Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/71

Rh we came in sight of Capes Charles and Henry at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.

As it was then almost night-fall the captain tacked about, intending to enter the Bay next morning. We then had a good wind behind us, and we hoped, but in vain, for a pilot to come off and take us in. The fear of being captured, however, made the captain determine to enter the Bay, which is very large. The destination of the vessel was Baltimore, but we were obliged to run into James River. The morning was very foggy, and we could not see more than a hundred yards or so. A few minutes later the fog lifted, the sun came out, and we found ourselves within a couple of cannon shot of the Isis, a British war vessel of 64 guns, which was moored at the entrance to the river. We might have run ashore on the coast, and the Isis could not have come near us as the wind was against her, but our captain lost his head and gave no orders, so we drifted within range of the Isis, and then went aground near the shore. The British being