ubt but
the chase would alter her course in the night, yet, as it was uncertain
what tack she would go upon, it was thought more prudent to keep on our
course, as we must by this means unavoidably near her, than to change it
on conjecture, when, if we should mistake, we must infallibly lose her.
Thus, then, we continued the chase about an hour and a half in the dark,
someone or other on board us constantly imagining they discerned her
sails right ahead of us; but at last Mr. Brett, then our second
lieutenant, did really discover her about four points on the
larboard-bow, steering off to the seaward. We immediately clapped the
helm a-weather and stood for her, and in less than an hour came up with
her, and having fired fourteen shots at her, she struck. Our third
lieutenant, Mr. Dennis, was sent in the boat with sixteen men to take
possession of the prize and to return the prisoners to our ship. This
ship was named the "Santa Teresa de Jesus", built at Guayaquil, of about
three hundred tons burthen, and was commanded by Bartolome Urrunaga, a
Biscayer. She was bound from Guayaquil to Callao; her loading consisted
of timber, cacao, cocoa-nuts, tobacco, hides, Pito thread (which is very
strong and is made of a species of grass) Quito cloth, wax, etc. The
specie on board her was inconsiderable, being principally small silver
money and not amounting to more than 170 pounds sterling. It is true her
cargo was of great value, could we have disposed of it, but the Spaniards
having strict orders never to ransom their ships, all the goods that we
took in these seas, except what little we had occasion for ourselves,
were of no advantage to us. Indeed, though we could make no profit
thereby ourselves, it was some satisfaction to us to consider that it was
so much really lost to the enemy, and that the despoiling them was no
contemptible branch of that service in which we were now employed by our
country.

I have before observed that at the beginning of this chase the Centurion
ran her two consorts out of sight, for which reason we lay by all the
night, after we had taken the prize, for Captain Saunders and Lieutenant
Suamarez to join us, firing guns and making false fires every half-hour
to prevent their passing us unobserved; but they were so far astern that
they neither heard nor saw any of our signals and were not able to come
up with us till broad daylight. When they had joined us we proceeded
together to the northward, being now