Annotation: 9 June 1801

Dear Sir

      I cannot sufficiently thank you for
your very obliging & friendly Letter of the 23^d
ult^o brought me by M^r Browne. Being
out of the way since, I did not know of
your arrival at Portsmouth until Saturday
too late for Post. At the same time, I
also learnt your unlucky Discovery of
a Sand Bank in Hythe Bay, where I
have often been at Anchor without any
Suspicion of Danger. – (But one of our East
Indiamen was lost by knocking a hole in
her bottom on a sharp Rock at [illegible]
of False Bay, an strait which every body
had before paƒsed in, without suspicion)
I conceive, however, that no Survey has
ever been made of that part, & you may
find by what I have said in Herodotus
[ends here – signature on the other side has been cut away]

Concerning your very polite offer of a Place
for my Son, I am only fearful that he may
occasion Inconvenience to You; & could not
for a moment consent to accept of it, on any
other Consideration, [illegible] as a temporary
Matter, until the ship begins to be a little
cleared, that he may have a birth [sic] below.
The great difficulty I feel is, his having a Place
in the mean time to clean himself,
that being so neceƒsary to his proper
appearance, & to the disposal of his things.
          I understand that the Ship is
to be looked at previous to her pre-
paration for departure & that it
can be done without taking any Navy
material, out. I conclude that I
shall certainly have the pleasure
of paying my Respects to you by
the end of the Week, or beginning of
the next. In the mean time I
remain, with [illegible] & good
wishes of my family Dear Sir

[ends here – signature cut away]