[Extract]

Genl Clinton arrived at Cape Fear on the 12th of Match, & on the 21st of July Lord George Germain received a Dispatch from him dated in Cape Fear River the 3d May, on which day the Bristol with the rest of The King's Ships arrived there, many of the Transports having got in a few days before.

In this Dispatch General Clinton observes, that had the embarkation taken place at the time appointed, there was great reason to believe that the intentions of Govt would have been answered ー That affairs however, had lately much changed for the worse ー That the well-affected Inhabitants of the back Settlements had met with a severe check near Moor's Creek, of the particulars of which he had acquainted Mr [John] Pownall by the Cumberland Packet, & of the consequences which followed from it. That he now begged leave to add, that by all the accounts he had since been able to collect, their Chiefs had been imprisoned, & all others who had either taken up Arms, or been suspected, had been disarmed & watched with a most jealous eye ー That in this situation he apprehended no immediate success could be expected in No Carolina ー & therefore for these reasons, & as they were without horses to convey their cannon, or without water carriage that they could call their own, he was of opinion that an attempt would scarcely be advisable. ー That the Province of South Carolina differed very little from that of No Carolina. That the well affected there had been defeated & dispersed. That the reduction of Charles Town would be very difficult; & if effected would contribute but little to the reestablishment of order in that Province, the well affected Inhabitants of which lived all in the interior Country. That with respect to Georgia, the climate alone at that season of the year must render every attempt abortive. That under these Circumstances therefore his views would probably be directed to the Provinces bordering upon Chesapeak Bay, unless called away by orders from Genl Howe before any thing could be effected. To these observations he adds, that he is of opinion, that any attempt to assemble the friends of Governt in any of the Provinces, without giving it a fair & full trial, would be so far from producing any salutary purposes, that it would only serve to inflame men's minds & sacrifice your friends to the rage & fury of the multitude, & therefore upon this principle, he should proceed warily during the short time it might fall to his Lot to Command in the Southern Provinces.