To the Honourable United States ship Hornet, William JONES, Holmes' Hole, March 19th, 1813. Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C. Sir: I have the honour to inform you of the arrival, at this port, of the United States ship Hornet, under my command, from a cruise of 145 days, and to state to you, that after Commodore Bainbridge left the coast of Brazils, (on the 6th of January last,) the Hornet continued off the harbour of St. Salvador, blockading the Bonne Citoyenne until the 24th, when the Montagu 74 hove in sight, and chased me into the harbour; but night (p. 187) coming on, I wore and stood to the southward. Knowing that she had left Rio Janeiro for the express purpose of relieving the Bonne Citoyenne and the packet, (which I had also blockaded for fourteen days, and obliged her to send her mail to Rio in a Portuguese smack,) I judged it most prudent to change my cruising ground, and stood to the eastward, with the view of cruising off Pernambuco; and on the 4th day of February, captured the English brig Resolution, from Rio Janeiro, bound to Maranham, with coffee, jerked beef, flour, fustic and butter, and about 25,000 dollars in specie. As the brig sailed dull, and could ill spare hands to man her, I took out the money and set her on fire. I then ran down the coast for Maranham, and cruised there for a short time; from thence ran off Surinam. After cruising off that coast from the 5th to the 22d of February, without meeting a vessel, I stood for Demarara, with an intention, should I not be fortunate on that station, to run through the West Indies, on my way to the United States. But on the morning of the 24th, I discovered a brig to leeward, to which I gave chase; ran into quarter less four, and not having a pilot, was obliged to haul off; the fort at the entrance of Demarara river at this time bearing south west, distance about 2-1/2 leagues. Previously to giving up the chase, I discovered a vessel at anchor without the bar, with English colours flying, apparently a brig of war. In beating round Corobano bank, in order to get at her, at half past 3 P.M. I discovered another sail on my weather quarter edging down for us. At 4.20 minutes she hoisted English colours, at which time we discovered her to be a large man-of-war brig; beat to quarters, and cleared ship for action; kept close by the wind, in order, if possible, to get to the weather gage. At 5.10 minutes, finding I could weather the enemy, I hoisted American colours, and tacked. At 5.20 minutes, in passing each other, exchanged broadsides within half pistol shot. Observing the enemy in the act of wearing, I bore up, received his starboard broadside, ran him close on board on the starboard quarter, and