the few times in his entire naval career, Parker became violently seasick. In December 1848, Yorktown arrived at Madeira and then sailed on the Cape Verde. The rest of the month was spent at the cape, and then, in January 1849, Yorktown sailed to Porto Praya (now Praia). It was here that several of the Yorktown officers rotated off the ship and Parker was made Acting Master. Yorktown then sailed to Bathurst, off the Gambia River, where the ship put in for repairs to her rudder. In February 1849, Yorktown sailed to Liberia, where she participated as an observer in a Liberian attack against several native tribes living in the interior jungle. It was here that Parker met the President of Liberia (Joseph Jenkins Roberts) who traveled as a guest of honor on board Yorktown. Yorktown moored at Monrovia in November 1849 and spent the winter in this port. In January 1850, Yorktown sailed for Cape Palmas and then on to several port calls in the Gulf of Guinea. These included the ports of Accra, Elmina, and Cape Coast Castle. In February 1850, Yorktown headed for Ouidah, which was then in the Kingdom of Dahomey. Along the way, Yorktown met up with both the British brig under the command of Archibald McMurdo and , which was then under the command of Captain Andrew H. Foote. In June 1850, Yorktown made ready for its return to Porto Praya. The ship moored at Funchal on July 1, and it was here that the ship celebrated Independence Day. The ship then continued to Porto Praya and then, on August 1, sailed for the Canary Islands. Parker remarks in his biography that the ship's crew was in very high spirits at this point, having completed a deployment to Africa with only two deaths, both to a sickness which Parker called "African fever". On August 30, 1850, Yorktown moored at Las Palmas then continued on towards the port of Boa Vista and the island of St. Jago. On September 4, the ship sailed toward Mayo (now Maio) Island and, on September 6, 1850, struck a reef. Over the course of two days, the ship capsized and was lost, but the crew was able to offload most of the supplies and suffered no casualties. The crew of USS Yorktown lived on Mayo Island for over a month, during which time Parker recalls that relaxation was the