He accompanied me to the cabin, and I showed him the papers that convinced him of the actual state of war between the two countries. As soon as he examined them he returned on board his ship, and the captain of the Camperdown came to make a formal surrender of his vessel. Resistance was useless, as she had only two small guns for signaling purposes, to oppose to our seven large guns, and a crew ready for battle, and considerably outnumbering hers.
"We have been driven out of our course by contrary winds," said the captain, "or you would not have found us here."
"But I might have found you farther to the north," I replied, "as it was my intention to run in that direction till I should be on the track of vessels from England to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland."
Then, by way of consolation, I expressed my opinion that it was a great hardship that a declaration of war carried with it the right to make prizes of an enemy's ships on the sea the moment the declaration was made.
"It seems to me," said I, "that it would be only fair and right that there should be a limit of time to enable all who are afloat to reach a safe harbor. But we must take law and custom as we find them, not as we think they should be, and therefore the Camperdown is the prize of the Marguerite."
The English captain acquiesced in my views; in fact, it was not easy for him to do otherwise, and then we proceeded to the arrangement for the transfer of the property from its former to its new holders.
The prize I had taken was a valuable one. The ship was nearly new, and was named after the town in Holland where Admiral Duncan (afterwards Viscount of Camperdown) gained his great victory over the Dutch in 1797. She had an assorted cargo of goods intended for the colonies, and of the very kind that would be marketable in the United States; and in addition to the goods, she had about thirty thousand dollars worth of British gold and silver coin. I was very well satisfied with my prize, and it is unnecessary to state that my crew was elated at our success, though many of them were disappointed that we had gained our victory without a fight.
"Never mind, my lads," said the mate, when he overheard some of the men murmuring; "you'll get your stomachs full of fighting before the war is over."
The captain of the Camperdown said he had twelve passengers on board, including two British officers with their families and servants, and two civilian passengers. It had been arranged that the crew would be transferred to the Marguerite and detained in the hold as prisoners, their place being taken by a prize-crew from the schooner to work the Camperdown into New York. The officers of the ship would also be prisoners, according to the rules of war, but what should be done with the passengers?
"They will be more comfortable on board the ship," I suggested, "than in our restricted quarters here. They can remain there on condition that the gentlemen give their parole of honor not to take part in or countenance any effort to retake the ship."