ts former state, till
towards evening on the 14th, when a signal was made by the
Admiral that land was in sight. As yet, however, there was no
appearance of it from the deck of our transport, nor for a full
half-hour could our anxious gaze be rewarded by the slightest
trace of what it sought; but at the end of that time the low
sandy point of Cape Charles began to show itself, and we rejoiced
in the prospect of a speedy release from the ennui of a seafaring
life.

The coast of America, at least in this quarter, is universally
low and uninteresting; insomuch, that for some time before the
land itself can be discerned, forests of pines appear to rise, as
it were, out of the water. It is also dangerous from the
numerous shoals and sandbanks which run out in many places to a
considerable extent into the sea, and which are so formidable
that no master of a vessel, unless he chance to be particularly
well acquainted with the navigation, will venture to approach
after dark. The fleet was accordingly anchored within a few
miles of the shore, but no sooner had the day begun to break than
the sails were again hoisted, and the ships, steering under the
influence of a leading wind, between the Capes Charles and Henry,
stood in gallant style up the Chesapeake.

This noble bay is far too wide, and the land on each side too
flat, to permit any but an indistinct glimpse of the shore from
the deck of a vessel which keeps well towards the middle. On the
present occasion we could distinguish nothing, on either hand,
except the tops of trees, with occasionally a windmill or a
lighthouse; but the view of our own fleet was in truth so
magnificent as to prevent any murmuring on that account.
Immediately on entering, we were joined by Admiral Cockburn with
three line-of-battle ships, several frigates, and a few sloops of
war and gun-brigs, by which means the squadron could now muster
above twenty vessels entitled to display the pendant, besides an
equal if not a greater number of victuallers and transports. Nor
were we strengthened by this addition in the naval part of the
expedition alone. On board these ships was embarked a powerful
reinforcement for the army, consisting of a battalion of seven
hundred marines, a hundred negroes lately armed and disciplined,
and a division of marine artillery, so that we could now
calculate on landing a corps of at least four thousand men. The
spectacle was therefore as agreeable and imposing as