e chains. Scarcely had
the words been uttered, when down came the tempest on us with redoubled
fury, and the wind and sea roared so loudly that it would scarcely have
been possible to have heard his voice again. Suddenly there was a lull.

"By the mark eight," was now heard with startling distinctness. A flash
of lightning revealed the captain as he raised his speaking-trumpet to
his mouth. We knew what was coming. At that very moment the sails gave
a loud flap against the masts, the ship plunged violently, but rose on
an even keel. The captain took the trumpet from his mouth. Suddenly
the gale backed out of its former quarter, and shifted to the
north-west. There was a shout of satisfaction; some few, perhaps,
breathed a prayer of thankfulness for our preservation as we ran off
from the dangerous coast.

On the 23rd we reached Rhode Island. The fever had spread so rapidly
among our men that in a few days we sent no less than ninety of them to
the hospital on shore, while we kept an equal number of sick on board.
On the 27th the commodore sent us a hundred men from other ships, and
ordered us to cruise for a month in Buzzard's Bay, between New Bedford
Harbour and Martha's Vineyard. The latter quaint-named place is one of
the many islands off that coast inside Nantucket Island. The extreme
severity of the weather made our cruise thoroughly disagreeable, and
much prevented the people from recovering their health; indeed, it
considerably increased the number of our sick. In truth, it was very
tantalising and provoking to be kept for nearly a week knocking about
for no purpose scarcely ten leagues from our port without being allowed
to enter it. At last the captain could stand it no longer, so we put
back on the 3rd of March, and were forthwith sent up Providence River as
an advanced ship. Here we had frequent skirmishes with the enemy, who
took a sly pop at us whenever they could, but without doing us much
damage. On the 10th of March we received orders to proceed to sea
immediately. We sailed accordingly that night, and the next morning
captured a sloop from Charleston, bound to Boston with dye and indigo.
That night we anchored under Block Island, and for some days cruised
about in the hopes of picking up some prizes, I conclude. I fancy that
the commodore had received notice that some vessels with valuable
cargoes might be expected in the neighbourhood about that time. We
anchored in Martha's Vineyard