Sir,

In reply to your letter of the 29^th of Dece^r.1 I desire you will report to my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, that I had not the smallest suspicion that the Nine Men describ'd in my letter of the 16^th of the same Month, or any one of them, intended to desert, the first four, as they are plac'd in the Margin² were taken in the Lynch Schooner,³ and serv'd under the restraining Bill, the two next were turn'd over from other Ships, and the three last were Volunteers; Rich^d. Griffith who enter'd two years ago with Lieu^t. Duckworth at Bristol, had receiv'd such marks of favor and generosity from the Officers and myself, that I had the most unreserv'd confidence in him—the instant discovery was made, that part of them had absconded from the rigging House, and the others did not return to the Ship, when their leave expir'd, which they had always done before, with the most exact precision, the strictest inquiry was made after them, and upon receiving intelligence, that they had been seen on the Road to Kingsbridge, two Officers with partys were detach'd through Kingsbridge, to Salcombe, and a deck'd Longboat armd, sent off the Mouth of that little Port, and descriptions were dispatch'd to the Collector of the Customs, to the Commanding Officer of the Marines, and of the 13^th Regiment; and the Regulating Captains were written to, from one end of the Coast, to the other.

I offer'd five Guineas reward for the apprehending each Man, and I have had two Men in Pay ever since, to look out for them; from these Men, whose Names, I am under a promise not to discover, I learn that they were harbour'd and conceal'd by one or more People of Opulence in the Town of Plymouth, but they cannot, or will not, ascertain them; and the Officers have discover'd from amongst the Ships Company, that a £50 Bank Note was seen in the possession of Joseph Kent, a little time before his going off, this circumstance will explain to their Lordships, the grounds of my suspicion, that they would hire a Vessel to go over to France, they will also see, that no pains or expence have been wanting on my part to intercept them; and I have a conscious Pride in observing to their Lordships that the Foudroyant has not only been Mann'd by the industry of her own Officers, but that her Complement has been constantly kept up without the Assistance of a Man from any commanding Officer, or by indirect Means. I am [&c.]