Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1813-10-12

the armed men on deck, and the schoon-
er falling astern, the boat which was
made fast by rope astern, was brought
directly under the cabin windows: The
mate got into the boat and intreated
Captain r. to go with him; Captain X.
refused, having first asked if there was
an oar in the boat, he said there was
/. none; the wind was blowing out of the
| harbor; the mate then cut the boats
| painter, and Captain K. saw no more of
him. BY this time the schooner had a
strong head way on her and the passen-
ger was dead. Captain R. then renew
ed his attempts to discover how and by
5 whom the schooner was seized he did
not succeed, but learnt from some Of
! his crew, whom he heard talking in the
! Storage, that they all expected to be
murdered. The matches and every o.
tier Passage being guarded. Captain r.
: continued in the cabin ill the morn
I: ing, when he was ordered by one Will
; liam Ross, who appeared to assume
/, and exercise the authority of Captain
to come on deck, but seeing the COM
psnion way surrounded BY men armed
with muskets, crtiasses and long knives,
Capt. r. refused to go on deck, till Ross
/ threatened to shoot him unless he came
! up.-Capt. R. thus threatened, and Deg
ing for his lite, went on deck. He was
then told by Ross that be and his COM
rades had been prisoners IN the Isle OF
S.. Jago, and in order to effect their es-
cape bad seized the schooner Ross
some time afterwards described himself
and his comrades as soldiers. Captain
K. having ascertaineG that there we're
tweDty-six souls. men, women and chill.
dren all told, on board the schooner, and
only two hogsheads of water, requested
to know whittier they were bound, Ross
said Cayenne or some port of South A.
merica. Captain R. advised that they
should all be pu; immediately on short
allowance, which eas done. each person
being allowed one bottle Of water, half a
biscuit, and SINAI! piece of beef day
Captain r, requested that the vessel,
which had made, considerable water,
should be pumpsd. The pump soon
choakcd d, and III order to free them and
tighten the Schooner they threw over g
bsut go bushels Of salt. The schoc
ner's compass was at this time S. w. for
the B'azils, no land in sight, & no boats
belonging to the schooner. They then
pillagcd the cabin and divided among
themselves whatever they found there.
throwing overheard their old cloathes,
and dressing themselves with such as
they took from the trunks III the Cabin
Captain r. was directed I" keep false
log-book, and was compelled to sign
PAPER drawn up BY Ross, in which he
desc ibes himself and his comrades. as
passengers taken by captain R to be
carried from Port de Praye to Cayenne.
for the SUM of eight Spanish dollars
each.
Captain RS duty was to take the sun
and point the courses on the chart daily;
he was also required to deal out ths al
lowance, to look to the cooking, and to
do what else he was ordered to do.-
Captain r complied, bsing told BY Ross
that il he we're obedient, his schooner
should be restored to him when they
landed in South America. Thus pass
eel nineteen days, during which time the
schooner saw two vessels. apparently
bound from the East Indies 10 the Unit
ed States. Captain r. twice saw Ross
and his comrades preparing to put him
and his crew to death, in case either of
those vessels had attempted to speak the
schooner. Captain R. by often confer
ring with Ross, and endeavoring to dis
suade him from his purpose, succeeded
in exciting in the Portuguese, jealou-
sy OF Ross, who at length began to sus.
pect the Portuguese. AS the schooner
approached the coast Of South Americ,,
a Portuguese who acted as boatswain,
was seen teaching his countrymen how
to steer, and other ships duty, which
convinced captain r. that even if his
life were spared his vessel would not be
restored to him. Captain r took ad.
vantage OF this aud OF the behavior of the
Portuguese, who were frequently whis-
perine among themselves to intimate to
Ross suspicion that the Portuguese
were conspiring against him. { Ross =
This intimation alarmed bie,, and Ross
seemed inclined to aid capt r. in some
scheme to get possession of the schoo.
Rer, provided captain R. would do his
best to protect him from punishment
Captain R. having quoted Roses fears,
told him, that he would attempt that
night to get possession of the schooner,
or die in the attempt. Captain r. dis.
closed his plan to Hawkins Freeman one
of his crew, and to the cook while trim
ming the lamp, and wished one them,
Freeman, to be with him on deck at le
,-lock frrc.rd A. 70 o,clcrL 900.