channel pilots, that the old barky scarce knew which end was going
foremost. In that day, a ship did not get from the Forelands up to London
without some trouble, and great was our envy of the large blocks and light
cordage of the colliers, which made such easy work for their men. We
singled much of our rigging, the second voyage up the river, ourselves,
and it was a great relief to the people. A set of grass foresheets, too,
that we bought in Spain, got to be great favourites, though, in the end,
they cost the ship the life of a very valuable man.

Captain Johnston now determined to send me to Wiscasset, that I might go
to school. A Wiscasset schooner, called the Clarissa, had come into
Philadelphia, with freight from the West Indies, and she was about to sail
for home in ballast. I was put on board as a passenger, and we sailed
about a week after the ship got in from London. Jack Pugh staid behind,
the Sterling being about to load for Ireland. On board the Clarissa I made
the acquaintance of a Philadelphian born, who was an apprentice to the
master of the schooner, of the name of Jack Mallet. He was a little older
than myself, and we soon became intimate, and, in time, were fated to see
many strange things in company.

The Clarissa went, by the Vineyard Sound and the Shoals, into Boston. Here
she landed a few crates, and then sailed for Wiscasset, where we arrived
after a pretty long passage. I was kindly received by the mother and
family of Captain Johnston, and immediately sent to school. Shortly after,
we heard of the embargo, and, the Clarissa being laid up, Jack Mallet
became one of my school-mates. We soon learned that the Sterling had not
been able to get out, and, ere long, Jack Pugh joined our party. A little
later, Captain Johnston arrived, to go into the commercial quarantine with
the rest of us.