Now we two, Phil and I, began to ask ourselves if we were regularly drafted to Mr. Downes's fleet, or whether we had been taken for that one cruise only; and, ashamed though I should be to confess it, there was a great hope in my heart that in the future we would be forced to remain on board the Essex when there was any more cutting out to be done.
Before another day had come to an end we of the gun-deck learned, through one of the marines, as a matter of course, that Captain Porter had decided to equip the Georgiana as a cruiser, with Lieutenant Downes as commander. By so doing he would have an able assistant in searching for the enemy, and also a consort on which the crew of the Essex might find refuge in case of any serious injury to the frigate.
And now it was that, remaining at sea as if we were in dock, the work of making the fleet ready for service was begun; and the old shellbacks insisted that by so doing we were adding to the marvellous achievements of our ship. She had sailed halfway around the world, depending upon the enemy for supplies, going where there could be no possibility of receiving assistance in case she was overtaken by disaster,—which was something that had never been attempted before,—and now we were to eclipse even that feat by remodelling the enemy's merchantmen into war vessels while in mid-ocean, using for the purpose supplies we had just captured.
If ever there was a case of living on the enemy, ours surely was this situation.
From this day until the difficult task had been performed every man and boy was kept busy from early dawn until darkness rendered it difficult to see what we were about; and in this general furbishing our own ship was not neglected. The rigging of the Essex was overhauled and tarred; strained spars were replaced by new ones, and the frigate was given a complete coat of paint.
The Georgiana was transformed by the taking down of her try-work, which had been used for getting oil from the blubber of whales, and all the small arms from the other prizes were sent on board. She was given her full complement of guns, those from the Policy being transshipped, and on the 18th day of May Lieutenant Commandant Downes hoisted the American pennant on board the Georgiana, 16, firing a salute of seventeen guns, all of which were answered by the Essex, while the remaining prizes made as much noise as was possible.
We had a great celebration that day when a new ship was added to the United States Navy, and the cooks did their share toward it by filling our duff so full of plums that one could almost believe he was eating a regular, home-made pudding.
The manning of our prizes cost us so many of our crew that after all the ships were in sailing trim we had on board the Essex only two hundred and sixty-four, including officers, a small number, as Master Hackett declared, to handle the frigate in case we found ourselves in action,—an event which seemed only too probable when it should be known in England what mischief we were working among the whalers.
Our new man-of-war was given a fair trial to prove whether she was as good a sailer as had been believed, and we soon learned that the Britishers were decidedly at fault regarding her. She could not hold her own with the Essex even under the most favorable circumstances; but yet she was by no means a tub, and might be of great service before falling in with an enemy sufficiently heavy to send her to the bottom.