Captain Palmer next took command of the schooner _Cadet_, owned by Borrows & Spooner, of New York, on board of which he made a number of voyages to the Spanish Main. In 1826 he took the brig _Tampico_ to Carthagena, and upon his return he married a daughter of Major Paul Babcock and sister of Captain David S. Babcock, afterwards famous as commander of the clipper ships _Sword-Fish_ and _Young America_, and subsequently President of the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Captain Palmer then took the brig _Francis_ on several voyages to Europe, and in 1829 was in command of the brig _Anawan_, exploring new sealing-grounds among the islands about Cape Horn. In 1833 he took command of the New Orleans packet ship _Huntsville_, and then of the _Hibernia_, _Garrick_, and _Siddons_. In 1842 and the years following, as we have seen, he commanded the clippers _Paul Jones_, _Houqua_, _Samuel Russell_, and _Oriental_, and in 1850 retired from the sea. At this time he was well known, not only among his neighbors and friends at Stonington, but in the great seaports of Europe and China as “Captain Nat,” and many of those who talked about what he had said and what he had done were apparently unaware that he possessed any other name. It is pleasant to reflect that the neighboring seaport of Bristol has perpetuated the title in one who is respected and beloved, not more for his genius than for his modesty and reserve. It was, of course, impossible for a man of Captain Palmer’s earnest temperament and varied activities to lead a life of pleasure and idleness, so one of the first things that he did upon his retirement was to take the auxiliary steamship _United States_ from New York to Bremen where she was sold. When some of his friends rallied him, asking whether he considered this giving up the sea, Captain Palmer replied, “Well, I really don’t know how you can call a trip like this going to sea.” For many years Captain Palmer was the confidential adviser of A. A. Low & Brother in all matters relating to their ships, which occupied a considerable portion of his time, and while he was a seaman _par excellence_, he also possessed other accomplishments. He had much knowledge of the design and construction of ships, and many of his suggestions were embodied in the _Houqua_, _Samuel Russell_, _Oriental_, and other ships subsequently owned by the Lows. He was also a fine all-round sportsman, being a skilful yachtsman, excellent shot, and truthful fisherman. Altogether, he owned some fifteen yachts, and he was one of the earliest members of the New York Yacht Club, joining on June 7, 1845. The beautiful schooner _Juliet_, of seventy tons, designed by himself, was the last yacht owned by him. On board of her he sailed, summer after summer, upon the pleasant waters of the New England coast that he had known from boyhood and loved so well.