although there was no doubt the chase would alter her course in the night, as it was quite uncertain what tack she might go upon, he thought it more prudent to continue the same course, rather than change it on conjecture, as, should we mistake, she would certainly get away.  Continuing the chase about an hour and a half after dark, one or other of our people constantly believing they saw her sails right a-head of us, our second lieutenant, Mr Brett, at length actually discovered her about four points on the larboard bow, steering off to seawards, on which we immediately clapped the helm a-weather, standing right towards her, and came up with her in less than an hour, and, having fired fourteen shots at her, she struck.  Mr Dennis, our third lieutenant, was sent in the boat with sixteen men to take possession of the prize, and to shift the prisoners to our ship.

[Footnote 1:  This island of San Gallan is in lat. 14 deg.  S. long. 76 deg.  W. about twelve miles S.W. of Pisco.—­E.]

This vessel was named the Santa Teresa de Jesus, built at Guayaquil, of about 300 tons burden, commanded by Bartolome Urrunaga, a Biscayan.  She was bound from Guayaquil to Callao, her loading consisting of timber, cocoa, cocoa-nuts, tobacco, hides, Pito thread, (which is made of a kind of grass and is very strong,) Quito cloth, wax, and various other articles; but the specie on board was very inconsiderable, being principally small silver coin, not exceeding 170l. sterling in value.  Her cargo, indeed, was of great value, if we could have sold it; but the Spaniards have strict orders never to ransom their ships, so that all the goods we captured in the South Seas, except what little we had occasion for ourselves, were of no advantage to us; yet it was some satisfaction to consider, that it was so much real loss to the enemy, and that despoiling them was no contemptible part of the service in which we were employed, and was so far beneficial to our country.  Besides her crew of forty-five hands, she had on board ten passengers, consisting of four men and three women, who were natives of the country, but born of Spanish parents, together with three negro slaves who attended them.  The women were a mother and two daughters, the elder about twenty-one, and the younger about fourteen.  It is not to be wondered that women of these years should be excessively alarmed at falling into the hands of an enemy whom they had been taught to consider as the most lawless and brutal of all mankind, owing to the former excesses of the buccaneers, and by the artful insinuations of their priests.  In the present instance these apprehensions were much augmented by the singular beauty of the youngest of the women, and the riotous disposition they might naturally enough expect to find in a set of sailors who had not seen a woman for near a twelvemonth.