The enemy had furnished all needful supplies and even the money to pay the wages of the officers and crew.
Fit for sea again, the _Essex_ and the _Essex, Junior_, betook themselves to Valparaiso where they received information that the thirty-six-gun frigate _Phoebe_ of the British navy was earnestly looking for them.

She had been sent out from England to proceed to the northwest American coast and destroy the fur station at the mouth of the Columbia River.

At Rio de Janeiro Captain Hillyar had heard reports of the ravages of the _Essex_ and he considered it his business to hunt down this defiant Yankee.

To make sure of success, he took the sloop-of-war _Cherub_ along with him and, doubling the Horn, they made straight for Valparaiso.

David Porter got wind of the pursuit but assumed that the _Phoebe_ was alone.