[Extract]

Your Lordship will be surprised and concerned to hear how fast the armed vessels of the rebels have multiplied lately; how many of our storeships and victuallers they have taken; and how successfully they have defeated all our force, vigilance, and attention, by their artifice, but more by their being too early in possession of all the harbours, creeks, and rivers, on this coast, most of which they have already fortified. But if any are accessible to our ships, they shall be attempted, and every practicable measure taken that can contribute to our success.