Captain Kerr, who was standing close by us,
stumbling backwards, fell overboard. He got above water before the
ship passed him, and called to throw him a rope, but alas, no rope was
at hand, and before one was got the ship was out of his reach.
Immediately they threw over a large hen-coop, but, poor man, he could
not swim, so he soon disappeared. The boats were put out with great
expedition, and in less than a quarter of an hour he was found. You
may believe no means were left unemployed to restore animation; but
alas, the spirit had taken its final leave; it was no longer an
inhabitant of earth, not the least signs of life appeared. The day
after, being Sunday, his body was committed to the deep, from whence
it had been rescued the day before. Dr. Graham read in public the
church of England burial service. Every one on board seemed much
affected; I cannot tell you how much I was.

"About eight days after, we got to the Banks of Newfoundland;
while there the fog was so dense we could not see forty yards in any
direction, and the cold was excessive, notwithstanding the season of
the year. There were a great many islands of ice floating on the
water; I saw three within twenty yards of us, much larger than the
ship. The captain said if the ship ran against any one of them, she
would be dashed to pieces. And here, again, my former observation
holds good, for sure it could not be the art of man, either in the
dark night or in the dense fog, which could protect the ship flying
before the wind, through dangers so thick on every side of us. For
several days and nights we saw neither sun nor stars, which distressed
the captain much, for he knew not where we were, and apprehending we
were near land, was afraid of running upon some rock; so we were
obliged to cruise about till the atmosphere cleared.

"The sail up the river St. Lawrence is extremely pleasant. You
know how fond I have ever been of wood and water. This country, in
this respect, is quite to my taste, and could I only get half a dozen
of those friends I could name settled down on either side of us, with
five hundred pounds' worth of land to give to each, I should ask no
more in this world.

"When we arrived, the doctor's friend Mr. Findley came on board,
took us on shore, and brought us to his elegant mansion. He begged we
would look on him as an old friend, feel perfectly at home, and remain
with him as long as we could. Give my love to my dear boys;*