dressed mulatto man, who asked the clerk where we were going. The clerk related the story to him, and he volunteered his service to defend my cause, and accompanied us to the court room. After we got inside of the door I discovered a sentry dressed in full uniform, with side arms, walking in front of the door. As I entered the court room I took off my hat to show some respect to the honorable black justice. Soon after, my antagonist, the cook, entered the door with his hat on his head, when the sentry approached him without uttering a word and struck him a heavy blow with his flat hand on the side of his head, which knocked his hat across the room; this caused the poor fellow to look amazed for a few moments, when he picked up his hat very carefully. The trial was soon called on. I related the whole story by my interpreter, and the judge, without calling a witness on either side, decided that I should pay him the same amount of money I had offered him, and that he should pay the costs, which was one dollar and fifty cents, being one-half the sum he recovered from me. When I returned to the wharf to go on board my vessel I found the poor fellow had been impressed, and sentenced to go on board of a man-of-war, and was then lodged in the guard house. He sent a message to me imploring my pardon, and begging my assistance to obtain his release. About this time there was a very great excitement raised in the city in consequence of the circulation of counterfeit coin, in imitation of the government silver, and a story had been circulated that a considerable quantity of this spurious silver was expected from Baltimore. As several vessels arrived from that place soon after, they were strictly searched, by boring barrels of flour, breaking open boxes and packages of goods, by custom house officers, and otherwise searching them. After some days it was discovered that the counterfeit coin was brought from Jamaica by a Jew, who had been lurking about the city. He was arrested and brought before the president for trial, and a report circulated that he would certainly be hanged. The president sent for a silver-smith to examine the coin, who pronounced it to be one-half pure silver, while the government coin was only one-tenth part silver: upon which the president said, "Damn him, let him go, for his money is better than ours."