lasking course on her adversary's weather-quarter, [Footnote:
Lieutenant Chads' Address to the Court-martial, April 23, 1813.]
hoisting her ensign at the mizzen-peak, a union Jack at the mizzen
top-gallant mast-head, and another lashed to the main-rigging. At
2 P. M., the _Constitution_ fired a shot ahead of her, following
it quickly by a broadside, [Footnote: Commodore Bainbridge's
letter.] and the two ships began at long bowls, the English firing
the lee or starboard battery while the Americans replied with their
port guns. The cannonade was very spirited on both sides, the ships
suffering about equally. The first broadside of the _Java_ was very
destructive, killing and wounding several of the _Constitution's_
crew. The _Java_ kept edging down, and the action continued, with
grape and musketry in addition; the swifter British ship soon
forereached and kept away, intending to wear across her slower
antagonist's bow and rake her; but the latter wore in the smoke,
and the two combatants ran off to the westward, the Englishman
still a-weather and steering freer than the _Constitution_, which
had luffed to close. [Footnote: Log of the _Constitution_.] The
action went on at pistol-shot distance. In a few minutes, however,
the _Java_ again forged ahead, out of the weight of her adversary's
fire, and then kept off, as before, to cross her bows; and, as
before, the _Constitution_ avoided this by wearing, both ships
again coming round with their heads to the east, the American
still to leeward. The Java kept the weather-gage tenaciously,
forereaching a little, and whenever the __Constitution_ luffed
up to close, [Footnote: Log of _Constitution_.] the former tried
to rake her. But her gunnery was now poor, little damage being
done by it; most of the loss the Americans suffered was early in
the action. By setting her foresail and main-sail the _Constitution_
got up close on the enemy's lee beam, her fire being very heavy