vessel has been briefly noticed in the note at p. 13. We shall here give a more detailed account of her catastrophe.
The Grasshopper sailed from Wingo Sound, Gottenburg, Dec. 18, 1811, in company with the Hero 74, Egeria sloop, Prince William armed ship, fifteen sail of transports, and a fleet of merchantmen. The weather, from the day of her sailing, was dark, cloudy, and extremely boisterous, accompanied with snow storms. The Egeria and Prince William parted company about the 20th or 21st, with the trade for the Humber and Scotland.
On the 23d at noon, the Hero made signal to the Grasshopper to pass within hail, when, after a communication of reckoning, Captain Newman said he should alter the course to S.W. for the afternoon, as he conceived himself to be on the Silver Pits. “We were then,” says Captain Fanshawe, “steering W. by S. The course was accordingly altered to S.W. and continued so until 10 p.m.: the whole of that time blowing a hard gale, and the vessel going at the rate of nine or ten knots, under a close-reefed main-top-sail.
“At 10, the night signal was made to alter the course, two points to port, which was obeyed; and we continued running S.S.W. until three o’clock in the morning of the 24th, at which time we observed the Hero, as we supposed, round-to to sound ; but the fact was she had struck. As soon as her situation was ascertained, no time was lost in taking every measure to save the Grasshopper, by hauling off; but being already in broken water, the thing was impossible; and nothing but keeping right before the wind, could have saved us from total destruction. After about a quarter of an hour, during which she was at times aground fore and aft, we succeeded in forcing her over the sand bank, and fell into rather deeper water. The best bower was let go, and the sloop brought up; but, in five minutes after, she .truck again, and continued so doing occasionally all the time we lay at an anchor. At her first striking, the Hero fired guns and burnt blue lights; but in the space of 15 minutes, she ceased, in consequence, I suppose, of her being totally disabled.
“At day-break, I perceived our situation to be within the Northern Haak, about five or six miles from the Texel island,
