JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, minister of the United States at St. Petersburg in 1810, learned that the ship Calumet had just displayed the American flag in the Black Sea for the first time, and that another American vessel was shortly expected at Odessa from Constantinople. By what means they obtained admission to Constantinople, and to navigate the Black Sea, I have not been informed.' Later, when better informed, Mr. Adams communicated further details to his government, but that letter was never printed, and it contained, at best, a partial and inaccurate account of the episode. Investigation in British and American archives has cleared up the mystery, and revealed an interesting story of two Yankee merchantmen forcing the Dardanelles under their own colors.2