ship's surgeon discovered a vessel some distance away on the weather
bow. The weather had now cleared so much that the house on the top of
St. Alban's Head was quite visible. The surgeon called the attention
of a midshipman on board to the strange vessel. The midshipman, whose
name was Cornelius Quinton, took a bearing, and found that the
stranger bore W.S.W. from the cutter, and was steering E.S.E. He also
took a bearing of Peveril Point, which bore N.1/2W., and judged the
smuggler to be about 9 miles from Peveril Point. About 8 o'clock the
cutter began to give chase, and this continued until 11 P.M., the
course being now S.E. After a time the lugger hauled up a point, so
that she was heading S.E. by S., the wind being moderate S.W. During
the chase the lugger did her best to get away from the cutter, and set
her main topsail. The cutter at the time was reefed, but when she saw
the lugger's topsail going up she shook out her reefs and set her gaff
topsail. It was some little time before the _Kite_ had made up her
mind that she was a smuggler, for at first she was thought to be one
of the few Revenue luggers which were employed in the service. About
11 o'clock, then, the _Kite_ was fast overhauling her, notwithstanding
that the lugger, by luffing up that extra point, came more on the wind
and so increased her pace. It was at first a cloudy night--and perhaps
that may have made the _Kite's_ skipper a little nervous, for he could
hardly need to be reefed in a moderate breeze--but presently the sky
cleared.

As the _Kite_ approached she hoisted her signals and fired a musket
shot. (As there is a good deal of confusion existing concerning the
signals of the old Revenue cutters, it is worth noting that although
it was night these signals were displayed. I make this statement on
the unimpeachable sworn evidence of the _Kite's_ crew, so the matter
cannot be questioned.) But in spite of these signals, which every