uld be
expected at Barbadoes, and anchored there for a short time. One of the
captains of my regiment, who had probably seen enough of war to
satisfy him, had before our start sold his commission to a younger
officer who gave him 1200_l._ for it; but, singular to say, the very
first night of this our anchorage this poor young man went to sleep on
shore, and, catching a fever, was brought on board and a few hours
afterwards was a lifeless corpse. Owing to the infectiousness of his
disease, he had to be immediately sewn up with two of our large shot
in a blanket, and the funeral service being read by an officer as
there was no minister on board, he was put into the sea.

From Barbadoes we sailed to Jamaica, and anchored off Port Royal. A
singular circumstance occurred during our stay there: a girl was
discovered who had been concealed on board at Cork by some of the
sailors in a bundle of straw unbeknown to the captain of the ship.
This being the best place for shipping her back to England, she was
obliged to leave her accomplices at once, and I being sergeant of the
watch was called to take her on shore to Port Royal with two privates.
We took her to a kind of public-house, where, although it was two
o'clock in the morning, the people were still amusing themselves in
dancing to some rough music of their own, the whole of them being
blacks. We asked for the landlord, and on his soon making his
appearance from among the company, as black as a crow and still
steaming with the dance, I inquired if the girl could have a bed there
for the night. He said, "Yes, for a dollar." I thought that was a
stiffish price for a night considering it was two o'clock in the
morning, but I paid him the sum and left the poor unfortunate girl
there while we returned to our ships. I was very sorry for her, as she
seemed nearly broken-hearted, but I could do no more for her under the
circumstances, and I hope she got safe back to England after all.

After about a week had elapsed a gun-brig arrived to convey us to
North America, England being then at war with the Americans, and we
went on in her to the mouth of the River Mississippi. There we
disembarked into barges holding about a hundred troops each, and
having been towed up by other small sailing and rowing boats to
Orleans, were put on shore near that place, our body consisting of
five English and two black regiments, with a battalion of marines.

We marched on the same day and encamped ab