ort, was fired
the first foreign salute to the Stars and Stripes, the first salute
which recognized the United States as a sovereign nation.

It was on the 16th of November, 1776, that the brig _Andrea Doria_,
fourteen guns, third of the infant American navy of five vessels, under
the command of Josiah Robinson, sailed into the open roadstead of St.
Eustatius, and dropped anchor almost under the guns of Fort Oranje.

"She could have chosen no more fitting name," writes Fenger, "than that
of the famous townsman of Columbus.... The _Andrea Doria_ may have
attracted but little attention as she appeared in the offing ... but,
with the quick eyes of seafarers, the guests of Howard's Tavern had
probably left their rum for a moment to have their first glimpse of a
strange flag which they all knew must be that of the new republic.

"Abraham Ravene, commandant of the fort, lowered the red-white-and-blue
flag of Holland in recognition of the American ship. In return, the
_Andrea Doria_ fired a salute.

"This put the commandant in a quandary. Anchored not far from the
_Andrea Doria_ was a British ship. The enmity of the British for
Holland, and especially against Statia, was no secret.

"In order to shift the responsibility, Ravene went to consult De Graeff,
the governor. De Graeff had already seen the _Andrea Doria_, for Ravene
met him in the streets of the Upper Town. A clever lawyer and a keen
business man, the governor had already made up his mind when Ravene
spoke.

"'Two guns less than the national salute,'" was the order.

"And, so, the United States was for the first time recognized as a
nation by this salute of eleven guns.

"For this act, De Graeff was subsequently recalled to Holland, but he
was reinstated as Governor of Statia, and held that position when the
island was taken by Rodney in 1781. The Dutch made no apology to
England."

Saba, which lies close to Statia, depends for its interest on its
location. It is but an old volcanic crater, sticking up out of the sea,
in the interior of which a town has been built. As a writer describes
it, "if the citizens of this town--which is most fitly called
Bottom--wish to look at the sea, they must climb to the rim of the
crater, as flies would crawl to the edge of a tea-cup, and look over.
They will see the ocean directly below them at the foot of a precipice
some 1,300 feet high. To go down to the sea it is necessary to take a
path with a slope like the roof of a