About the middle of May, in the year 1813, having a great desire to engage in some adventure; and hoping that fortune would smile upon my undertakings, I purchased of Messrs. Coddington & Thorp, of New-York, one quarter of an old Sloop called the Rover; for which I paid one hundred and twenty-five dollars. Messrs. Coddington & Thorp, and Captain Silus S. Vail, were owners of the other three-quarters. The Rover was an old condemned sea vessel, having old thin sails, two deck beams broken, without top-mast, and a large piece of leather two feet square nailed over a rotten plank in her bottom. As this was during the last war between the United States and England, the port of New-York and our whole north-eastern coast was closely blockaded by English shipping. It therefore became necessary for our citizens to transport large quantities of flour and other commodities from Baltimore and adjoining towns, to New-York by land; and from thence to be conveyed to the Eastern markets. The expense of transporting flour and other heavy articles by land, caused speculators and traders to seek shipments by water to Eastern ports. Freights of course were high, and but little attention paid by merchants to the crafts they chartered. A number of old vessels were offered for freight, the Rover rating No. 1 among them. The carrying business being well up, and much in that line offering, I embraced a proposal of one dollar per barrel for transporting 500 barrels of flour and 70 barrels of bread from New-York to Providence, Rhode Island. I sailed from New-York about the 20th of May, intending to run through the most exposed places in the night, watching the movements of the blockading vessels closely, and when I got into a good harbor I intended to remain there until another dark night. In heavy gales of wind the blockading ships generally put to sea for their own safety; which gave me an opportunity to make my passage unmolested. I arrived, after a passage of forty-eight hours, at Stonington, Connecticut, without discovering any of the vessels of the enemy. I found a number of vessels had taken shelter in that harbor to avoid an English frigate which was cruising between Block Island and Newport. I remained at Stonington a few days, when a dark night appearing, I again made sail, and arrived at Providence, my port of destination, in safety. We landed our cargo, and Mr. Thorp, one of the owners, who had accompanied me for that purpose, was left to dispose of it.