Morris: Diary of Lieutenant von Krafft 99 



followed the Agent's ship and hoisted sail about 10 o'clock a. m. 

 but with very light wind. 



"At 81/2 a. m. we met a ship coming from Halifax. At 12, 

 noon, we were 60 miles from Sandy Hook, but there was a great 

 calm and we had drifted towards the South and accordingly felt 

 warm. Our whole fleet was together, which looked fine. After 

 4 we spoke three ships from England on their way to New York, 

 which intensified the anguish of my heart nigh unto despair. We 

 had bad weather and contrary wind which increased during the 

 night." 



" Thursday, November 27. In the morning I began to get 

 sea-sick, because the storm constantly increased and it became so 

 violent towards night that the captain himself said he had never 

 experienced a greater storm. As we were driven towards land 

 and were not more than 40 miles off, our destruction was in- 

 evitable, if the storm continued. On deck a cow, 4 sheep and 

 two pigs and about 30 fowls were killed owing to the cruel tossing 

 and pitching of the ship. In our cabin everything went to pieces 

 and was afloat, which was attributable to the negligence of the 

 ship's captain, Thomas Patter of London; but at last Heaven 

 came to our rescue. The storm abated and we got a favorable 

 wind." 



And so by this rude diary we get a glimpse of the closing scene 

 of the American Revolution. As before stated, however, von 

 Krafft returned to America in time, and became an efficient 

 official of our Government. 



