Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/255

 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.