discovered, and her Virtue sacrificed to their rapacious, boundless and lustful Appetites; but Innocency and Virtue is the safest Protection in the worst of Times; and this was what sheltered her from the much dreaded Calamity that threatned her.

On the 19th of November last, the Eltham sailed with the rest of the Fleet from Fort St. David’s, and kept Company till they came to the Cape of Good Hope; when the Eltham had Orders to make the best of her Way to Lisbon, to take in Money for the Use of the Merchants of London.

The Day after they left Fort St. David’s, her Master Lieutenant Wyegate died, in whose Death she lost the only Friend she had on board, and where to find such another, she knew not: This brought afresh into her Mind the Remembrance of her faithless Husband, whole Villainy and Cruelty had drove her to all the Straits, Hardships and Dangers she endured both by Sea and Land, and had reduced her to the wretched State she was then in. These Reflections were sufficient to have sunk the Spirits of the most hardy Hero; but she bore them with a becoming Resignation. She was distinguished amongst the Ship’s Crew for her Ingenuity in washing and mending of Linnen, but as it is common on board of King’s Ships to have some Men who are dexterous at such Performances, she was not suspected upon that Score.

Some Time after the Death of Lieutenant Wyegate, she was taken into the Service of Lieutenant Kite, second Lieutenant of the Ship, and continued so about two Months; when he getting a Boy, he recommended her to Mr. Wallace, third Lieutenant of the Ship, who proved also a very good Master to her. But now she was laid open (though contrary to her Inclination) to the Company of the Sailors, for they were used, when she had her Head shaved, to enquire why she did not shave her Beard; her Answer was, that she was too young. Upon which they used to damn her, calling her Miss Molly Gray, she used to return the uncivil Compliment, by damning them, and telling them, that she could prove herself, as she had always done, during the Voyage, as good a Man as any Seaman on board, and that she would lay them a Wager upon that Point.

During this long Voyage, they often used, as I have just said, on account of her smooth Face, to burlesque her, by swearing she was a Woman. This Expression, however indifferently they meant it, gave her abundance of Trouble; she foresaw what the Consequence would be, in case this Joke was carried too far; to prevent which, she with a masculine but modest Assurance, told them, that if they would lay any Wager, she would give them ocular Demonstration of her being as much a Man as the best in the Ship; which Reply had the desired Effect, seeing it put a Stop to their further Suggestions: Next, they began to declare her to be a Woman on account of her smooth Face, seeing she had no Beard; but she told them that she was so very young, that it could not be supposed she should have a Beard so soon; however, she could not prevent their calling her by the Name of Molly Gray, which Appellation she went by during the Voyage, until they arrived at Lisbon.

While they lay at Lisbon, she often went on Shore in Company with the Ships Crew, upon Parties of Pleasure, and was always their Companion in their Revellings; this Part she acted, not out of Choice, but for wise Ends. She remember’d in what Manner she had been reflected upon by them during the Voyage from St. David’s to Lisbon, therefore she pointed out this Method as the most effectual, to prevent any further suspicious Reflections for the future. She very wisely judged, that by associating herself with them, by shewing a free and chearful Disposition, and by being ready to come into their Measures, she should banish from their Imaginations the least Suspicion of her being a Woman, and by that Means enjoy a free and uninterrupted Passage to her native Country, without discovering her Sex. There was one of the Ship’s Crew, named Edward Jefferies, an intimate Acquaintance, a Marine, and Mess-mate of her’s; they two had contracted an Acquaintance and Familiarity with two young Women in Lisbon, the handsomest of which was the favourite of our Heroine; but Jefferies taking a greater liking to her Choice than his own, proposed to toss up who should have her, which she readily agreed to, not caring how soon she should be rid of such a Companion: This Jefferies on tossing up gained the Lady, upon which she readily resigned her into his Hands, and made that serve as a good Excuse for being rid of them both. This Intimacy subsisted between them and the Portugueze Women while they remained at Lisbon, and when they were about to set sail for England, their Sweethearts came to the Ship’s side in order to take Leave of them, but was prevented from coming on board, by the Command of the Captain.

We shall leave the candid Reader at liberty to judge the Disorders, Terrors and Distractions that so many various Scenes must have plunged her into; such a Disquiet, that she had not felt the like in all her past Enterprizes. A thousand Inquietudes rolled in upon her, like so many Billows, and almost sunk her down into the Abyss of Despair. She began to reflect upon the many Vicissitudes she had underwent, since her first launching out into the boisterous Sea of War, occasioned by the Cruelty of a perfidious Husband. What Dangers, what Hardships, and what Fatigues she had underwent! The many Inconveniences she had overcome, and the Difficulties she had surmounted, in preserving her Virtue untainted in the midst of so many vicious and prophane Actions, as had often been represented in their blackest Sable to her view, and that she had hitherto come off Conqueress, and when almost at the Door of her native Country, unsullied and undefiled by any of these Temptations wherewith she had been assaulted; then to be in the greatest Danger; then to have that Virtue, which had hitherto been her assistant and comfortable Companion in all her adverse Fortune, tore from her Breast, and nothing left behind but Shame, Guilt and Confusion. These Reflections had almost vanquished her great Spirit, had not her good Genius led her to put in Practice the Scheme she had formed at Lisbon, which answered the End she aimed at, and by which her Virtue, which was always dear to her, remains still untainted, to her immortal Praise.

On the Affair of the Supply of the Men they had from the Sheerness Privateer at Madeira, she gave the following Account; which was, that after they were come on board the Swallow Sloop, some of them seemed very pensive; so that her Curiosity led her to enquire into the Reason of their Grief, which she found was occasioned by their being brought on board a Man of War, which at first to her seemed strange, not being acquainted with the Manner of Men being impressed; and having often conversed with some of them, found they were sent on board by Force; and some of them having Wives and Children in England, and some in Ireland, the Thoughts of their long Separation from their Wives and Families, and the uncertainty of ever seeing them again, was the chief Cause of their Sorrows.

This Relation, and the Anxieties some of them shewed, gave her new Matter of Contemplation, and often, when retired in her