'
From 1823 onward, the chief scene of Charles Jenkin's activities
was in the West Indies, where he was engaged off and on till 1844,
now as a subaltern, now in a vessel of his own, hunting out
pirates, 'then very notorious' in the Leeward Islands, cruising
after slavers, or carrying dollars and provisions for the
Government. While yet a midshipman, he accompanied Mr. Cockburn to
Caraccas and had a sight of Bolivar. In the brigantine GRIFFON,
which he commanded in his last years in the West Indies, he carried
aid to Guadeloupe after the earthquake, and twice earned the thanks
of Government: once for an expedition to Nicaragua to extort,
under threat of a blockade, proper apologies and a sum of money due
to certain British merchants; and once during an insurrection in
San Domingo, for the rescue of certain others from a perilous
imprisonment and the recovery of a 'chest of money' of which they
had been robbed. Once, on the other hand, he earned his share of
public censure.
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