Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is enclosed in _underscores_; boldface text is enclosed in =equals signs=. Additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook. THE HISTORY OF OUR NAVY [Illustration: CHASING A SLAVER, OFF THE AFRICAN COAST. _From a photograph, in the possession of Mr. Edward Trenchard, of the painting by Melbye._] THE HISTORY OF OUR NAVY FROM ITS ORIGIN TO THE PRESENT DAY 1775–1897 BY JOHN R. SPEARS AUTHOR OF “THE PORT OF MISSING SHIPS,” “THE GOLD DIGGINGS OF CAPE HORN,” ETC. WITH MORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS MAPS AND DIAGRAMS _IN FOUR VOLUMES_ _VOLUME III._ NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 1897 COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS MANHATTAN PRESS 474 W. BROADWAY NEW YORK TO ALL WHO WOULD SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I. WHEN PORTER SWEPT THE PACIFIC 1 The Story of the Second Cruise of the Famous Little Frigate _Essex_--Around Cape Horn and Alone in the Broad South Sea--Capture of a Peruvian Picaroon--Disguising the _Essex_--The British Whaling Fleet Taken by Surprise--An Armed Whaler Transformed into a Yankee Cruiser--The Sailorman’s Paradise among the Nukahiva Group--When Farragut was a Midshipman--An Incipient Mutiny among the Sailors who Wanted to Remain among the Islands--Farragut as a Captain at Twelve. CHAPTER II. PORTER’S GALLANT ACTION AT VALPARAISO 24 A Generous Reception for a Predatory British Frigate--Hillyar’s Lucky Escape--Hillyar’s Explicit Orders--When the _Essex_ had Lost her Top-mast the _Phœbe_ and the _Cherub_ Attacked the Yankee in Neutral Water--It was a Two-to-one Fight and the Enemy had Long Guns to our Short--The British had to Get Beyond the Range of the _Essex_--Magnificent Bravery of the Yankee Crew when under the Fire of the Long Range British Guns--The _Essex_ on Fire--Fought to the Last Gasp--Porter’s Interrupted Voyage Home--The Men who were Left at Nukahiva in Sorry Straits at Last. CHAPTER III. TALES OF THE YANKEE CORVETTES 54