You would not expect to hear, thus soon, that I had again changed my quarters; but it has been already my lot to be exposed to another sea voyage, from Port au Prince to the Mole. The disasters commenced with the embarkation; and were not less marked than upon former occasions.

I felt it a fortunate circumstance to have again the opportunity of making the passage in so good a ship as the Lion. She was to sail at an early hour of the morning; I left my abode therefore about sunset the preceding evening, in order to go on board; but in my way to the wharf I was overtaken by one of those heavy storms of which, beyond the tropics, you can form no correct idea. The clouds seemed to burst asunder, emitting broad flashes of light, and rapid torrents of rain which quickly stood in floods around me. Finding it impossible to get on board, I waded back through the sea of the streets to my quarters, guided only by the lightning. It was late before the weather calmed; but I then renewed my attempt to reach the ship, when, unfortunately, one of the soldiers, who had charge of my baggage, not seeing the extent of the wharf, stepped over the edge of it into the sea, with the trunk upon his head. It was between ten and eleven o’clock—the darkness was impenetrable; and the man could not swim. Luckily the ship’s boat was nigh; and the sailors belonging to it instantly plunged into the water in search of the unfortunate soldier, who, by paddling and struggling, kept his head above the surface until they discovered him, and, to our surprise, brought him alive on shore.

These interruptions made it nearly midnight before we reached the Lion; when we found the deck and every part of the ship in a state of hurry and confusion; I waited therefore, only to see our poor sufferer comfortably accommodated, then retired to my birth for the night.

At seven the next morning we got under weigh, amidst a crowded and busy scene which none but sailors could reduce to any order or arrangement—many were hastening away from the ship—others scrambling up her sides to get on board—some of the sailors were heaving the anchor, others were running and jumping from place to place, about every part of the vessel, to work the ropes and sails, while the officers were calling out their orders in loud trumpet sounds: and in addition to the many concerns of his own ship, the captain had to take charge of twenty sail of traders, which were put under his convoy, in order to be protected against the brigands, who were extremely watchful and adventurous at several posts, between Port au Prince and the Mole.

The cabin passengers were twelve in number, of different nations, sexes, and callings; besides whom we had some French nymphs of colour with their sable attendants; so that, together with the ship’s officers, a body of sixty invalid soldiers, and the white and black sailors, the whole formed a numerous and motley crew.

A voyage of this kind is not so pleasant as to induce a wish for its repetition; but the opportunity it afforded of observing the manners and characters among people of different nations and colours well compensated the privation of those little comforts which cannot be commanded in such a situation.

I am sorry to remark that a very shameful abuse is too often practised on board the English ships, regarding the property of the passengers; and that the French part of our company had much reason to lament it on our voyage from Port au Prince. In the ships of their own nation the passengers are treated with great attention and civility, and whatever belongs to them is respected: they complain, therefore, very bitterly of the plunder and dishonesty, which occur so frequently on board the British vessels. Wine, spirits, pickles, sweetmeats, &c. &c. if not secured under your own immediate care, seem to be held as articles of prize property; to be consumed by any who may have it in their power to seize them. Several packages belonging to the cabin passengers on board the Lion, were torn open and their contents devoured. Some of the cases, by way of better security, had been addressed in the name of the commandant, but even these did not escape the too general pillage; they were opened, and the bottles drained to the very dregs.

During the voyage, many opportunities offered of conversing with, and hearing the remarks of the French women of colour, who appear to be far better informed, and more expert in the art de faire l’agréable, than the same classes in the Dutch or English colonies. Here, as in Europe, a conversation may be maintained with almost any order of French women, in a sprightly and agreeable manner; but, among the Dutch and the English, except with those of superior education, a mere social tête-à-tête, divested of particular interest, in either party, is commonly languid and insupportable. Nature has stamped a great variety, among the human species, upon the different parts of the globe; but education and habit often effect a diversity not less interesting or important; although, in some instances, they seem to produce an opposite result, by causing an affinity where nature has marked a vast discordance. In the French colonies, even the African and creole slaves assume the lively manners of their European masters.

But I am straying from my voyage! let me return and inform you, that in the course of the second day’s sailing we passed St. Marc’s, and there exchanged part of our convoy; some of the vessels of our fleet leaving us to go into that port, and others from thence, joining us to proceed under our protection to the Mole; whence they were to be guarded by the British to the United States. During the following night we passed the port of Leogane, one of the posts occupied by the enemy; and at the moment we were sailing by it, a ship coming out of the harbour, stood directly for the convoy. On the supposition that it might be one of the armed vessels of the brigands, some alarm was excited among those of our little fleet who were nearest in shore, and a signal-gun was fired implying the approach of an enemy: but it was soon discovered to be an American trader. She was permitted therefore to join us, and proceed unmolested to the Mole. The property she contained might be French, or it might be American, but good-natured John Bull, in kindness to his transatlantic offspring, protects alike the vessels trading to his own ports, or to those of his enemy: the policy which dictates this proceeding is, of course, well advised; but, should one of the vessels of these, our republican brethren, join a French convoy upon coming out of a British port, it is highly probable that she would not only be exposed to a rigid examination, but captured and condemned as a prize. At the dawn of the third morning we had a view of Cap à Fou near the Mole, a dangerous post in possession of the brigands; and some of the fleet found themselves close under the point of land called the Platform. The breeze was favorable, and if we had not been detained by the slow-sailing vessels, we might have quickly ended our voyage—instead of which, we were compelled to pass the whole day, standing off and on, at the mouth of the harbour. Some of the quick-sailing ships, which were a-head of the Lion, impatient of being detained, very imprudently proceeded without waiting for the convoy.

At an early hour the next morning we were lying upon the still surface of the sea, without the slightest breeze, and, at daylight, found ourselves farther from the Mole than we had been the preceding evening. This was the more vexatious, as we were in the precise latitude of calms; and at the very spot, where our delays had been so annoying on the passage from Jamaica: but we considered ourselves far from unfortunate, when, in the course of the day, a light breeze sprang up, and, with the aid of the current, carried us slowly into the harbour.

On approaching we observed some of the headmost vessels of the convoy standing in, very near to Cap à Fou, and the guns firing from the batteries on shore, which led us to apprehend that the enemy’s barges were in chase of them; but they were too far advanced for us to ascertain the fact, or afford them any assistance. It was discovered, afterwards, that these vessels had been lucky enough to escape from their pursuers; but that two of those which had attempted to get in the preceding evening had been captured. The brigands, however, suffered for their temerity; for at the moment these traders were compelled to surrender off the very mouth of the bay, the Lively sloop happened to come in, well armed, from Jamaica; when the Admiral, with great promptitude, ordered an officer of the navy, and some additional sailors on board, and sent out this vessel against the enemy, accompanied with some men of war’s boats, and assisted by a party of troops detached by land. By this active little expedition, one of the brigand boats was captured, with ten or twelve of her crew either killed or wounded; and the two vessels of our convoy were retaken.