- description
- # SKETCH FIFTH. THE FRIGATE, AND SHIP FLYAWAY.
## Overview
This document is the fifth sketch, titled "The Frigate, and Ship Flyaway," from Herman Melville's collection *The Piazza Tales*. It details an encounter between the U.S. frigate *Essex* and an enigmatic vessel in 1813 near Rodondo.
## Context
This sketch is part of *The Piazza Tales*, a collection of short stories by Herman Melville, extracted from the file `the_piazza_tales.txt`. The collection is housed within the larger "Melville" collection. This sketch follows "Sketch Fourth. A Pisgah View from the Rock." and precedes "Sketch Sixth. Barrington Isle and the Buccaneers."
## Contents
The text recounts a series of events involving the U.S. frigate *Essex*, commanded by Captain David Porter, near Rodondo in 1813. The frigate narrowly escapes being driven onto the rocks by a strong current while becalmed. Subsequently, the *Essex* pursues a mysterious sail, which initially appears to be an English whale-ship but hoists American colors when approached. The stranger then switches to English colors, evades the *Essex*'s boats, and ultimately disappears, described by sailors as an "enchanted ship." The narrative connects this event to the *Essex*'s broader cruise during the War of 1812 in the Pacific, highlighting its significance in relation to the "Encantadas" (the Enchanted Isles) and mentioning key historical figures like Cowley and Colnet as authorities on the region.
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- 2026-01-30T07:58:24.668Z
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- SKETCH FIFTH. THE FRIGATE, AND SHIP FLYAWAY.
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- 6648
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- 2026-01-30T07:57:25.492Z
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- text
- SKETCH FIFTH.
THE FRIGATE, AND SHIP FLYAWAY.
“Looking far forth into the ocean wide,
A goodly ship with banners bravely dight,
And flag in her top-gallant I espide,
Through the main sea making her merry flight.”
Ere quitting Rodondo, it must not be omitted that here, in 1813, the
U.S. frigate Essex, Captain David Porter, came near leaving her bones.
Lying becalmed one morning with a strong current setting her rapidly
towards the rock, a strange sail was descried, which—not out of keeping
with alleged enchantments of the neighborhood—seemed to be staggering
under a violent wind, while the frigate lay lifeless as if spell-bound.
But a light air springing up, all sail was made by the frigate in chase
of the enemy, as supposed—he being deemed an English whale-ship—but the
rapidity of the current was so great, that soon all sight was lost of
him; and, at meridian, the Essex, spite of her drags, was driven so
close under the foam-lashed cliffs of Rodondo that, for a time, all
hands gave her up. A smart breeze, however, at last helped her off,
though the escape was so critical as to seem almost miraculous.
Thus saved from destruction herself, she now made use of that salvation
to destroy the other vessel, if possible. Renewing the chase in the
direction in which the stranger had disappeared, sight was caught of
him the following morning. Upon being descried he hoisted American
colors and stood away from the Essex. A calm ensued; when, still
confident that the stranger was an Englishman, Porter dispatched a
cutter, not to board the enemy, but drive back his boats engaged in
towing him. The cutter succeeded. Cutters were subsequently sent to
capture him; the stranger now showing English colors in place of
American. But, when the frigate’s boats were within a short distance of
their hoped-for prize, another sudden breeze sprang up; the stranger,
under all sail, bore off to the westward, and, ere night, was hull down
ahead of the Essex, which, all this time, lay perfectly becalmed.
This enigmatic craft—American in the morning, and English in the
evening—her sails full of wind in a calm—was never again beheld. An
enchanted ship no doubt. So, at least, the sailors swore.
This cruise of the Essex in the Pacific during the war of 1812, is,
perhaps, the strangest and most stirring to be found in the history of
the American navy. She captured the furthest wandering vessels; visited
the remotest seas and isles; long hovered in the charmed vicinity of
the enchanted group; and, finally, valiantly gave up the ghost fighting
two English frigates in the harbor of Valparaiso. Mention is made of
her here for the same reason that the Buccaneers will likewise receive
record; because, like them, by long cruising among the isles,
tortoise-hunting upon their shores, and generally exploring them; for
these and other reasons, the Essex is peculiarly associated with the
Encantadas.
Here be it said that you have but three, eye-witness authorities worth
mentioning touching the Enchanted Isles:—Cowley, the Buccaneer (1684);
Colnet the whaling-ground explorer (1798); Porter, the post captain
(1813). Other than these you have but barren, bootless allusions from
some few passing voyagers or compilers.
- title
- SKETCH FIFTH.
THE FRIGATE, AND SHIP FLYAWAY.