The following is an account of the treatment that the Continental officers, taken in the frigates Hancock and Fox, and lately returned fiom a six months imprisonment, met with at Halifax, together with those officers mentioned in our last.

Being taken prisoners, on the 7th and 8th July last, by the Rainbow and Flora, they were carried directly into Halifax; and those taken by the Flora frigate, were well treated, the little time they were on board said Flora; from which they and their men were sent on board a prison ship, where numbers of their unhappy fellow-prisoners had been for a long time confined, and had the yellow-fever, the small-pox, and almost all disorders, to a shocking degree, with- out any physician allowed them, or any medicine, those that were taken in the Hancock, were put on board the Rainbow, and no distinction was made between the officers and men, but some took shelter in the hold, and under the half-deck; were for some time without any provision, and scarce any thing to support nature, while confined on board said ship;—upon our officers and people leaving the Hancock, their chests were searched, and all mathematical instruments such as quadrants, scales, dividers, together with all books, journals, kc. useful to navigation, were taken from them with a number of other articles, of value. After being in Halifax harbour 8 or 10 days, all the prisoners in the prison-ship, and in the Rainbow, were, on the Sabbath, in grand marine order, removed to the shore, and committed to the custody of the town-major, and all the British officers and soldiers in the place. The American officers were huddled in among the common men, and told, by the British officers, that they knew no distinction; and in this undistinguished manner, all the prisoners, 300 in num- ber, were conducted, in the roughest manner, with unpardonable insults, into a large brick building, barracaded in by a very high fence, and under the care of the provost-guard. Thus the sick of the small-pox, yellow-fever, and other disorders, were drove into said building, indiscriminately with the well; and the American officers, thought a few minutes before, they were told that there was no distinction known between them and the men, yet, that American officers should be answerable, and suffer for all disorderly conduct that the prisoners should be guilty of: added to this, the surgeons were, the day after the prisoners were under said provost-guard forbid innoculating any person, on penalty of being confined in irons, &c. though much the greater part of the prisoners had never had the small-pox, and several among them were almost rotten with the disorder. The prisoners were told, that their weekly allowance, per man, was 4 pounds of pork, 3 pints of pease, 6 ounces of butter, 7 pounds of bread, 3 and an half gallons of beer, and wood for cooking. All these articles were delivered out in pursers weight and measure, 12 ounces to the pound, &c. Even this small allowance was not only tainted, dirty, mouldy, &c. but often not even the pretended weight and measure was granted. Some considerable time after the poor American prisoners were under said provost-guard, an attempt was made, by a number, to dig out of the prison, which being discovered, numbers of them were put in irons, and confined in that manner, for the space of three months, and their irons kept on even after they were sent sick to the hospital; at the same time all the prisoners were deprived of their knives, rasors, &c. so that they were obliged to pull their pork to pieces with their fingers, and the like. It is also worthy of particular notice, that all the old countrymen and foreigners, that were taken prisoners, and almost every boy, were kept on board the British ships, some, through threatenings, persuasions, &c. were induced to enter into the British service; and often did the land and navy officers, come to the said provost-guard, and ordered persons to go on board the British ships, and, upon their refusing this, were kicked and banged, and hauled forceably away; in particular, Mr. Adiscott,¹ master of the schooner Lee, who was taken in a prize,² Mr. John Milen,³ a midshipman of the ship Boston, Thomas Jarvis, of Boston, and a large number of others, were taken away in this inhuman and cruel manner. The small-pox, fevers, &c. being brought from the prison-ship, and being all turned in together, indiscriminately, and no possibility of keeping themselves clean, numbers soon became very sickly, and a hospital was prepared for them, built in the roughest manner, inclosed with poor boards slightly feather edged, and nailed on to unhewn timber, no fire place, store⁴ or glass. 'Till a considerable time after the cold weather came on, to this dismal place the poor miserable sick were conveyed, where they were poorly sheltered with miserable bedding, and more miserable attendance, together with a most miserable diet, viz. per day, 1 pound boiled rice, a boiled flour dumplin, as big as the palm of a man's hand, with 8 or 10 raisins in each, and sometimes a weak insippid broth, no milk or herb drink of any kind, having for drink only a small quantity of spruce beer and rice water, scarcely discloured with the rice, and no fire to warm even the least thing. Thus the poor miserable suffered and died, oftentimes 3 or 4 or half a dozen per day, of fevers and the small-pox, mostly through want of proper attendance, and immediately on their dying, were carried out of the hospital, and laid in a cradle in the open air, and here kept 3 or 4 days, and when they were buried, their brother prisoners were obliged to dig their graves and burry them. In about 8 or 10 days after the prisoners were put under the provost-guard aforesaid, the Continental officers were removed to an apartment in the soldiers barrack, where they, from 13 to 18 in number, were closely confined to one room, with their firelocks and bayonets, in the hottest season of the year, with the door locked, and only two small windows, where they had their cabins and chests, were obliged to have almost constantly a fire to dress their provisions, which they were obliged to cook themselves, not being allowed even one of their own men to cook for them, 'till after frequent petitioning. For about a month they were thus closely confined, permitted to go to the necessary, under guard, and that only from sunrise to sunset; at no other time were they permitted to go out of the room, let the calls of nature be ever so urgent; add to this, that they had no person to wait on them, they were obliged, by turns, to carry out their wash, &c. quite out into the open street, draw the water they wanted, &c. after frequent petitioning, as aforesaid, they were allowed one of the prisoners from the provost guard, to wait upon them, and the General,⁵ with much importunity, permitted them to walk 2 hours in the 24, in the barrack-yard, which was picketed in, and guarded at all parts with armed soldiers. During this, and for a long time after, they were almost suffocated with the heat of the room, which was so hot, that even the centries, who had only two hours to guard, before they were relieved, often fainted away. This, together with the scantness of provision allowed, the pork often tainted, and so bad as not to be eaten, the pease mouldy, and unfit for food, and any friends in town forbid speaking to them, or supplying them, and almost always turned away when they were bringing provisions, &c. Thus closely and cruelly confined, and so miserably supplied, they were obliged, as they were poorly furnished with specie, to sell some of their cloathing, and many other articles, at little more than half their value, in order to purchase necessaries; as they had no persons but soldiers to buy things for them, they were often imposed upon by them, in giving them more than the articles cost, and paying them dearly for their service. Many wearisome weeks were they in this deplorable situation, and no mortal to make application to, for the least supply, 'till Capt. Salter arrived from Boston, about the last of October, who, with great difficulty and risque, got to their window, and offered to supply them with what money they wanted for necessaries, they drawing bills on their friends, and was so friendly as to tell them, that he should ask neither commission or interest. In consequence of this they drew bills upon their friends, in favour of Mr. Salter; but as all papers that went from the prisoners being inspected by the officer of the day, it was a whole month befor they received any intelligence relative to said bills, though they petitioned the General in the mean time, to know what was become of said bills, or whether he would permit Mr. Salter to advance them money upon them; at last, with difficulty, and much formality of parade, they were permitted to have some of the bills negociated, with great complaints that they were two large; and at one time, when the provost serjeant was actually paying one of their bills, Capt. Eliot, the senior Captain, coming in, forbid the money being paid, and ordered the se jeant to restore the money to Mr. Salter: These matters were conducted with many disagreeable and insulting circumstances.

After the ship Royal Bounty began to prepare to carry the American prisoners to Rhode Island, to be exchanged, they were informed, by proper authority, that they were not permitted to purchase any articles at Halifax, on penalty of being deprived of them when they went away. In consequence of this, they made application to the General, for liberty to purchase a few articles of cloathing, and some necessary sea-stores; but this, it seems, lay with Governor Arbuthnot,⁶ who was pleased, in his great humanity, to permit, supposing the serjeant on guard, after proper examination, thought it necessary, to purchase a common blanket, 1 pair common shoes, 1 pair coarse stockings, and 6 pounds brown sugar, for the use of the Doctor, in case any of them should be sick on their passage. At length, on a very stormy day, in the midst of severe snow, rain and cold, they were ordered on board the said transport Royal Bounty, where they arrived with all their cloaths and bedding, extremely wet, in which condition the hold of the ship was the most convenient place allowed them, and accordingly they took their station, forward of the cable tier, in the cole hold, amidst wood, lumber and cordage, without either fire or light, where they continued four days, in a cold, wet and gloomy condition, with extreme scanty allowance, 'till they had the happiness of being removed to the cartel brig Favourite, from Boston.

The foregoing is but a faint specimen of the ill treatment they have received; they forbear to mention the many cruel and insulting speeches that have been made to them, representing all the Americans as rebels, and their officers as destitute of honour, and restrained from using the British prisoners ill, only from a principle of fear.—They would be far from being cruel to any of the human race and particularly to prisoners; but they apprehend that American prisoners will not be used well, 'till we retaliate in kind and degree; and the treatment above-mentioned will, in some measure point out the manner in which Americans ought to make retaliation.