[4] The Port au Prince was an English private ship of war of 500 tons, armed with 24 long nine and twelve-pound guns, and eight 12-pound carronades on the quarterdeck.

[5] She carried a "letter of marque" which permitted her captain and crew to become pirates against the enemies of England, primarily France and Spain.

[6] Commanded by Captain Duck, she sailed for the New World on 12 February 1805,[7] having been given a twofold commission by her owner, a Mr Robert Bent of London: to attack the Spanish ships of the New World and capture gold and valuables, but if she failed in that task her secondary objective was to sail into the Pacific in search of whales to be rendered for oil.

[8][9] The Atlantic crossing was rough but uneventful, and she lay off the coast of Brazil by April and then rounded Cape Horn in July before proceeding north in search of Spanish galleons laden with treasure.

They captured a number of ships, but most yielded little in the way of valuables, leading the disgruntled crew to contemptuously refer to their catches as "dung barges".

She arrived in Ha'apai on 9 November 1806, almost two years since departing England and following numerous engagements, episodes of leaking badly, and the death of her captain.

A number of chiefs visited it on the evening of her arrival and brought barbecued hogs, yams, and a native of Hawaii who spoke some English and informed Captain Brown that the Tongans had friendly intentions.

However, the ship's Hawaiian crew members were uneasy and expressed their concerns to the captain that the Tongans were feigning friendliness while simultaneously planning an attack.

He related his story to John Martin, who authored the book An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific Ocean.