By letters received from Norfolk in Virginia, dated the 23rd of July, we learn that on the 10th of that month the ship Betsey of Greenock, Capt. James Young, had arrived there in 19 days from Jamaica, and brought the following melancholy relation which he received from the crew of the Prudence, whom she picked up on the 1st of Juin lat. 22. 40. long. 85. 32. That from the 7th to the 10th of June the weather had been very hazy, with little wind, so that Capt Addies could not get an observation, and a strong current setting to the Southward and Westward, drove them farther leeward than they imagined. On the 12th, about 3 o’clock in the morning, the watch discovered Cape Catuloh, but before intelligence could be given to the Captain, she struck. For some time she made no water but about seven the water came in so fast, that by eleven o’clock, A. M. the water was six feet in the hold (the depth of the water in which she lay,) the people being sixteen in number, took to their long boat, and endeavoured to make Cape Antonie; but after four days fruitless labour they were obliged to return to the wreck, where they found two Spaniards plundering, who informed them that there were only four inhabitants on the island, and therefore they could receive no assistance from them; upon which, having taken a quantity of beef and biscuits aboard, they left the wreck a second time, and after having been absent fourteen days, were providentially picked up by the ship Betsey, and carried to Norfolk in Virginia.
The Prudence was from Jamaica, bound to London, and had upwards of 500 hogsheads of sugar and rum on board.
Citation: Glasgow Advertiser (Glasgow, United Kingdom), 15 November 1790, available at the Scissors and Paste Database, http://www.scissorsandpaste.net/398.