as determined not to lose his ship by too much
lenity. In a word, we found the fellow's heart to be as hard as the
bed we slept on. Soon after, however, our situation became so
dangerous and alarming, that one of the marine corps informed the
captain that if he wished to preserve us alive, he must speedily give
us more air. If this did not move his compassion, it alarmed his
fears; and he then gave orders to remove the after hatch, and iron
bars fixed in its place, in order to prevent us from forcing our way
up, and throwing him into the sea, a punishment he richly deserved.
This alteration rendered the condition of our "_black hole_," more
tolerable; it was nevertheless a very loathsome dungeon;--for our poor
fellows were not allowed to go upon deck to relieve the calls of
nature, but were compelled to appropriate one part of our residence to
this dirty purpose. This, as may be supposed, rendered our confinement
doubly disgusting, as well as unwholesome.

I do not recollect the name of the captain of the Malabar, and it may
be as well that I do not; I only know that he was a Scotchman. It may
be considered by some as illiberal to deal in national reflections, I
nevertheless cannot help remarking that I have received more
ill-treatment from men of that nation than from individuals of any
other; and this is the general impression of my countrymen. The poet
tell us, that

"Cowards are cruel, but the brave
Love mercy, and delight to save."[C]

The Scotch are brave soldiers, but we, Americans, have found them to
be the most hard hearted and cruel people we have ever yet met with.
Our soldiers as well as sailors make the same complaint, insomuch,
that, "_cruel as a Scotchman_," has become a proverb in the United
States.--The Scotch officers have been remarked for treating our
officers, when in their power, with insolence, and expressions of
contempt; more so than the English. It is said that a Scotch officer,
who superintends the horrid whippings so common in British camps, is
commonly observed to be more hard hearted than an English one. It is
certain that they are generally preferred as negro-drivers in the
West-India islands. It has been uniformly remarked that those
Scotchmen who are settled on the Canada frontiers are remarkable for
their bitterness towards our men in captivity.

We speak here of the _vagrant_ Scotch, the fortune-hunters of the
Caledonian tribe; at the same time we respect her philosophers