Folios 217-218: James Cornwallis, HMS Sheerness, St George's Bay, Sierra Leone. Is...

Folios 217-218: James Cornwallis, HMS Sheerness, St George's Bay, Sierra Leone. Is sending this despatch home in an English brig. When he sailed from England, he passed the Cape Verde Islands and then sent Captain Samuel James Ballard in HMS Pearl to Sierra Leone and sailed himself to Cape Coast on May 4, 1798. HMS Pearl joined him on May 22 with information about a squadron of enemy ships at the Isles de Los. Encloses Captain Ballard's letter. The two ships were about to sail in search of the enemy when a small vessel arrived with a letter from the Governor of Sierra Leone, also enclosed. He hoped to be able to get to windward of the French before they could complete water and provisions, but the current running strongly to leeward prevented him from reaching Sierra Leone until June 10, when the Governor informed him that the heavy rain had allowed the French to replenish their supplies, and that they had plundered a Portuguese vessel for provisions and had left three weeks earlier. He gave up the idea of pursuing them because he would be unable to carry out the rest of his orders, and because the Governor said he had sent word back to England. He then sent Captain Ballard to Angola, but she will not be able to remain there as long as her orders call for because of a lack of provisions. Captain Ballard says HMS Pearl is not able to store the necessary quantity of provisions. He is now returning to Cape Coast and has left instructions for the convoy to assemble there for a voyage to the West Indies. Hopes the Admiralty will agree that he needed to know what the enemy was doing before he quit the coast. HMS Serpent has sailed for the West Indies with all the vessels which were ready before his own arrival. Commander Richard Buckoll died a few days before she sailed. PS. Encloses [no longer present] statement of the condition of HMS Sheerness and HMS Pearl, and also encloses a letter from the Governor of Sierra Leone about the conduct of the Masters of two Liverpool slave ships onto which Captain Henry Ball of HMS Daedalus put prisoners who were supposed to be surrendered in the West Indies.

Folios 219-220: enclosed with folios 217-218. Letter dated 14 June 1798 from Zachary Macauley, Governor of Sierra Leone, Thornton Hill, to Captain James Cornwallis, HMS Sheerness. Reports that in January 1798, Captain Henry Ligbird Ball of HMS Daedalus captured several prizes which were manned by free black sailors from Gorée. He put them aboard two Guineamen from Liverpool which were bound for the West Indies, the St Anne, Mr Jones, Master, and the Ellis, Mr Soutar, Master, with instructions that they were to be delivered up as prisoners of war. But Jones and Soutar decided to treat the men as slaves and dispose of them as such once they reached the West Indies. In retaliation the French have declared that they will capture every possible free black man in Sierra Leone and carry them to the Gorée as slaves. The Governor hopes Captain Cornwallis can put an end to such practices. He further reports that when the Calypso, William Cole, Master, of the Sierra Leone Company, was captured in February by a Spanish brig there were two free black British subjects aboard, Henry Phillips and Charles Bath, who were also carried away in the privateer to be sold as slaves. The privateer was the cutter Porto Rican, from Puerto Rico and commanded by Anthony Kiddy Baubon but nominally by Paul Bonavider. Asks Captain Cornwallis to use his influence on behalf of the two men.

Folios 221-223: enclosed with folios 217-218. Duplicate of folios 213-215.

Folios 223-224: enclosed with folios 217-218. Letter dated 21 May 1798 from Captain Samuel James Ballard, HMS Pearl, off Cape Coast, to Captain James Cornwallis, HMS Sheerness. When he arrived at Sierra Leone on 23 April 1798, the Governor told him four ships had been reported at the Îles de Los and he thought he should investigate them. When he arrived at the islands two days later, he first saw a large ship at anchor at Factory Island, and between [Samara ?] and Crawford Islands a large frigate with her yards and topmasts sent down, a second smaller frigate, and a Guineaman, another small ship which appeared to be an Indiaman and a brig. Enduring raking fire on the way in, he ran his vessel in between the two frigates and began firing on them from both sides of his ship. He was about to try boarding the larger vessel when Mr Squires, the Master, spotted troops from the Indiaman preparing to board HMS Pearl. He swung his ship so as to be able to fire a broadside at the Indiaman. He now gave up hope of capturing the frigate, the ship by Factory Island was out of gunshot range and night had fallen. The intelligence he had been given suggested the large ship was a two-decker, and as the winds were light and variable the next morning he decided not to close with her. He commends the conduct of his officers, seamen and Marines and feels that if HMS Sheerness has been with him they could have captured all of the enemy vessels. Only man died of his wounds after the action, Robert Digbrough. Describes the damage to his vessel, including two guns dismounted. He arrived back at Sierra Leone on 27 April and having consulted with the Governor, sailed again the next day hoping to join HMS Sheerness, but has been delayed by contrary winds and calms. On 14 May he sent a boat into [Janaway ?] to examine a Danish brig, which he has ordered detained and brought to Cape Coast, and a schooner seven weeks out from Bristol was the only other vessel he has seen.