On the 6th of September last we sailed from Plymouth for this port with bale goods, and met with little interruption till we arrived off the Rock of Lisbon (though we saw two vessels in the Bay of Biscay, which we judged to be American privateers, and though they gave chace we soon lost sight of them) when we made a sail which bore directly down upon us, and proved, as we expected, an American sloop privateer, mounting eight guns; having a stern of her a brig which we judged to be a prize; we crouded all our sail, but she gained upon us, and was within gun shot, when a large ship appeared on our larboard quarter, upon which the privateer hauled her wind, and bore away with crouded sails. The ship that thus timely appeared in our favour was a Portuguese frigate of 40 guns, sent out to cruise against three privateers that infest the coast, one of which she had taken. We arrived after this safe in the Tagus, where there were manyEnglish ships waiting for convoy.
