patron and friend, Captain Pownoll, whose bravery and services have done
so much honour to himself and his Country, I will not delay informing
you that I mean to give you immediate promotion, as a reward for your
gallant and officer-like conduct."

He was made commander into an old and worn-out sloop, the _Hazard_, in
which he was stationed on the eastern coast of Scotland. Having nothing
but the emoluments of his profession, he found it difficult to meet the
expenses required by his promotion and appointment. A tradesman in
London, Mr. Vigurs, equally known and respected by the young men from
Cornwall, who were generally referred to him for the advice and
assistance they required on their first coming to town, not only
supplied him with uniforms, though candidly told that it was uncertain
when he would be able to pay for them, but offered a pecuniary loan; and
Captain Pellew accepted a small sum which made the debt 70£. In a few
weeks he received 160£. prize-money, and immediately sent 100£. to his
creditor, desiring that the balance might be given in presents to the
children, or, as he expressed it, "to buy ribbons for the girls." He
never afterwards employed another tradesman. When he had become a
commander-in-chief, it was his practice to prevent a deserving, but
necessitous young officer from suffering similar embarrassments, by
advancing him a sum equal to his immediate wants when he gave him a
commission.

He took command of the _Hazard_ on the 25th of July, 1780, and paid her
off in the following January, having been employed between Shields and
Leith. He held his next ship for a still shorter time. On the 12th of
March, 1782, he commissioned the _Pelican_, a French prize, and a mere
shell of a vessel; so low, that he would say his servant could dress his
hair from the deck while he sat in the cabin. He sailed from Plymouth,