45 
t 
THE SERVICES 
OP 
LIEUT.-COLONEL FRANCIS DOWNMAN, R.A., 
IN 
FRANCE, NORTH AMERICA, AND THE WEST INDIES 
BETWEEN THE YEARS 1758 AND 1784. 
EDITED BY 
COLONEL F. A. WHINYATES, late R.H.A. 
CHAPTER II. 
Lieutenant Downman’s occupation and amusements. A canoe voyage. 
The peace of 1763. Return home. Voyage to America. A violent 
storm. Letters on the outbreak of the American War of Independence. 
In the beginning of July, 1761, I was ordered by Governor Melville 
round to Fort George, with directions to transport an 18-pr. toMarigot 
in Capes Terre, where Lieutenant Campbell of the Engineers had 
erected a small battery. This piece of service took me up some time, 
as a catamaran had to be made on which the gun was to be carried. 
This machine, if well made, is of great use, for it will bear a vast 
weight, and will go into very shoal water, which is very necessary for 
the convenience of landing anything, particularly cannon. It is made 
of large and small timbers, which are lashed together with ropes, 
leaving vacant places for fixing empty casks, any number that you 
please, according to the size of the catamaran or the weight that you 
want to carry. A catamaran made in an oblong form long enough to 
contain 20 hogsheads, five in each row, will, with great safety, transport 
four ton and a half weight; the bungs of the casks must be upwards 
so that you may pump them if it should be found necessary. 
In the month of February, 1762, I was appointed to act as Barrack- 
Master of Fort Royal, but I did not enjoy the advantage of this place 
2 . VOL. XXV. 7 
