The following account of one of his adventures is given by his
biographer.
Eager to retaliate upon Britain for some predatory exploits of her
sailors on the American coast, and exasperated by the resolution which
the English government had taken, to treat all the supporters of
independence as traitors and rebels, Captain Paul Jones entered the
Irish Channel, and approaching his native shores, not as a friend, but
as a determined enemy. On the night of the 22d of April, 1778, he came
to anchor in the Solway Firth, almost within sight of the trees which
sheltered the house in which he first drew the breath of life.
Early next morning, he rowed for the English coast, at the head of
thirty-one volunteers, in two boats, with the intention of destroying
the shipping, about two hundred sail, which lay in the harbor of
Whitehaven.
In this daring attempt he would probably have succeeded without
difficulty, had not the strength of the opposing tide retarded his
progress so much, that day began to dawn before he could gain the shore.
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