As the war progressed it became the custom of British merchants to send out their ships only in fleets, convoyed by one or two men-of-war, a system that, of course, could be adopted only by nations very rich in war-ships.  The privateers’ method of meeting this was to cruise in couples, a pair of swift, light schooners, hunting the prize together.  When the convoy was encountered, both would attack, picking out each its prey.  The convoys were usually made up with a man-of-war at the head of the column, and as this vessel would make sail after one of the privateers, the other would rush in at some point out of range, and cut out its prize.  When the British began sending out two ships of war with each convoy, the privateers cruised in threes, and the same tactics were observed.

But the richest prizes won by the privateer were the single going ships, called “running ships,” that were prepared to defend themselves, and scorned to wait for convoy.  These were generally great packets trading to the Indies, whose cargoes were too valuable to be delayed until some man-of-war could be found for their protection.  They were heavily armed, often, indeed, equaling a frigate in their batteries and the size of their crews.  But, although to attack one of these meant a desperate fight, the Yankee privateer always welcomed the chance, for besides a valuable cargo, they were apt to carry a considerable sum in specie.  The capture of one of these vessels, too, was the cause of annoyance to the enemy disproportionate to even their great value to their captors, for they not only carried the Royal Mail, but were usually the agencies by which the dispatches of the British general were forwarded.  Mail and dispatches, alike, were promptly thrown overboard by their captors.

In the diary of a privateersman of Revolutionary days is to be found the story of the capture of an Indiaman which may well be reprinted as typical.

[Illustration:  “I THINK SHE IS A HEAVY SHIP.”]

“As the fog cleared up, we perceived her to be a large ship under English colors, to the windward, standing athwart our starboard bow.  As she came down upon us, she appeared as large as a seventy-four; and we were not deceived respecting her size, for it afterwards proved that she was an old East Indiaman, of 1100 tons burden, fitted out as a letter of marque for the West India trade, mounted with thirty-two guns, and furnished with a complement of one hundred and fifty men.  She was called the ’Admiral Duff,’ commanded by Richard Strange, from St. Christopher and St. Eustachia, laden with sugar and tobacco, and bound to London.  I was standing near our first lieutenant, Mr. Little, who was calmly examining the enemy as she approached, with his spy-glass, when Captain Williams stepped up and asked his opinion of her.  The lieutenant applied the glass to his eye again and took a deliberate look in silence, and replied:  ’I think she is a heavy ship, and that we shall have some hard fighting, but of one thing I am certain, she is not a frigate; if she were, she would not keep yawing and showing her broadsides as she does; she would show nothing but her head and stern; we shall have the advantage of her, and the quicker we get alongside the better.’  Our captain ordered English colors to be hoisted, and the ship to be cleared for action.