Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1819-07-19
From IL. N. York Erenssns Post.
INTERESTING.

Extract of letter from respectable pas
seuger on board the schooner General
Brown. w Taylor, master. of 4 from
this port, for Genoa. to friend IN this
city. ,o,o
Dear
II is now almost six months since | left
YOU. and, however strange it may seem,
have no, yet reached my port OF des''na-
ton. Lest you should not already have
been spprized of The cause of this truly un-
fortunate and unexpected delay, shall
now proceed briefly to recount to you the
particulars. Ifyou recollect | left you on
the S0th November, in fine spirits, and in
full expectation of reaching Gibraltar in 20
or Is days from that time. But alas! how
vain and futile are the calculations & prog
nostics of mortal man. On the 18th of De-
cember following, being in lat. 80, 30,
and about long. 81, west, it was our tate to
encounter most tremendous gale OF wind,
by which, from its violence, and other eau
ses uhich I shall not notice here, our poor
vessel was so horribly mutIlated as to o.
blige us, for the safety OF our lives & pro-
perry, to run for the first port we could
make. We had been lying to for about "a
hours, (the gale then appearing at It's great
est height) VIXEN we shipped a tremendous
sea across our bows, which carried away
the oowsprit by the stem, with every thing
attached. This, in a very short time after
was succeeded by another still more vio-
lent, which took with it the foremost by the
board, together with all the upper masts,
yards, sails, &c. belonging, (Which till
now had remained alofO sprung the main
mast, snapt she tiller off directly in the
rudder head, broke the camhouse, with
house, &c. into thousand fragments, and
washed away all the head rails and waist
boards, fore and aft. One Of the seamen
was knocked down and much injured; and
had not the gale abated at this truly awful
and critical juncture. It's more than proba-
BILE, that, in little time more, we should
all have been ingulphed in its waves. The
vessel now lying a helpless hulk, altoge-
Their manageable, and exposed, directly
in the trough Of the sea, to the entire mer-
cy OF the elements. But by the providen-
tial aid of that same power, who had thus
provoked them, were they now,
of his infinite goodness and mercy, again
in time to save Us from waite
~ grave.
1t was not until the nth of December,
that the wreck was so repaired and reft-
ted, with jury masts, sails. &c. as to be
able to make sail again, when We fell in
with he schr Elizabeth and Mary, Capt.
Prior, out 81 days from Rotterdam, for
Boston, Or the first port he could make, to
whom we gave supply of water and pro-
visions. Capt. Prior had experienced
constant series of S. w. and n. w. winds,
and as they still continued to p evail, ad-
vised US, by all means, 10 keep Tor the
Western isiar DIS, or even Gibraltar, giving
it as his opinion, that we could reach them
sooner than aDy other port or place. Our
captain was, however, of a different OPT
Mon, and upon Capt. P's. promising 10
keep company with him as long as he
could. they now stood OIL together for
some part OF our continent. We remained
howeve but a very short time together,
having parted the following night, in
gale. when it was resolved the next day,
(I3,h) to bear away for the island OF Ber-
mu6a.
On the 18th, we fell in with ship from
for Philadelphia, when made
every possible exertion to get on board
her; but, it being night, and blowing We
ry heavy, found it altogether impractical
BILE. On the I'd of January following, we
finally found ourselves in the latitude OF
Bermuda, and were told by our captain,
that il then bore due west, distant about ~
or 80 miles but, in consequence OF the
wind being from the westward, could not
then approach it. After having hove to her
and remained beating of and on for more
than 80 hours, waiting change OF wind
TO run us in 10 the island, we had The good
fortune to fall in with the schr. Montezu-
ma, out only days from Baltimore for
the Pacific Ocean, who informed US that
we were in the longitude Of 50. 80, west,
and consequently 700 miles from Ber-