ver
at the top with biscuit, and this in some measure, confirmed an idea
which had before gained ground, that the gunner had been stealing
powder to sell, and had concealed what he could get out by degrees in
the above manner; and that, thinking himself safe on a day when every
one was entertaining his friends he had carelessly been among the
gunpowder without taking the necessary precautions. As he was said to
have been seen at Dock very much in liquor in the morning, it seems
probable that this might have been the cause of a calamity as sudden
as it was dreadful.

LOSS OF H. B. M. SHIP LA TRIBUNE,

OFF HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA.

La Tribune was one of the finest frigates in his Majesty's navy,
mounted 44 guns, and had recently been taken from the French by
Captain Williams in the Unicorn frigate.--She was commanded by Captain
S. Barker, and on the 22d of September, 1797, sailed from Torbay as
convoy to the Quebec and Newfoundland fleets. In latitude 49 14 and
longitude 17 22, she fell in and spoke with his Majesty's ship
Experiment, from Halifax; and lost sight of all her convoy on the 10th
of October, in latitude 74 16 and longitude 32 11.

About eight o'clock in the morning of the following Thursday they came
in sight of the harbor of Halifax, and approached it very fast, with
an E. S. E. wind, when Captain Barker proposed to the master to lay
the ship to, till they could procure a pilot. The master replied that
he had beat a 44 gun ship into the harbor, that he had frequently been
there, and there was no occasion for a pilot, as the wind was
favorable. Confiding in these assurances, Captain Barker went into his
cabin, where he was employed in arranging some papers which he
intended to take on shore with him. In the mean time the master,
placing great dependance on the judgment of a negro, named John Cosey,
who had formerly belonged to Halifax, took upon himself the pilotage
of the ship.

By twelve o'clock the ship approached so near the Thrum Cap shoals
that the master became alarmed, and sent for Mr. Galvin, master's
mate, who was sick below. On his coming upon deck, he heard the man in
the chains sing out, "by the mark five!" the black man forward at the
same time crying "steady!" Galvin got on one of the carronades to
observe the situation of the ship; the master ran in great agitation
to the wheel, and took it from the man who was steering, with the
intention of wearing the ship; but before this could