British 36-gun _Thetis_, which was on her way to South America with a
large amount of specie aboard. She took several unimportant prizes, and,
failing to meet the _Thetis_, turned northward and on the night of July
10, 1812, sighted a fleet of merchantmen.

The night was cloudy and dark and Porter with a great deal of cleverness
pushed his way among the vessels without his identity being suspected.
He had drawn in his guns, hidden most of his men and done all he could
to give the _Essex_ the appearance of being an inoffensive merchantman.
His object was to learn whether the escort was too powerful to be
attacked. He opened conversation with the captain of one of the vessels,
who, unsuspicious of his identity, informed him that the fleet was
carrying a thousand soldiers from Barbados to Quebec, and that the
convoying vessel was the _Minerva_, a 32-gun frigate. In addition,
several of the merchantmen were heavily armed.

Captain Porter's next act was still more audacious. He glided forward
among the fleet and hailed the captain of a second vessel, but the
latter became suspicious, and was on the point of signalling to the
escort the appearance of a stranger among them, when Porter thrust out
the muzzles of twenty cannon and warned him that if he failed to keep
perfect silence and follow in his wake he would blow him out of the
water. The English captain obeyed, and Porter extricated his prize with
such astonishing skill that not a vessel took the alarm. When a safe
point was reached, Porter found that his prize was a brig with about two
hundred British soldiers on board.

Having succeeded so well, Porter again returned to the fleet for another
capture. But by this time day was breaking and the character of his
vessel was discovered. It being useless to attempt further disguise, he