felf at day-light next morning off Cape de Gat, and about two leagues from the five fhips, that were together, and formed in a line to receive him. At half paft fix, when he was within gun-fhot, they hoifted French colours, and difcharged their broadfides. Captain Moor bore down upon them, and though they continued their fire without interruption, referved his till he was within pistol-shot of the largeft, which ftruck after an engagement of three quarters of an hour. Without ftopping to fend any of his people on board, he proceeded to engage the fecond, and took her, after a fhort refiftance. He left an officer and feven men in this prize, with orders to look after the former, till he returned from purfuing the three remaining veffels, which he obferved were making fail to get away. He came up with and took two of them; the other escaped. The largeft fhip is called Les Deux Freres, pierced for twenty guns, mounting fourteen fix pounders, and fifty-five men, (fifteen of whom got off in a boat); the fecond, L'Univers, (the captain of which was killed) pierced for eighten guns, carries twelve four pounders, and forty-one men, little inferior in fize to the Deux Freres; the third, the Zephyr, (formerly his majesty's floop) pierced for fourteen guns, mountting ten three pounders, and thirtytwo men: the fourth, the Nancy, a pink of two fix pounders, two two pounders, and eighteen men. They all got fafe into this bay on the 29th of latt month, about ten o'clock at night. Captain Moor's gallant behaviour has been taken great notice 7 of by the officers of this regency, and his humane and generous treatment of his prifoners been admired by every body; indeed fo much, that Monf. de la Valleé, French Conful General here, thought it incumbent on him to write a line to me to express his fenfe of it, in the ftrongest terms of encomium and gratitude. The Fame mounts twenty guns, fix pounders, on one deck, and four upon her quarter deck, viz. two four pounders, and two three pounders, and 108 men. Short Account of the Defolation made in feveral of the Weft India Ilands by the late Hurricanes. N the 3d of October laft, a ON moft dreadful convulfion of nature, almoft overwhelmed the little fea port town of Savannahla-Mer on the island of Jamaica, with the adjacent country. About one o'clock in the afternoon, the gale began from the S. E. and continued increafing with accumulated violence until four, when it veered to the fouth and became a perfect tempeft, which lafted in full force till near eight; it then abated. The fea, during the last period, exhibited a moft awful fcene; the waves, fwelled to an amazing height, rufhed with an impetuofity not to be described on the land, and in a few minutes determined the fate of all the houfes on the bay. Those whose ftrength, or prefence of mind, enabled them to feek their safety in the Savannah, took refuge in the miferable remains of the habitations there, most of which were blown - blown down, or so much damaged by the form, as to be hardly capable of affording a comfortable shelter to the wretched fufferers.In the Court-houfe, 40 perfons, whites, and of colour, fought an afylum, but miferably perished by the preffure of the roof and fides, which fell upon them. Numbers were faved in that part of the houfe of Mr. Finlayfon, that luckily withstood the violence of the tempeft, himself, and another gentleman had left it, when the wind forced open the door, and carried away the whole lee fide of it, and fought their fafety under the wall of an old kitchen, but finding they muft inevitably perish in that fituation, they returned to the house, determined to fubmit to their fate. About ten the waters began to abate, and at that time a smart shock of an earthquake was felt. All the fmall veffels in the bay were driven on fhore, and dashed to pieces. The ships Princess Royal, Capt. Ruthwin; Henry, Richardfon; and Auftin-Hall, Auftin; were forced from their anchors, and carried fo far into the morafs that they will never be got off. The earthquake lifted the Princess Royal from her beam ends, righted her, and fixed her in a firm bed; this circumstance has been of great ufe to the furviving inhabitants, for whofe accommodation fhe now ferves as a house. The morning ufhered in a fcene too fhocking for defcription, Bodies of the dead and dying, fcattered about where the town ftood, prefented themselves to the agonizing view of thofe whofe charity led them in queft of the emains of their unhappy fellow creatures! The number who have perifhed is not yet precifely afcertained, but it is imagined so whites, and 150 perfons of colour, are loft. Amongst them are numbered Doctor King, his wife, and four children, his partner, Mr. Nefbit, a carpenter, and 24 negroes, all in one houfe.-Dr. Lightfoot, and Mr. Antrobus, were found dead in the ftreets. In the whole parifh, it is faid, there are not five dwelling-houfes, and not one fet of works remaining; the plantain walks are all deftroyed; every cane piece levelled; feveral white people, and fome hundreds of negroes, killed. In the adjoining parish of St. Elizabeth, although the face of the country wore a lefs horrible afpect than at Weftmoreland, much damage was done, and several lives loft. -- Our accounts from Lucea, though not particular, are terrible. The town, except two houses, thofe of Meffrs. Campbell, and the adjoining tenement of Mr. Lyons, is levelled to the ground; many lives loft, and in the whole parish of Hanover but three houfes ftanding-not a tree, bufh, or cane to be feen-univerfal defolation prevails! Of the perfons loft, we can only as yet name Meffrs. Aaron and Solomon Dias Fernandes, two an tient gentlemen of the Jewish nation, one aged 81, and the other 80, of refpectable and venerable characters. Three young ladies, Miffes Samuels, at Green Ifland. The elegant house of John Campbell, Efq; at Salt-fpring; Kendall and Campbell-town; and that of Mr. Chambers, at Batchelor's-hall. Capt. Darling, Mrs. [T] 3 Darling, Darling, and Mr. Moxham, were dragged out, barely alive, from the ruins of an arch that fupported a flight of fteps, under which they had fheltered themselves. Fourteen or fifteen people of colour were buried in a ftore that fell in upon them.. At Montego bay, the tempeft increased accompanied with inceffant rain) to fuch an amazing degree, as, about dark, to threaten general ruin and deftruction. The darkness of the night added fresh horror to the general apprehenfions, and a circumftance which, on ordinary occafions, would be confidered as peculiarly terrifying-the immenfe and prodigious fathes of lightning which regularly fucceeded each other, was an alleviation to the general confternation, and the only fecurity to the very few whofe particular fituation permitted or inclined them to venture through the streets, and afford comfort and relief to the diftreifes of their neighbours. From 12 o'clock, from the best of our information, and our own recollection, the ftorm began to abate; but the many inftances of defolation and diftrefs which even then presented themselves to our view, and which we began to be apprized of from different quarters of the town, afforded fuggeftions to the mind, which rendered the approach of the morning truly horrible. It is impoffible at prefent to recount the particular loffes of every individual; many houfes in this town have been deftroyed; among the principal fufferers are, Mr. Vincent, Dr. Muttershed, the eftate of James Lugg, Mr. Whitaker, Mr. Afthert, and the barracks at Fort Frederick. The darkness of the night rendered it impoffible to attend to the fate of the hips Ladras, Adventurer, and Lenox, which were in the harbour when the ftorm commenced; the moft probable and. favourable conjecture which could be made upon their being miffed in the morning, was their having put to fea in the night, and no fymptoms of wrecks having yet appeared to difcredit this conjecture, we are in hourly and impatient expectation of feeing them, or hearing of their being fafe. All the fmaller craft in the harbour, together with the fhip Petersfield, which had been preferved and repaired after the hipwreck of laft February, are all totally loft; and the brigantine Jane, which had gone down a few days before to Great River, as a place of apparent fafety, has been driven afhore, but we are informed will be got off with very little damage. Our informations from the country are truly alarming; few eftates in this parish have efcaped without fome damage, many fets of works and dwelling houfes are thrown down, the canes in gene ral have fuffered much, but the lofs of all the plantain works without exception is an aggravation of the general calamity which cannot fail of exciting fentiments of compaffion and regret for the condition of our fellow-creatures, who may fuffer for the lofs of the moft eflential part of their fupport. What we have recited falls far fhort of accounts which we hourly receive of the damage done in Hanover and Weftmoreland at Lucea-bay only two houfes remain, and his majesty's floop Badger, Badger, lying in that harbour, has loft all her mafts and run on fhore, Another furious Tempest, not less violent than the former, happened on the 1th, and laid waste feveral of the Leeward Iflands. The following is the Journal of what palled at Barbadoes from the 9th of October until the 16th. HE evening preceding the ing forced its way into every part, and torn off moft of the roof. From this afylum they were foon driven out; the water being ftopped in its paffage, having found itfelf a courfe into the cellar, they knew not where to go; the water had rofe four feet, and the ruins were falling from all quarters. To continue in the cellar was impoffible; to return to the houfe equally fo; the only chance left was making for the fields, which at Thurricane, the th of Octo- that time appeared equally dan ber, was remarkably calm, but the fky furprisingly red and fiery; during the night much rain fell. On the morning of the 10th, much rain and wind from N. W. By ten o'clock it increafed very much; by one, the thips in the bay drove; by four o'clock, the Albemarle frigate (the only man of war then here) parted her anchors and went to fea, as did all the other veffels in the harbour. Soon after, by fix o'clock, the wind had torn up and blown down many trees, and foreboded a moft violent tempeft. At the Government Houfe every precaution was taken to guard against what might happen; the doors and windows were barricadoed up, but it availed little. By ten o'clock the wind forced itself a paffage through the house from the N. N. W. and the tempeft increafing every minute, the family took to the center of the building, imagining from the prodigious ftrength of the walls, they being three feet thick, and from its circular form, it would have withstood the wind's utmost rage: however, by half after eleven o'clock, they were obliged to retreat to the cellar, the wind hav gerous: it was however attempted, and the family were fo fortunate as to get to the ruins of the foundation of the flag ftaff, which foon after giving way, every one endeavoured to find a retreat for himfelf; the governor, and the few that remained, were thrown down, and it was with great difficulty they gained the cannon, under the carriage of which they took fhelter: their fituation here was highly deplorable; many of the cannon were moved, and they had reafon to fear that under which they fat might be difmounted, and crush them by its fall, or that fome of the ruins that were flying about would put an end to their exiftence; and to render the fcene ftill more dreadful, they had much to fear from the powder magazine, near which they were; the armoury was level with the ground, and the arms, &c. fcattered about. Anxioufly did they wait the break of day, flattering themselves, that with the light they would fee a ceffation of the ftorm; yet when it appeared, the tempeft was little abated, and the day ferved but to exhibit the moft melancholy profpect imaginable; nothing can be compared with [7] 4 the the terrible devaftation that pre- and hospital were early blown fented ittelf on all fides; not a building ftandirg; the trees, if not torn up by their roots, deprived of their leaves and branches; and the most luxuriant spring changed in this one night to the drearieft winter. In vain was it to look round for thelter; houfes, that from their fituation it was imagined would have been in a degree protected, were all flat with the earth, and the miferable owners, if they were fo fortunate as to efcape with their lives, were left with out a covering for themselves and family. General Vaughan was early obliged to evacuate his houfe; in efcaping he was very much bruif. ed; his fecretary was fo unfortunate as to break his thigh. Nothing has ever happened that has caufed fuch univerfal defolation. No one house in the island is exempt from damage. Very few buildings are left ftanding on the eftates. The devaftation amongt the negroes and cattle, particularly of the horned kind. is very great, which mutt, more especially in thefe times, be a canle of great diftrefs to the planters. It is as yet impollible to make any accurate calculation of the number of fouls that have perifhed in this dreadful calamity; whites and blacks together, it is imagined to exceed fome thoufands. Many were buried in the ruins of the houfes and buildings. Many fell victims to the violence of the ftorm and inclemency of the weather, and great numbers were driven into the fea, and there perithed troops have fuffered inconfiderably, though both the barracks The down. Alarming confequences were dreaded from the number of dead bodies that lay uninterred, and from the quantity of fish the fea threw up, which however are happily fubfided. What few public buildings there were, are fallen in the general wreck; the fortifications have fuffered very confiderably The buildings were all demolished; for fo violent was the ftorm here, when aflifted by the fea, that a twelve pound gun was carried from the south to the north battery, a distance of 140 yards. The lofs to this country is immenfe, many years will be required to retrieve it. General Vaughan's attention to the inhabitants of Bridgetown has been very great. On the 12th of October fuch orders were iffued to the troops, and obeyed with fuch alacrity. that every thing was kept quiet in the town, which would otherwife have been in great danger of being plundered by the pritoners of war, &c who were liberated by the demolition of the prifons, and are now, to the number of above 800, difperfed over the town and country; they, however, under this controul, behaved tolerably well, and have been of much fervice to the inhabitants, who have given them employment. On the 13th of October the governor went to Bridgetown, iffued a proclamation, and took fuch fteps as appeared of utility to the inhabitants. The merchants, &c. formed an affociation, and appointed committees for the interment of the dead, the care and diftribution of the provifions, &c. They |