as he judged would be most agreeable to us, after the fatigues of our passage, and the indisposition which persons generally feel from the sea, who are unaccustomed to the motion of the waves.
My Frenchmen were extremely indignant that we should he thus under the protection of the Batavian government, for they considered us in some sort as exclusively their property, and had, after the fashion of their rulers, determined to levy on us a contribution either in specie or apparel. But the presence of two robust Hollanders defeated their intentions, and their resentment was confined to idle menaces and impotent threats. It is the custom of private vessels of war, of other nations as well as the French, to pillage the passengers who are so unfortunate as to fall into their hands; but complaints of this kind would be less frequently made, were the persons so taken to apply immediately for protection to the constituted authorities of the place whither they are carried: men who have obtained a certain rank and character in life, are rarely disposed to permit
