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short, and a great deal being required by my other avocations, will, I trust, be a sufficient apology for my not go ing more largely and minutely into the subject, as also for any inaccuracies I may have committed. I will therefore close this communication with an expression of my hopes that whatever may be proposed by the naval committee to congress on this subject, they will strongly recommend to their consideration the necessity of having what they propose for the increase of the navy of the best seasoned materials, which will be by far the cheapest, and be longer in a state for active service. I trust their past experience will prove to their satisfaction this position, that the best materials are always the cheapest, and that a slow increase is better than a hasty and temporary one, I have the honour to be, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,

CHARLES STEWART.

Honourable Paul Hamilton.
We agree with captain Stewart in the above statement,
in all its parts.
ISAAC HULL,
C. MORRIS.

Ships of the United States' Navy, 1798, 1799.

Guns.

Years.

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Statement showing the proportion of able seamen, ordinary seamen, and boys, required for a ship of the line, say a 76 and a 44 gun frigate.

A 76 requires

44

Able Seamen.

280
140

O. Seamen and boys.

233

172

Note. 280 able seamen is considered by practical men as too great a proportion for a first rate 76. The whole number of able and ordinary seamen and boys is 513: and practical men say that they may be classed thus: able seamen 220; ordinary seamen, &c. 293. It is observed by those acquainted with ships of the line, that to manage their sails does not require more able seamen than are required to manage the sails of a large frigate.

A force in frigates equal to a 76 would then require 420 able seamen; a 76 would require 220; making a difference in this respect of 220 able seamen in favor of the 76.

In 1798 and 1799 no difficulty was experienced in procuring able seamen; we could frequently in one week man a frigate. One among other considerations, which induced able seamen to enter then with so much alacrity, was, because the enemy we were then contending with had not afloat (with very few exceptions) vessels superior in rate to frigates. The enemy we are fighting have ships of the line; and our sailors know the great difference between that class of vessels and frigates, and cannot but feel a degree of reluctance at entering the service from

the evident disparity. Build ships of the line, and you will man them with more ease than you now can a sloop of war.

In 1798, 9, and 1800, we had near 4000 able seamen in the navy, a number sufficient to man eighteen ships of the line.

Ordinary seamen can always be procured in abundance.

CHAPTER VII.

Continuation of Prize List from page 214.

554 Ship Reprisal, from Scotland, for Chaleur bay, captured by the Frolic of Salem, and burnt.

555 Brig Friends, of Bristol for Pictou, captured by the same and burnt.

556 Also the brig Betsey.

557 Brig -, from Newfoundland, laden with fish, sent to Bordeaux by the letter of marque schooner Pilot, of Baltimore.

558 559, 560, 561. Four vessels captured by the Lovely Cordelia, of Charleston, and burnt.

562 Schooner

B. by a privateer boat.

cut out of Setang Harbour, N.

563 Galliot Gutte Hoffnung, of Portsmouth, (Eng.) captured by the Frolic of Salem, and burnt.

564 Brig Jane Gordon of London, 8 guns and 20 men, captured by the same, dispossessed of her valuable articles, and burnt.

565 Schooner Hunter, captured by the same, and converted into a cartel.

566 Ship Grotius of London, captured by ditto, and sent into Portland.

567 568. Schooners Vigilant and Susan, captured by ditto, and given up to the prisoners.

569 Sloop

laden with dry goods, sent into Ellsworth, by a privateer boat belonging to Beer Island. 570 His Britannic majesty's ship Detroit, 19 guns

and two howitzers, captured on Lake Erie, by cominodore Perry.

571 His Britannic majesty's ship Queen Charlotte, 17 guns and howitzer, captured on ditto, by ditto.

572 His Britannic majesty's schooner Lady Prevost, captured by ditto, on ditto.

573 His Britannic majesty's brig Hunter, captured by ditto, on ditto.

574 His Britannic majesty's sloop Little Belt, captured on ditto, by ditto.

575 His Britannic majesty's schooner Chippaway, captured by ditto, on ditto.

576 Brig from Lisbon for London, laden with wool, rice and cotton, captured by the letter of marque schooner Grampus, of Baltimore, on her passage from France, and burnt.

577, 578 Two small vessels captured by the privateer boat Terrible of Salem.

579 Schooner, Lilly, from Port au Prince for London, captured by the letter of marque schooner Pilot of Baltimore, and given up after taking out some sugars, &c.

580 Brig Mary-Ann, from St. Lucie for St. John's, laden with 180 puncheons of rum, and 147 hhds. molasses, captured by the same, and ransomed for 4000 dollars. 581 Brig captured by the letter of marque General Armstrong, on her passage to France and burnt. 582, 583 A brig and a sloop, sent into Machias, by the Industry of Salem.

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584 Packet Lapwing, captured by the Rattlesnake privateer, (fitted out at Bordeaux) and sent into Falmouth

as a cartel.

585, 586 Two ships taken by the True Blooded Yankee, and sent into France.

587 Sloop Traveller, with a cargo of 52 packages of dry goods, 13 casks red wine, 70 crates crockery ware, 68 casks of copperas, 15 hhds. allum, 4 do. sugar, sent into Machias, by the privateer boat Lark.

588 Packet Duke of Montrose, captured by the Presi

dent frigate, and sent to England as a cartel.

589 Brig Jane and Ann, captured by ditto, and sunk: 590 Brig Daphne, captured by ditto, and sunk,

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591 Ship Eliza, 8 guns, captured by ditto, and ransomed for 50007.

592 Brig Alert, captured by ditto, and burnt.

593 Barque Lion, of 8 guns, captured by ditto, and ransomed for 30007.

594"His majesty's" schooner Highflyer, 5 guns, captured by ditto, and brought into Newport, R. I.

595 Ship Industry, sent into Bergen (Norway) by the True Blooded Yankee, and there sold.

526 Ship London Packet, 14 guns, from Buenos Ayres, for London, laden with 16,000 hides, &c. captured by the letter of marque brig Argus, of Boston, on her voyage from France, and sent into Boston, where the brig also arrived. The prize is estimated at $160,000.

597 Brig Atlantic, from Trinidad for Cork, laden with 432 hhds. sugar, 90 seroons of Indigo, and other valuable commodities, captured by the same and ordered for the United States. The indigo, worth 18 or 20,000 dollars, was taken out of the prize.

598 Brig Jane, captured by ditto, and ransomed, to dispose of the prisoners taken in the above.

599 Brig Jane, in ballast, captured by the Snap Dragon, and given up to dispose of her prisoners.

600 Brig Venus, captured by ditto and ditto.

601 Schooner Elizabeth, captured by ditto, divested of her valuable articles, and given up.

602, 603 Brig Happy and barque Reprisal, captured by ditto, and ditto.

604 British privateer schooner Dart, six 9 lb. carronades and six swivels, captured by the U. S. revenue cutter Vigilant, captain Cahoone, and carried into Newport, off which she had been committing many depredations.

605 Schooner Salamanca, of Poole, from Oporto to Newfoundland, destroyed.

606 Brig Susannah, from Madeira to London, cargo destroyed; vessel sent to England with prisoners.

Schooner Matilda, an American privateer, captured by the Lion privateer, and since recaptured, and sent to England.

607 Brig Richard, from Gibraltar to London, destroyed.

608 Brig Fowey, from Limerick with provisions, destroyed.

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