quivered in the air, now and then splintering the top of a mast. With thunder on all sides and fearful in the expectation of the approaching storm, the soldiers sank down in silent resignation and the crew remained during the whole night on deck in anxious agitation and work. In the morning there arose a strong wind which tore to pieces the sails on several ships, but it also dispersed the storm clouds. Then, on the 14th, a calm set in, and from the ships there resounded the hymns of the Sunday services, but dense fog and continuous rains occurred and the vibrations of the ship became in the calm ever greater. All at once there was a great outcry in the fleet: Two ships, the Hartley (with Knyphausen soldiers under Captain von Biesenrod) and Lord Sandwich (on board of which was Colonel von Wurmb and a part of the life guards) could be seen colliding because of the great waves, causing each other considerable damage, and, thereupon, the ship Henrietta, with the Union, (upon which there was Colonel von Herringen and a section of the regiment of Losberg) could be seen likewise driven against each other. Alternately heaving and sinking the upper ship always appeared as if threatening destruction to the lower one, until the Union hoisted out a boat which, then, by means of a rope thrown over the bowsprit, pulled the Henrietta away. After a few agreeable days there followed on the 19th of July very stormy weather, the sea was in a most furious rage, sails ripped apart, but the ever agile activity of the sailors at the time of such accidents, was always ready with instant relief and reparation. As a spider that moves about as swiftly as the arrow in her web, so the sailors were going up and down the rope ladders of the masts and through the rigging, hanging only at their feet, tieing the tackle and binding the sails. Then there followed days and nights too hot to be endured, with heavy thunder storms; sleepless and famishing for a little fresh air, the soldiers came even in the night time on deck; the longing for the land grew hour by hour.

This most tedious voyage had given full play to the development of diseases. The most careful cleanliness, the daily scrubbing of the decks, the frequent cleaning of the cabins and rooms, the washing and the disinfecting with steaming vinegar, the pumping in of fresh air, and the airing of the bedding on decks: all this belonged to the general health regimen, yet the effect of the restrained, often unnatural physical exercises, and improper food, was not to be suppressed. While to many a Hessian the ship became his first cradle, without granting unto him in its hasty course a place which he could call his birthplace, there were others, who, deceased, were buried at the bottom of the sea, the Ensign von Stedel of the Regiment von Donop, among the first victims. Scurvy was developed as a result of tainted humors, for which the drinking of sea water was used as a medicine, and also the chewing of tobacco, which the Hessians had learned from the sailors and later kept up as a habit in their own homes. The disease reigned supreme, however, and many individuals suffered for a long time yet after the disembarkation from paralyzed limbs, and some even died. There was a lack of the most necessary things. The food supplies provided for by the officers themselves were exhausted, even the rations of zwieback were cut down to only 17 loth (8½ oz.) a day. The water, which in the whole fleet had been stored in new oaken casks, became undrinkable and finally putrid. The beds of the soldiers were broken up in the storms, camp kettles and canteens were smashed, tents, clothing apparel, even the cartridges had been destroyed by the rats, which finally had even gnawed through the water casks; all of these troubles more or less were suffered by most of the transport ships.

Meanwhile a much wished for wind filled the sails, and