A sail to the north being announced, the signalman went aloft and reported a square-rigged vessel before the wind. On deck he expressed his opinion that she was a man-of-war. We expected none from that direction. He judged from the squareness of her yards, and soon described her as an 18 gun sloop. He had counted the cloths in her main topgallant sail; later, when he could see the foreyard above the horizon, he pronounced her as from home. I thought this a rather strong assertion, and inquired: “How the deuce he could tell?” He drew my attention to three mid-ship cloths of the fore-topsail being discoloured. “What had that to do with it?” He explained that the look-out men were young hands, and their stomachs could not stand the difference of motion in a swell. She proved to be the _Modeste_, 18, commanded by Harry Eyres, just from home. [Sidenote: Feb. 20.] Arrived at Lagos, having had but one chase since leaving West Bay, and she proved to be _Fair Rosamond_. Fell in with senior officer, and from him learned our orders were to return home. What is very provoking, they had been out some six months; I had been promoted December 5, 1837. There was also a letter from the Admiral, desiring me to proceed to Spithead in October of last year! We found _Scout_, _Dolphin_, and _Pelican_, with whom we remained a day or two, to enable them to write letters for England. [Sidenote: Feb. 22.] Parted company, with orders from Popham to join the Commander-in-Chief at Ascension. Arrived at Accra, and took in stock and other necessaries. We got pretty well filled with parrots, monkeys, tiger-cats, crown birds (a beautiful species of crested stork), and all sorts of curiosities, dead and alive. Our chief object in calling here was to take leave of our friend Bannerman, whose kindness and attention to the service nothing could exceed. The Danish Governor, Lieutenant Murck, paid me a visit, and returned our parting salute. The time between quitting Accra and crossing the “Line” was the only chance we had of picking up a prize. South of the equator, if we found slavers, we were forbidden to capture them. Although ordered home in October of last year, and now a captain, I had nothing to show for it, and was sent by Commander Brunswick Popham to join the Commander-in-Chief at Ascension, in case he might have letters for England. We had toiled much and caught nothing, and were approaching the equator, on the south of which slavers were free. On going below, I thought how nice it would be if we could finish our commission by the capture of one. I was awoke just before daylight by the officer of the watch announcing something to leeward. Followed him on deck with my Dollond, and took up a position on the forecastle. There could be no mistake--the rake of her masts, the small peak to her boom mainsail, the perfect set of her sails.