INTERVIEW WITH ADAMS. 131 
round his loins, and a straw hat, ornamented 
with the black feathers of the domestic fowl. 
" With a great share of good humour/' says 
Captain Pipon, " we were glad to trace in his 
benevolent countenance all the features of an 
honest English face. I must confess," he con- 
tinues, " I could not survey his interesting 
person without feelings of tenderness and com- 
passion. His companion was named George 
Young, a fine youth of seventeen or eighteen 
years of age." 
If the astonishment of the captains was great 
on hearing their first salutation in English, their 
surprise and interest were not a little increased, 
on Sir Thomas Staines taking the youths below 
and setting before them something to eat, when 
one of them rose up, and placing his hands 
together in a posture of devotion, distinctly 
repeated, and in a pleasing tone and manner, 
" For what we are going to receive, the Lord 
make us truly thankful ! ' 
They expressed great surprise on seeing a 
cow on board the Briton, and were in doubt 
whether she was a great goat, or a horned sow. 
The two captains of his Majesty's ships ac- 
companied these young men on shore. With 
some difficulty and a good wetting, and with 
the assistance of their conductors, they ac- 
complished a landing through the surf, and 
were soon after met by John Adams, who 
conducted them to his house. His wife accom- 
panied him, an old person, blind and infirm. 
He was at first alarmed, lest the visit was to 
apprehend him; but on being told that they 
