Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/138

 120 The general was well pleased with the spirit of his troops. “I cannot sufficiently describe the contentment of our soldiers,” writes he from shipboard, to his old chief, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick; “all are bright and in good spirits.” Soon, however, sea-sickness came to add to the discomfort of the crowded ships. “The soldiers have almost all been sick, and most of them continue so, as do also my servants,” writes Riedesel to his wife from off Dover. “The poor cook is so bad that he can't work at all, nor so much as lift his hand. This is very uncomfortable for us, for Captain Foy and I have to do our own cooking. You would laugh to see us.” Before the end of the voyage the drinking-water was foul.

The fleet of thirty sail weighed anchor at Portsmouth on the 4th of April, and arrived off Cape Gaspé on the 16th of May and before Quebec on the 1st of June. Riedesel here received the command of a separate corps made up of one English and two German battalions, with one hundred and fifty Canadians and three hundred Indians, and posted along the St. Lawrence between Quebec and Montreal. “This country will delight you; it is as beautiful as can be,” writes Rie- desel to his wife on the 8th of June; and again, on the 28th, he says: “You will find this neighborhood beautiful. It is only a pity that the colonies are still in their childhood, so that vegetables, fruit, and such other things as belong to a good table are very hard to find; but we have meat, poultry, and milk in profusion. The houses are all only of one story, but have many