IIESSIAN (moors. 25

no further annoyance from the Americans during the cons tinuance oi the contest. The monotony of Charlottetown was betimes enlivened during the summer by the presence of the British war vessels employed in accompanying convoys to Quebec, and the occasional conduct into the harbor of' American privateers which had been captured at sea by the British cruisers, and whose men were. marched as prison- ers through the woods to Halifax.

An interesting trial took place in Charlottetown in 1779 in the case of Thomas [Wallis/z, v. the Convoy ship Dutchess of London, which Mr. Mellish seized for smuggling. The trial lasted for several months. l\Ir. Mellish \ 'as an officer in the First Troop of Horse Guards, and served also in the colonial military service. He was a member of the house of assembly, and held the otiice‘ot' collector of customs and other public positions for many years. His son, Thomas Mellish, died at an advanced age in 1859. Referring to his death, the Islander describes him as a most loyal British sub-1 ject, and a devoted adherent of the Church of England.

Towards the end of October, 1779, the town of Charlotte; town received a temporary accession to its inhabitants, by the arrival of the Hessian regiment of Knyphansen, under convoy of the war ship Camilla. Severe gales were encountered in- the River Saint Lawrence, which compelled the ship to take refuge inithe island. The troops were landed, and there being no barrack accommodation for them, some succeeded in hutting themselves most comfortably. Some of the men were suffering from fever, but speedily recovered, on account of the admirable character of the climate. The titan supply of pi m isions x as utterly inade— quate to meet the demand occasioned by so laree an addition to the population, but the farmers soon made 11p the dc- ficiency, and the Hessians remained till the month of June,.