Indeed, we had seen none, excepting a few fishing smacks on St.George's Bank.

The sight of a vessel on the broad ocean ordinarily produces considerable excitement; and this excitement is of a pleasing character when there is no reason to believe the stranger an enemy.

It varies the incidents of a tedious passage, and shows that you are not alone on the face of the waters; that others are traversing the ocean and tempting its dangers, urged by a love of adventure or thirst of gain.
The captain looked at the strange vessel through his spy-glass, and said it was standing towards us.

We approached each other rapidly, for the stranger carried a cloud of sail, and was evidently a fast sailer.

By the peculiar color and cut of the canvas, the captain was led to believe we were about to be overhauled by a British man-of-war.