and was separated from the fleet. The master, having
received no orders as to his destination, was obliged
to put back towards Sandy Hook on the morning of
the 10th. On that day a vessel was made out ahead,
and preparations were made to meet her in case she
should be an American privateer. The cannons were
cleaned and loaded, and a non-commissioned officer
and six men ordered to take charge of each of them.
The vessel, however, turned out to be a friend, a
transport-ship with part of the Forty-fourth English regiment
on board. The Triton kept in company with
this ship, and on the morning of the 11th fell in with
the convoy, consisting of twenty-three transports and
trading sloops, protected by two small vessels of
twenty and fourteen guns. From one of these vessels
the Triton obtained two additional sailors—young,
inexperienced fellows.
The fleet sailed immediately on the arrival of the Triton, and during the 11th and 12th all went well. On the 13th, however, the weather began to be stormy, and on the 14th it was the same. On the 15th the wind was rising, and in the evening it blew a hurricane. The fleet was completely scattered, and the night was pitch dark. About nine o'clock in the evening the mainmast broke off below the main yard, and before the wreckage was entirely cleared away the foremast went overboard, breaking just above the deck. The brig was now tossed about at the mercy of the waves, and was sometimes on her beam-ends. While the captain was nailing up a dark-light, and Wiederhold standing by with a candle to help him, the sea burst in and threw them both head over heels in the cabin.
