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Sable Island October 18th 1817

Sir agreeable to your request I have endeavoured to write to you though in the utmost hurry and confusion (which I hope you will excuse the weather prevails so unfavourable, the Vessel arrived here on the eigth day of the month and the weather setting in from the North West she could not come to an anchor nor a boat get off to her and after struggling through repeated gales of Wind on different parts of the Island wherein we always expected her to be ashore and lost, she at Length got to an anchor on the sixteenth but still the weather so bad that we could do but very little, however through our utmost exertions, we got all save landed except five casks of Coals and five empty Casks which we must try and do without as we have now stove our boats to pieces and the Vessel is getting under way to be off through the appearance of a gale of Wind coming on