Our situation here is extremely irksome. The captain of the vessel and his lieutenants are men of ferocious manners and brutal behaviour, high-flying patriots, whose supreme delight consists in blaspheming all revealed religion, and in abusing the English nation. In the day-time we have nominally the liberty of walking upon the deck; but this privilege is frequently so curtailed, by the caprices of our gaolers, as to amount almost to a prohibition. At night we are crowded into a small cabin, and hardly allowed light enough to undress ourselves by. Luckily, however, I have recovered my mattress and a couple of blankets. We eat with the officers of the ship, who are allowed a _traitement_, or table-money, of three livres six sols a day, besides a ration of provisions, for each of us; so that the fault does not seem to be imputable to the government. But either the markets of Brest are extravagantly dear, or these patriotic gentlemen make an advantage of us; for hardly a day passes in which we have a sufficiency of any thing but coarse brown, or rather black, bread, so full of sandy particles as to be almost uneatable. Our breakfast at first was bread and butter, and a small red wine; but of late the butter has been taken away, and either Newfoundland salt-fish, or salt herrings, substituted in its place. These, indeed, are petty grievances, which would be easily tolerated, were they not incessantly aggravated by the disagreeable tempers, and debased sentiments, of those with whom we are obliged to live and converse. We are surrounded by American vessels, but cannot hold with any of them the smallest communication. A hope of hearing from England, or of conveying aught to it, must not be indulged. We have been told, that if we choose to venture the experiment of sending open letters by the post through Switzerland, we may do it; but that they must be first taken to the representatives, who will order them to be read, and forward them, if they contain information of a private nature only. This precaution is reasonable enough; but I have been assured by an officer of the ship, who is in a civil capacity, that I may spare myself the trouble of sending any, for that to his knowledge they are always thrown aside, and forgotten, in the office to which they are carried. The number of prisoners on board is about four hundred, nearly all of whom are English; and three more vessels appropriated to a similar use, which also seem quite full, are moored close to us. On the return of some frigates from a cruize, a few days since, we received an accession to our number which surprized me:----twenty emigrants----who for the crime of being Englishmen were taken out of an _American_ ship at sea, after which the vessel was suffered to proceed on her voyage to Philadelphia, and the rest of the cargo remained unmolested.