Captain Bingham of the “Little Belt,” a British corvette, rated at twenty guns, gave a very different account of the affair. He had been ordered from Bermuda to carry despatches to the “Guerriere;” had run north toward New York without finding her; and on his return southward, at eleven o’clock on the morning of May 16, had seen a strange sail, to which he gave chase. At two o’clock in the afternoon, concluding that she was an American frigate, he abandoned the chase, and resumed his course. The rest of his story is to be told in his own words:[33]-- “Hoisted the colors, and made all sail south, ... the stranger edging away, but not making any more sail. At 3.30 he made sail in chase.... At 6.30, finding he gained so considerably on us as not to be able to elude him during the night, being within gunshot, and clearly discerning the stars in his broad pennant, I imagined the most prudent method was to bring to, and hoist the colors, that no mistake might arise, and that he might see what we were. The ship was therefore brought to, her colors hoisted, her guns double-shotted, and every preparation made in case of a surprise. By his manner of steering down, he evidently wished to lay his ship in a position for raking, which I frustrated by wearing three times. At about 8.15 he came within hail. I hailed and asked what ship it was. He again repeated my words and fired a broadside, which I instantly returned. The action then became general, and continued so for three quarters of an hour, when he ceased firing, and appeared to be on fire about the main hatchway. He then filled, ... hailed, and asked what ship this was. He fired no more guns, but stood from us, giving no reason for his most extraordinary conduct.” Bingham’s report was afterward supported by the evidence of his two lieutenants, his boatswain, purser, and surgeon, at the official inquiry made May 29, at Halifax.[34] Rodgers’s report was sustained by the searching inquiry made by the American government to ascertain the truth of Bingham’s assertions.[35] The American investigation was naturally much more thorough in consequence of Bingham’s charges, so that not only every officer, but also every seaman of the “President’s” company gave evidence under oath. All agreed in swearing to the facts as they have been related in the American story.