[47] This is the only record of a punishment inflicted upon one of the crew during the whole cruise. As will later appear one of the Officers became subject for censure on several occasions.
[48] Baft, or bafta, was a coarse stuff of India cotton.
[49] The Yankee in firing aimed to disable—not to destroy her possible prizes.
[50] In comparing the edifying music of the marines with the ungodly songs of the sailors the gentle reader will do well to bear in mind the fact that the writer was the Captain of Marines.
[51] This was true in more ways than one as the Fly was recaptured by the British. The gold dust she had accumulated reached Bristol in the Yankee.
[52] The small size of the vessel suggests the Pinta and the Niña of the fleet of Columbus.
[53] Mr. Vinson’s indisposition was probably due to drunkenness, as will appear from subsequent entries. His case was an unusual one for a Privateersman.
[54] Query, Were there others suffering from the Vinsonian malady?
[55] Descriptions like this, which occur frequently in the Journals of American merchantmen, were carefully read by ship owners, and mastered by the Captains sent to trade with foreign ports.
[56] The two islands, Ascension and Saint Helena, which was later to become famous as the prison of Napoleon Bonaparte, were both made “Ports of Call” for the Yankee.