Note 1. Father of the late Admiral Sir William Symonds, and of the late Admiral Thomas Symonds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Note 2. General Howe was the brother of Admiral Lord Howe. CHAPTER FOUR. THE FLEET AT SEA.--TROOPS LANDED.--ALL HOPE OF PEACE ABANDONED.--SPIES EXECUTED.--BOATS SENT TO WATCH FIRE-SHIPS.--REJOIN ORPHEUS.--LAND MASTERS OF MERCHANTMEN.--FALL IN WITH REBEL REGIMENT.--ATTACK FORT ON SULLIVAN'S ISLAND.--HEAVY LOSS.--WITNESS ATTACK ON BROOKLYN.--DREADFUL SLAUGHTER.--RUN PAST BATTERIES IN EAST RIVER.--TRYING TIME.--DEATH OF AN OLD FRIEND.--SHIPS CANNONADED. Far as the eye could reach the white sails of the men-of-war and transports dotted the blue waters of the Atlantic, as with a light though favourable breeze the fleet steered a course for New York. We might have been excused, as we scanned with pride the vast armament--the ships, their crews, and the troops in prime order and amply supplied with all the munitions of war, under the command of the most experienced leaders England could send forth--if we believed firmly that victory was destined to sit proudly on our standards. Here and there a man-of-war might be seen in the far distance, like a sheep-dog on the heels of the flock, firing a gun now, on this side now on that, to hint to any laggers along the transports to make more sail, but generally the fleet kept well together. On the 13th the Greyhound, with General Howe on board, parted company, to hasten on, it was supposed, to make arrangements with Governor Tryon and other royalists in the neighbourhood of New York about the landing the troops, and did not return to the fleet. It was not till the 2nd, after a prosperous voyage, that we reached Sandy Hook, at the mouth of Baritan Day, to the southward of the narrow entrance of New York harbour, where we found at anchor his Majesty's ship Phoenix and several sail of merchantmen. At noon on the 4th the signal was given for the whole fleet to weigh. It was a beautiful sight. The sky was blue, the sun bright, and the water calm and clear. To the southward, across the yellow glittering shore of Sandy Hook, arose the bold highlands of Neversink; on the larboard bow was Staten Island, with green fields, feathery woods, and sloping hills, sprinkled with numerous country houses and villas, built mostly by the old Dutch settlers, peeping from among the trees. Ahead were the Narrows--such is the appropriate name given to the channel leading to New York--while more to the right stretched away, till lost in distance to the north-east, the low sandy coast of Long Island, with a fringe of dark forest appearing on the summit of its centre ridge like the bristles on the back of a wild boar. The Chatham was the first ship to make sail, and the master received orders to steer through the rest of the fleet. It was truly a fine sight, as the admiral and the generals,