90 



TlMEHRI. 



well armed and well manned, will take the benefit of 

 convoy. A fifth, bolder than the rest, will sail with or 

 without convoy, being well armed and manned. Above 

 all, there is the Official Notice as to convoys, containing 

 the latest arrangements made by Admiral Sir FRANCIS 

 Laforey for protecting the ships going home from 

 Demerara. It shall tell its own tale : — 



The King's House, Demerary. 

 NOTICE. 

 His Excellency the A6ting-Governor has received a Letter, of which 

 the following is an Extract, relative to the convoys for the present year: — 

 " I have the honour to inform Your Excellency, for the information 

 " of the Planters and Merchants of the Colony under Your Excellency's 

 " government, that the convoys for the present year are arranged to 

 " sail from Demerara as follows : — 



April at the Full Moon, 

 June at the Full Moon, 

 July at the Full Moon ; 

 at which periods a vessel of War will call there, to take the trade from 

 thence to the Island of Grenada, where it will wait to proceed with the 

 Trade of that Island, to the place of general rendezvous." 



(Signed) Francis Laforey. 



The vessel told off to the service of convoying ships 

 from Demerara to Grenada in January and February, 

 1 8 1 3, was His Majesty's sloop of War Peacock, a brig 

 rigged vessel, built of oak, of 386 tons, mounting eighteen 

 24-pounder guns, two long 9-pounders, and one 12- 

 pounder as a shifting gun, and having a crew of 122 men. 

 The commander of this vessel was Captain WILLIAM 

 Peake, a son of Sir Henry Peake who, from the 27th of 

 June, 1806, to the 25th of February, 1822, was Surveyor of 

 the Navy. Captain Peake had been seven years a Com- 

 mander, and had come to the West Indies in search of 

 promotion. He was a brave man, and had often 

 fought the enemies of his country. He took great pride 



