
most gallant ships of the American navy, with as brave a captain and
crew as ever sailed from any port of the New World.

THE "GENERAL ARMSTRONG" PRIVATEER

We have fought such a fight for a day and a night
As may never be fought again!
We have won great glory, my men!
And a day less or more
At sea or ashore,
We die--does it matter when?
--Tennyson.

In the revolution, and again in the war of 1812, the seas were covered
by swift-sailing American privateers, which preyed on the British
trade. The hardy seamen of the New England coast, and of New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, turned readily from their adventurous
careers in the whalers that followed the giants of the ocean in every
sea and every clime, and from trading voyages to the uttermost parts
of the earth, to go into the business of privateering, which was more
remunerative, and not so very much more dangerous, than their ordinary
pursuits. By the end of the war of 1812, in particular, the American
privateers had won for themselves a formidable position on the ocean.
The schooners, brigs, and brigantines in which the privateersmen sailed
were beautifully modeled, and were among the fastest craft afloat. They
were usually armed with one heavy gun, the "long Tom," as it was called,
arranged on a pivot forward or amidships, and with a few lighter pieces
of cannon. They carried strong crews of well-armed men, and their
commanders were veteran seamen, used to brave every danger from the
elements or from man. So boldly did they prey on the British commerce,
that they infested even the Irish Sea and the British Channel, and
increased many times the rate of insurance on vessels passing across
those waters. They also often did battle with the regular men-of-war of
the British, being favorite objects for attack by cutting-out parties
from the British frigates and ships of the line, and also frequently
encoun