Whereas we intend that you shall proceed in the Ship you command to the

Coast of Africa for the protection & security of the Trade of His Majesty's Subjects in those Parts; You are hereby required and directed to put to Sea with the first opportunity of Wind and Weather, and proceed with all possible dispatch to the Island of Madeira or Teneriffe where you are to take in a sufficient quantity of Wine for the use of your Ships Company.

Having so done you are to make the best of your way off the River Senegal, and, if you shall find the Garrison or Factories there to stand in need of your assistance, you are to give it them, and then proceed to the River Gambia to inquire into the State of Affairs there, and to give the Garrison and Factories in that River such countenance and assistance as they also may stand in need of.

You are to proceed from thence to Sierra Leon, where you are to cause the Ship to be supplied with Wood & Water, and then proceed down the Coast to Cape Coast Castle, taking particular care to call at Cape Appollonia, where the African Company are erecting a Fort in consequence of an Act of Parliament obtained for that purpose, and to give such assistance & protection to the People employ'd on that Work as circumstances may require, and may be consistent with the other Services which you are hereby required to perfom.

From Cape Coast Castle you are to proceed to Whidau, stopping not only at the places herein before particularly mention'd but at all the British Forts, Settlements & places of Trade on the Coast of Africa, and to give such countenance & protection to His Majesty's trading Subjects in those parts, as they may respectively stand in need of, and particularly to endeavour to take, destroy, or drive away, any Pirates who may infest the same; taking care however, not to make a,ny longer stay at any of the said Forts, Settlements or places of Trade, than may be necessary for the abovemention'd Services, and to inspect & examine into their State and Condition, the number of Soldiers therein, and the Military Stores &c. belonging to the African Company, in the manner directed by an Act of Parliament passed in the Twenty third Year of His late Majesty's Reign, which we herewith inclose & which you are most punctually to comply with; taking care that the Reports you make, in consequence thereof, be all drawn and conformable to the annex'd Scheme, and that the State of such Forts &c. as you may not be able to inspect and examine yourself, be attested by the Officers you appoint to inspect and examine the same, as well as by the Servants of the African Company. ²

When you have examin'd the State of the Settlements at Whidau, you are to cruize between that place and Cape La Ho, so long as the State of your Provisions will admit of it, reserving a sufficiency to carry you to Jamaica.

And whereas the Inhabitants of several of His Majesty's Colonies & Plantations in North America Vizt in New Hampshire, Massachusets Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania the three lower Counties on Delaware Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina & South Carolina have traiterously combined together for the general Purpose of resisting the Authority of this Kingdom, and have in a hostile manner array'd themselves in Arms and committed Acts of open & actual Rebellion, And there being great reason to suspect that His Majesty's rebellious Subjects in North America are supplied with Gunpowder, Arms and Ammunition from the Coast of Africa, to which farge quantities of those Articles are sent from Europe in the way of trade; You are, in pursuance of His Majesty's Pleasure signified to Us by the Earl of Dartmouth one of His principal Secretaries of State, in his Letter of the 29th of August last, hereby required and directed to seize all such Ships & Vessels belonging to the Twelve associated Colonies abovemention'd or own'd by the Inhabitants thereof, as you shall find trading at Fort or Factory, not only between Whidau and Cape La Ho but upon any part of the said Coast.

When from the exhausted State of your Provisions you find it necessary to leave the Coast, you are to repair to Princes Island or the Island of St Thomas to recruit your Wood and Water and proceed from thence to Jamaica, carrying with you such Ships & Vessels as you may have seiz'd under the circumstances abovemention'd & delivering them into the Charge of Rear Admiral Gayton or the Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships on that Station for the time being, to be there detain'd til' His Majts further pleasure shall be known, or proceeded against according to Law, as the nature of the Case may require. You are then to take in as much Provisions of each Species as may be necessary for your Passage to England, and make the best of your way to Spithead, and to wait there til' further Order, transmitting to our Secretary, for our Information, an Account of your arrival & proceedings.

It being difficult to procure Wood and Water in some parts of the Coast of Africa, some of the Men belonging to His Majesty's Ships having been formerly killed and others wounded for attempting to Supply themselves therewith, without making some acknowledgements to the Natives, We do hereby empower your Purser (and you are to direct him accordingly) to procure & carry thither Goods, such as you may judge may be most agreable to the Natives of the Places where you may want to Wood and Water not exceeding in value Ten Pounds, which the Purser is to dispose of as you shall direct, at such places where the Wood and Water cannot be got otherwise; And you are to let the Purser know that the said Goods are to be provided out of his standing allowance of necessary Money under the Condition of his being allowed Credit on his Accounts for such part thereof as may be expended for the aforesaid purposes, upon his producing a Certificate under the Hand of the signing Officer of the Pallas of the particular Quantity & Value of the Goods applied to that Service, And you are to cause Invoices of the Goods so provided by the Purser to be lodged in the Office of the Commissioners of the Victualling.

And whereas complaints have been made that the Captains of His Majesty's Ships have made ill use of this liberty by trading themselves on the Coast of Africa, and have even transported great numbers of Negroes in His Majesty's Ships to Barbadoes for public Sale, to the dishonor of His Majesty's Service, the prejudice of the fair Trader, & in breach of an Act of Parliament pass'd in the eighth Year of King George the first, which prohibits under severe Penalties the Commanders of His Majesty's Ships to receive any Goods or Merchandize on board in order to Trade with the same: We do hereby strictly require and enjoin you, neither directly or indirectly, to concern yourself in any sort of Trade whatever, as you will answer the contrary at your peril, and in order to prevent any evasive excuses whatever hereafter We do hereby declare that if we get any Information of any Goods, Slaves or other Merchandize of what kind soever being receiv'd on board the Ship you command in the way of Trade, we shall esteem the same to be your own Act, and shall expect you to be accountable for it, in as much as such a Practice cannot possibly be carried on without your knowledge and consent.

For the preservation of the Health of your Ships Company whilst you shall be on the Coast of Africa, you are to be careful to observe the following Instructions Vizt

1st Never to lie Twenty four Hours in any River, except.Gambia and Sierra Leon, nor to suffer your Officers or Men to lie on shore, or to drink Palm Wine.

2d You are not to let your Men cut Wood, or do any Work on shore which the Natives can be hired to do for a small expence.

3d When any of your Men are on the recovering hand from Sickness you are to cause them to be excused from duty as much as possible, until they are perfectly recover'd.

In case of the death of any of your Officers during such time as you shall not be under the command of a Superior or Senior Officer, you are to appoint such other Persons to act in their room, as by the quality of thieir Employment ought to succeed therein.

And in case of your inability by Sickness or otherwise, to execute these Instructions, you are to be careful to leave them with the next Officer in command to you, who is hereby empower'd to carry the same into execution.

Given &c. the 11th November 1775.

By &c. P.S.