Sailing across to the other side of the harbor, and tacking again, the British vessels anchored near the entrance.
Now for some time ensued a remarkable condition of affairs. The commanders met on shore and exchanged gravely the courtesies which navy men extended to one another in those days, belligerents though they were. The shore parties of both forces meeting in town, under strict orders, for a wonder, managed to keep from fighting, but they were itching to be at it.
Porter had long flown a flag of his own with the motto, “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights.”
But, as if not to be outdone, the British commander threw to the air his strips of bunting with a motto of his own: “God and Country. British Sailors’ Best Rights. Traitors Offend Both.” (It was a fallacy of the British that our ships were manned by deserters from the royal service.)
The sail-maker and his assistant were soon at work on board the American, and from the mizzen-mast of the Essex appeared the next morning:
“God, Our Country, and Liberty. Tyrants Offend Them.”
Many times had Porter tried to get a challenge from Captain Hillyar (as the Essex was the weaker vessel, he was not in a position to offer the challenge himself), and he let it be well understood that he would meet the Phoebe, in open combat, and would agree that the Essex Junior should take no hand, on the condition that the Cherub also should remain inactive.
The prudence of Captain Hillyar cannot but be commended. He was under strict orders not to run any risks; he knew his enemy was at his mercy; but the Essex had been put down, as most of our cruisers were in those days, as “a dangerous nondescript,” to quote from the British press of the time. In fact, many British frigates in the Atlantic waters, where the Constitution had gained her laurels, kept near to the great towering battle-ships—guard-ships, they were called.
It was all arranged that if the Essex should show a tendency to make her way to sea, the Phoebe and Cherub would attack her simultaneously. That was their idea in sailing in each other’s company.
Fearing that Porter might take advantage of a favorable wind to slip past them if they remained at anchor, Captain Hillyar left the harbor, and with the Phoebe proceeded to sea, where both ships patrolled up and down like sentries at a prison gate.