plentiful supply of iron was also provided, as was ammunition, arms, and
guns. The whole outlay, including the cost of the vessel, was less than
seven thousand dollars; which sum Mark knew he should receive in
Philadelphia, on account of the personal property of Bridget, and with
which he had made up his mind to replace the proceeds of the
sandal-wood, thus used, did those interested exact it. As for the
vessel, she sailed like a witch, was coppered and copper-fastened, but
was both old and weak. She had quarters, having been used once as a
privateer, and mounted ten sixes. Her burthen was two hundred tons, and
her name the Mermaid. The papers were all American, and in perfect rule.

The governor might not have made this purchase, had it not been for the
circumstance that he met an old acquaintance in Canton, who had got
married in Calcutta to a pretty and very well-mannered English girl--a
step that lost him his berth, however/on board a Philadelphia ship.
Saunders was two or three years Mark's senior, and of an excellent
disposition and diameter. When he heard the history of the colony, he
professed a desire to join it, engaging to pick up a crew of Americans,
who were in his own situation, or had no work on their hands, and to
take the brig to the Reef. "This arrangement was made and carried out;
the Mermaid sailing for the crater" the day before the Rancocus left for
Philadelphia, having Bigelow on board as pilot and first officer; while
Woolston shipped an officer to supply his place. The two vessels met in
the China seas, and passed a week in company, when each steered her
course; the governor quite happy in thinking that he had made this
provision for the good of his people. The arrival of the Mermaid would
be an eventful day in the colony, on every account; and, the
instructions of Saunders forbidding his quitting the islands until the
end of the year, her presence would be a great additional means of
security.

It is unnecessary for us to dwell on the passage of the Rancocus. In due
time she entered the capes of the Delaware, surprising all interested
with her appearance. Friend Abraham White was dead, and the firm
dissolved. But the property had all been transferred, to the insurers by
the payment of the amount underwritten, and Mark made his report at the
office. The teas were sold to great advantage, and the whole matter was
taken fairly into consideration. After deducting the sum paid the firm,
principal a