I went privately on board the brigantine Betsey, captain Goodwin, bound for New York; at this time I pretended to be a doctor, and having two other ships in company, whose hands were very sickly, I was put on board one of them to bleed several of the men, which I performed though with much fear; and one of them that I gave a draught to, gave me four dollars for the service; soon after our own people were taken ill; them I served in the same manner; at length I was taken ill myself, and at our arrival at Sandy-hook, was carried on shore, put to bed, and grew so much worse during three weeks, that I was obliged to have the clergy by me, thinking my end at hand: happy had it been so, but God for worthy purposes, and for the good of the world, reserved me for an ignominious death. I had extraordinary good usage of every kind from the gentlemen of this city: indeed, throughout all America their generosity and hospitality are almost boundless, especially to English people. Though I was by these worthy citizens used in so kind a manner, I made them most ungrateful returns. As soon as well, I enlisted as a serjeant in captain Thompson’s company of rangers, for whom I enlisted several men, but cheated them of their advance money; and went to several[1] stores, took up linnen, and other effects, in the captain’s name, to the amount of twenty pounds. Then I hired a horse, and set off for Boston in New England; I had been no more than two days on my journey, till I was obliged to hire a chaise and harness, &c. to enable me to go through my long journey; this I did of an old gentlewoman in Connecticut, and took chaise and horse to the end of my journey, had the chaise new painted, and sold it to the best bidder; I also sold the horse and harness. My stay was but short at Boston, I went to Salem, about twenty miles from Boston, where I took lodgings, courted a widow-gentlewoman’s daughter, then took a shop, set up the business of painting, and got several considerable jobs, but all the while run very much in debt with every body. I got acquainted with a gamester in this town; he wanted improvement; we contrived to touch all we could, and then make off. We had great success, several horses, watches, and other things in trust, were the effect of our industry. The people of Salem, are not only the most unsuspicious, but the best dispositioned, humane and friendly, and the most agreeable in all respects, in the whole world. I hired a chaise at Salem, and a single horse, to carry me out for two days pleasure; I went directly to Newport in Rhode-island, sold the chaise, bought another horse, and with my companion, went as fast as we could for Philadelphia; when arrived, we directly went on the gambling scheme, and had very great luck; but not agreeing in sharing our booty, we parted. He wanted to aspire at my art of dealing; this I chose not to trust with any one, for reasons already mentioned. The gamester took his passage for the West-Indies; I resolved to