dicating the sight of land were to be seen.
Soon the charming coast of Long Island came into the view of all and
great shouts of joy were wafted across the waters towards it from this
swimming city. Carefully did the fleet tack during the night because the
water was becoming ever more shallow. On the next morning, the 12th of
August, an English squadron of 24 vessels was seen from the ocean and
this, after a few hours, united with the fleet, following the mutual
greeting by means of a definite number of shots. Among the new arrivals
was also Major General von Mirbach with the troops which also belonged
to the first Hessian Division, and which did not take to the transport
ships at Bremerlehe until four weeks after the embarkation of Heister,
and then had waited for a favorable wind.

Now the English flag was unfurled on all ships; Sandy Hook came into
sight with its white lighthouse, immediately thereupon Staten Island,
and a veritable painting spread itself out before the eyes of these
newcomers, most charming after so many dangers had been encountered and
after so long a denial of a glance on the beautiful smiling landscapes,
teeming with inhabitants, exalted and majestic, the shores studded with
troops, the tents of a friendly and a hostile camp, of a forest of masts
of 500 ships, and the many hundred boats which so vigilantly were
watching the hostile shores--here a belligerent power assembled, such
as America had never seen before in order to have a combat, which in the
destiny of the world gave its immeasurable decision.

_Extract from the Diary of the German Poet and
Adventurer, J. G. Seume, a Hessian Soldier
and Participator on the Voyage_

On the English transporter we were pressed and packed like salted
herrings. To save room the deck, low as it was, had been partitioned
off, and we lay instead of in hammocks, in these bunks, one row above
the other. The deck was so low that a grown man could not stand upright,
and the bunks not high enough to sit in. These bunks were intended to
hold six men each but after four had entered, the remaining two could
only find room by pressing in. The situation was, especially in warm
weather, decidedly not cool: for one man to turn from one side to the
other alone was absolutely impossible, and to lie on one's back was an
equal impossibility. The straightest way and the hardest edge were
necessary. After having roasted and sweat