Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Delano, Amasa

DELANO, Amasa, traveller, b. in Duxburv, Mass., 21 Feb., 1763; d. in 1817. His father, Samuel, was a soldier in the old French war, and an earnest patriot in 1776. Amasa enlisted in the army in 1777, but was compelled by his father to leave on account* of his youth. He afterward served in the militia, and in 1779 sailed one cruise in the privateer "Mars." He became a sailor on a merchantman in 1781, and in 1783-6 assisted his father in his trade of ship-building. His first voyage as commander was in 1786 in a vessel belonging to his uncle. He afterward made many voy- ages to all parts of the world. In 1810 the authorities of St. Bartholomew, West Indies, tried to sieze his ship, the "Perseverance," for an alleged violation of the revenue laws, but he put to sea under fire of their batteries and escaped. He published a work entitled " Narrative of Voyages and Travels " (Boston, 1817).