BOOKS BY JAMES OTIS. +WITH PERRY ON LAKE ERIE.+ A TALE OF 1812. 307 pp. Cloth. $1.50. +WITH PREBLE AT TRIPOLI.+ A STORY OF "OLD IRONSIDES" AND THE TRIPOLITAN WAR. 349 pp. Cloth. $1.50. +WITH PORTER IN THE ESSEX.+ A STORY OF HIS FAMOUS CRUISE IN SOUTHERN WATERS DURING THE WAR OF 1812. 344 pp. Cloth. $1.50. +THE CRUISE OF THE ENTERPRISE.+ BEING THE STORY OF THE STRUGGLE AND DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH PRIVATEERING EXPEDITIONS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES IN 1779. 359 pp. Cloth. $1.50. [Illustration: IT WAS ONLY NECESSARY THAT THE CREW SHOULD REACH OUT AND PULL US ON BOARD.] WITH PORTER IN THE ESSEX _A Story of his Famous Cruise in Southern Waters during the War of 1812_ BY JAMES OTIS ILLUSTRATED BY WILLIAM F. STECHER [Illustration: Logo] BOSTON AND CHICAGO W. A. WILDE COMPANY _Copyright, 1901_, BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY. _All rights reserved._ WITH PORTER IN THE ESSEX. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCING MYSELF 17 II. THE COAST OF CHILI 34 III. OLIVER BENSON'S SCHEME 57 IV. AMONG THE WHALERS 80 V. THE NEW FLEET 103 VI. A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS 126 VII. AN ISLAND PORT 149 VIII. NUKUHEVA 172 IX. AN OLD ENEMY 195 X. AMONG THE TYPEES 218 XI. A NAVAL STATION 241 XII. AT VALPARAISO 264 XIII. THE BRITISHERS 287 XIV. THE BATTLE 311 XV. ON PAROLE 334 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE "It was only necessary that the crew should reach out and pull us on board" _Frontispiece_ 28 "He forced the iron rods from their sockets in short order" 77 "Soon we were out of reach of the grape, and then we ran across the ship's bow" 158 "The party came in, waving green palm-leaves" 244 "Nearer and nearer came the _Phoebe_" 295 PROLOGUE. The manuscript of this story was written by Ezra McKnight, a cousin of that Stephen Decatur McKnight of Hartford, Connecticut, who was captured after the action between the _Essex_ and the _Phoebe_ and _Cherub_, and with a companion named James Lyman went to Rio de Janeiro as exchanged prisoners of war. From that port, according to Lossing, these two shipped for England in a Swedish vessel, and, although the ship arrived in safety, her captain never gave any account of his prisoners, nor was it known what had become of them. That they were murdered would be the natural inference, since in event of their being treacherously sent to England some record must have been found regarding them.