Dear Brother

As the Plan for a Powder voyage in wch you was to be deeply Consem'd, faild ー doubtless you would be glad to know the Reasons &C ー Mr Forster return'd on Monday Evg [December 4] his Capt, Stevens, detain'd in Order to Make preperation & Expected the Next day, but did not Make his Appearance till Wednesday eveg when All those first Consern'd wth Capt Power in Lew of Jo. B. who was gone to Newport to Joyn'd Govr Bradford in there Appot for Fortifyg &c ー We spent the evg wth Capt Stevens till 10, OC. but soon Discover'd he had but little faith In the Voyage hove Out Many Diffeculty, but after awhile got his T[e]rms wch we Comply'd with, but he Desird till Next Day at 3 OC. to give his Answer, at wch time those Consern'd was to be Together & Come to some Conclution ー The Diffecultys he Started was that Just before he Came away som[e] Gentl Coll: Lees Sons &c had recd Letrs of a late Date giving Accot of two fr[y]gates Crewsg in the Bay of Bisca, that the English Crewsers Made Prizes of all english Vesseles they found Comg or gog to France or Spain ー that they the Lees &c had a Vessel at Bilboa after Powder hall'd up & the hands Dischargd & Other Vessels in other of those foureen Ports was in the same Circumstances ー That there was no Powder to be got at Bilbow, & that there was no Other way to get it but to Make the Vessel a Spanish Bottom & to go in to some ports of France in the Bay, As he Seemd very doubtfull whether Powder would be suffer'd to be bro't from Spain, While they had So grait An Armant out, And that Makg Another Voyage with a Spanish Bottom from Bilbao would take so much Time, as would make him so late in the spring As to be too Resky ー He din'd with me the next Day & went of[f] Home emediete after Dinner without givg us the least Notice only told his Horsekeeper he would not Stay least he should be Imp[o]rtuned to go in the Voyage ー Many Other Exscuses as the Vessel being at a Distance & he must go home After his things &c ー Thus Ended the Voyage, Messrs Forsters was hourly expecting Mr Lee in Town, when we Expected to hear more of the Contents of the Letrs aforsd ー But have hear'd Nothing of them since ー C Starbuck went from here Saturday for Swansey, wth Design to get to Nantucket With Barny who Cant have gone from thence yet as the Wheather has bin ー He was to forwd Your Sloop to you at Pha with what Dispatch he Could make ー A Gentl from the Eastwd here after Cannon for a B[r]ig to be fited a priveteer wch beleaves to be the Most Profitable Business, sees Capt Manly took on Saturday Afternoon 2 prizes wch he saw one a large [ ], Ship of 325 Tons, from London, saild Abot 20th Octr was Loaded with Cole Porter & some Port Wine ー ² The Capt as Soon as horded hove Overbord his Pocket book with his Dispaches to the Genl &c ー he Came up to the Camp with the Express wch bro't from the Ship Large Bundls of Paprs & Letrs to the Officers &c in Boston Contents yet unknown ー The Other a Vessel Fitted from Boston, from the Wt Ind bound into Boston 150 Tons with 130 hhd rum with Sugar Coffee & Coca &c ー ³ Yesterday we had Acct of Another Specimen of Wallace A[n]imosity He landed, as sd 250 Men Abt 4 OC. Saturday morning on Conan[i]cutt burnt all the Houses between the two Ferrys Abot 14, fir'd upon the whomen & Childred as they run of[f], Killed One Whoman & shot Old Mr Martin thr'o the belly web is Tho't Cant recover, took Some Men Next to there Wifes onbord the ships ー and a Qty of Stock, we had but Abot 30 Men on the Isd ー wch want Able to stand Agst such Numbers  this is the Short, of the best Accot have bin Able yet to Collect, th'o Several Express have bin up  this was perform'd by the Brig on the East side & Some Tenders Abot Other parts of the Island  By this I think its Manafest, The Priveteer, Capt Whippele has prevented Much of this kind of Mischief, The Minute Men was Come off the Isl & naighther of the Galleys ready ー for want of Some Navel Force to keep Wallace In Awe Proberbly he Will ravage the Whole Bay ー The Commanders of his Crewzers are beCome good Pilots wch Make it high Time they where Destroy'd or Taken ー

Capt Wm Rhodes Came up to Town with his Sloop last night he got in to the Eastwd Bro't sum thing Short of 15 C of Powder for the Colony & Abot 1½ Tons on fright for Connecticut, after a Voyage of near 6 mo ー he Loadd his Vessel wth Coffe Brandy &C & the Led sent for & return'd Abt 2,000 Dolrs ー He has br'ot two French Gentl with him on purpose to Contract for Powder ⁴  One is the Kings Armorer of the Cap the other from paris on purpose for to Contract, he seems Much of a Gent & Schollar as I am told by Prof Manning & Mr Howel, wth the latter I tho't proper to go & see the Gentn this eving, they talk no Inglish but French & Lattin by the One from Parris ー they seem sensible, & Say they can supply the Whole thats wanted for the Cont[e]nent ー They have a parris paper of 28th Augst wth Accot of Govr Pens Arrival in Engd, with the Petion Some the Resolves & Extracts of the Declaration of the Congress ー They seem in a Hurry to see Genl Washington & Much Inclin[in]g to secrecy till they Can see the Genl they Inform'd me they had heard of Our House & had Communicated more, as Capt Rhodes sci than he had known of there Buisness in all the Passage &c they have Ingag'd Me One Interview &c when they return  I have Inform'd them what we have to pay them wth Vizt Sperm Candles Oil, Tobacco & all Kinds of Provisns wch they say will Answer by our Carryg them & sellg for that produce for the French Isds & some to France wth the like produce, wch they say will ansr as well as Cash ー The Gentl from France to Stay here in the Country while the Other goes to France with any English Capt that May be Trusted to go with him  The Powder they say May Come direct here from France Or to Spain [as] afsd from thence in Such Bottoms as we please ー Its not improb[ab]le, but Genl Washington may recomend them to the Congress, if that Nesry Article is Not sufficiently provided for Allready ー They allso Say they Can pro[cure] All Kinds of arms & Clothing the same way ー Altho its very proberble Supp[l]ys of Powder & Other Necsry[s] besides Clothg May be got thr'o such Contracts, Nevertheless Our Own Manufactuerg of Salt Peter & everything else Shod be properly Encouraged

As I Understand the Comte will report a Number of Heavy Cannon Wanted for the Defence of the Colony, I hope you'l Spair no pains to get a Suitable hand or two who understand all parts of Makg them as well as the price to the Westward As I much doubt whether Brother Jo[hn] will be At Liberty to give much attendance to the Makg the Cannon  You Will doubtless Indeavor to find out all the S Peter made pr Week in all the Works now Erected & the Increases whthr there really be any Qys of Brimstone to be got in this Country & of the Lead Mines & the Most likely Place for Importg all sorts of Clothg from Other Powers In Europe  Why can't Sperm Candles (as they are a Superfluety, & tend to Impoverish the Consumers) be Caryd to Any part of the English Isld to Raise Mony to be lay'd Out for Necesry foreign Manufacterys Among other Powers wch will help to save the Sterlg Money in the Country

[Endorsed] Rough Copy Letter to Brother John Brown at Phia p Post Decemr 11, 1775