Towards the end of August, a French squadron of five men of war came in, commanded by Monsieur L’Etanducre, who were to convoy the trade to France.  Neither he nor his officers ever took any kind of notice of Captain Cheap, though we met them every day ashore.  One evening, as we were going aboard with the captain of our ship, a midshipman belonging to Monsieur L’Etanducre jumped into our boat, and ordered the people to carry him on board the ship he belonged to, leaving us to wait upon the beach for two hours before the boat returned.

On the sixth of September, we put to sea, in company with the five men of war and about fifty sail of merchantmen.  On the eighth, we made the Cayco Grande; and the next day a Jamaica privateer, a large fine sloop, hove in sight, keeping a little to windward of the convoy, resolving to pick up one or two of them in the night if possible.  This obliged Monsieur L’Etanducre to send a frigate to speak to all the convoy, and order them to keep close to him in the night, which they did, and in such a manner, that sometimes seven or eight of them were on board one another together, by which they received much damage; and to repair which, the whole squadron was obliged to lay-to sometimes for a whole day.  The privateer kept her station, jogging on with the fleet.  At last, the commodore ordered two of his best going ships to chace her.  She appeared to take no notice of them till they were pretty near her, and then would make sail and be out of sight presently.  The chacing ships no sooner returned, than the privateer was in company again.

As by this every night some accident happened to some of the convoy by keeping so close together, a fine ship of thirty guns belonging to Marseilles, hauled out a little to windward of the rest of the fleet, which L’Etanducre perceiving in the morning, ordered the frigate to bring the captain of her on board of him; and then making a signal for all the convoy to close to him, he fired a gun, and hoisted a red flag at the ensign staff, and immediately after the captain of the merchantman was run up to the main-yard-arm, and from thence ducked three times.  He was then sent on board his ship again, with orders to keep his colours flying the whole day, in order to distinguish him from the rest.  We were then told, that the person who was treated in this cruel manner was a young man of an exceeding good family in the south of France, and likewise a man of great spirit, and that he would not fail to call Monsieur L’Etanducre to an account when an opportunity should offer; and the affair made much noise in France afterwards.  One day, the ship we were in happened to be out of her station, by sailing so heavily, when the commodore made the signal to speak to our captain, who seemed frightened out of his wits.  When we came near him, he began with the grossest abuse, threatening our captain, that if ever he was out of his station again, he would serve him as he had done the other.  This rigid discipline, however, preserved the convoy; for though the privateer kept company a long time, she was not so fortunate as to meet with the reward of her perseverance.