I mentioned to you some time ago that a Vessell was arrived here with near Sixty Tons of Salt Petre on board and that several quantities of powder had been brought in, a few days since another Vessell arrived in this same River and is now kept below by the Ice She has Sixty Tons of Saltpetre, 13 Tons of Powder & 1300 muskets on board, These supplies appear considerable and yet we find by experience they are quite trifling when compared with our demands. Powder Mills being scarce the manufacturing goes on very slow and powder wastes excedingly in a large Army even where little is fired away, the Cartouch Boxes get wet, Soldiers are careless and much is lost in dealing it out in small parcels ー notwithstanding all our Supplies we now find both Powder & Arms greatly wanted at our Camp at Cambridge, by our army in Canada, by the Troops in New York, in this Province, Maryland & Virginia, give us powder or we perish is the language of all applications are made every day to Congress for powder & Arms, it is astonishing to think what pains the British.Court has been at to prevent every Nation in Europe from supplying us with these articles, Several person who have lately come from France, Spain, Portugal & Holland say every Port every Town and almost every public house has spies from England to watch the motions of the Merchants so that scarcely anything can be brought away even by a Circuitous Voyage but they find it out, by the ingenuity of some dutch & French smugglers a little is sometimes brought away so that we meet with more difficulty in our supplies than could be expected, Americans ought to be more industrious in making these articles at home, every family should make salt Petre every Province have Powder Mills and every body encourage the mak1ng of arms.