Mr. McCulloch, collector, to Mr. Dallas, Secretary of the Treasury.
Collector’s Office, August 22, 1816.
Sir: In pursuance of the object reported as required heretofore, and of your authority in the case, I have purchased a vessel for the river service of about thirty-eight tons burden, to which Captain Stephen White has been appointed commander, provisionally, and qualified as inspector of the revenue for the purpose. There appeared a sudden occasion to employ the vessel, in consequence of an application from the Spanish consul stating that a brig captured from a Spanish subject by a vessel commanded by an American citizen, that had not long ago departed from this port, had been sent into the Patuxent River, and was then lying there, deserted by the crew who had brought her in, and was in danger of being carried off by a new crew dispatched for the purpose, and the United States cutter Active, as she is now called, was therefore instantly manned, furnished with small-arms, victualed, and sent down to arrest the vessel, if possible, and bring her to this port for examination.
The purchase of the schooner cost $1,300; her equipment on the present expedition will add some expense as to men and stores, but it remains to fit her further on her return for constant service. The proceeding, so far, is submitted for your approbation.
I am, &c.,
A. J. Dallas, Esq.