On a signal being made we were ordered on board the commodore's ship. My vessel being old and shabby, I thought it best to keep on my working clothes to show my apparent poverty, which would excite some sympathy, but I had a good suit of clothes in my chest. When I got on board I found I was in his majesty's ship Ramillies, Sir T. W. Hardy, commander. I cast my eyes about in as awkward a manner as I could; the officers gathered round to have a little sport with a poor Yankee. They commenced their conversation by asking me if I were ever on board of a seventy-four before; I answered in the negative. The captain of marines then, taking hold of my striped cotton pantaloons, asked me if we made such fine cloth as that in our country. I told him a little, just to cover our nakedness during the war. Soon after a message came for me to go aft to see the commodore. I thought I would show myself very submissive by taking off my hat and putting it under my arm. The first salutation I had from him was, "Put on your hat, sir. Did you know that we were lying here." "Yes, sir," was my reply. He said, "How dare you venture out." I answered that I had been lying at Stonington a number of days, waiting for a dark night to get past him. He then told me he must burn my vessel and send me to Halifax. I told him if the sentence was irrevocable, I had nothing to offer. I then left him and went forward and sat down on a gun in a pensive manner. He soon accosted me by asking me to go and get some breakfast, saying, "If I keep you I will not starve you to death." I thanked him, but told him I had taken breakfast before I left his prize. I kept my seat on the gun for a long time, until I excited the attention of the sailors, one of whom accosted me by saying, "Captain, don't look so sorrowful, our captain is a damned clever fellow; I guess he will give up your old serving mallet," as he called my sloop. "Yes," said another, "I would willingly give up my share, for it will not be enough to make more than a glass of grog apiece." The officers made themselves merry by passing many jokes with me, supposing they had a green Yankee to sport with. In the afternoon the commodore said, pointing towards my vessel, "That is a fine large sloop of yours; can't you give me fifteen hundred dollars for her; I am going to send two officers on board to prize her." I told him that was three times more than she was worth, and five times more than I was worth; that she was an old condemned vessel; that he could not send her to Halifax or Bermuda. I told him I thought if I could get on shore I could raise one hundred dollars, and perhaps that would be a compensation for the trouble he had in capturing her; that I presumed he would make a target of her to fire at if he retained her. He then left me: about half-an-hour after he called me into his cabin and said that he wanted to raise a little money to distribute among his crew; that he had not enough to allow one dollar apiece to them.