rilla and
hides, was put on board HMS Leviathan, and her captain was to have three
thousand pounds freight. I protested as loudly as I could against this
decision. I asserted that the Saint Domingo was far more calculated to
take home so valuable and bulky a cargo than the Leviathan, or any other
man-of-war, and I undertook, with twenty of my people, who had been in
her already for three months, to carry her across the Atlantic in
safety. All I could say was of no avail. Not only I, but many other
officers said the same thing. The affair was decided against us, and I
saw, with no small regret, the whole of the Saint Domingo's cargo
transferred to the rotten old Leviathan.

On the 16th of January, 1780, having given up the hull of the Saint
Domingo to our agent at Jamaica, I joined the Charon, with my two
followers, for the first time since my appointment to her. On the next
day we sailed from Port Royal, in company with his Majesty's ships Ruby,
Lyon, Bristol, Leviathan, Salisbury, James, Resource, Lowestoffe,
Pallas, Galatrea, Delight, and about ninety sail of merchant vessels.
Except the capture of a Spanish privateer, and a vessel laden with
mahogany, nothing particular occurred till the 9th of February, in
latitude 29 degrees north, and longitude 72 degrees west, when the
admiral and his squadron put about to return to Jamaica, leaving us and
the Leviathan in charge of the convoy, to pursue our way to England.

We had hard work enough in keeping our convoy together, and in whipping
up the laggards. In spite of the danger they ran of being picked up by
privateers, some were continually getting out of the order of sailing.
The Leviathan kept ahead, and led as well as she could, while we did the
duty of huntsman, or of whipper-in. One night when it was my watch on
deck, as I was keeping a bright look-out in all directions, I saw the
flash of a gun on our lee quarter, and the sound directly after reached
my ears. It was, it struck me, from a petronel, or some small piece of
ordnance such as merchantmen carried in those days. I reported the
circumstance to Captain Luttrell, who ordered me at once to make sail in
that direction. One or two other shots followed, and I could just
discern the flashes of pistols, though the reports did not reach our
ears. The night was very dark, but we were able to steer clear of some
of the convoy, which had been near us on our lee quarter. I had
carefully taken the bearings o