The master proposed that the crew and passengers
should feed on each other, beginning with the women.
This inhuman proposal was rejected with disgust. At
last the Irish coast came in sight. The vessel grazed
on a rock and sprang a leak. It was noticed that the
master was putting out to sea, and, on inquiry, it was
discovered that he was afraid of having to pay thirty
guineas for a pilot. The master was thereupon sent
below and the boatswain took command of the bark.
He brought her to St. Ives in Cornwall, where, in
answer to her signals of distress, two boats with a pilot
and a carpenter put out to her assistance. The
carpenter was so frightened at the sight of the famished
Hessians that he started off again for the shore as fast
as his oars would take him. The pilot succeeded in
beaching the bark just as she was about to sink, and
the crew and passengers were saved at last.[1]
The English fleet waited at Tybee Island until the 9th of February, 1780, for the scattered transports to reassemble. It then put out to sea again, and on the 11th all but the heavy men-of-war entered the mouth of the North Edisto River, and the troops were disembarked on Simon's Island. For a month the soldiers were busily landing stores and artillery, making good their footing, and advancing over the sandy islands southwest of Charleston Harbor. It was not until the 12th of March that fire was opened on the town
- ↑ The above particulars are taken from Eelking's “Hülfstruppen,” vol. ii. pp. 63, 64. As usual, Eelking gives no reference. Bancroft, however, gives the outlines of the story, and there are various contemporary authorities for the fact that the ship was separated from the fleet and driven to England.
