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is now called Loder's creek, formerly known as Simonds creek, which he had purchased of Hon. Charles Morris. The property comprised about 2,000 acres, but at the time of Mr. Simonds' arrival, not a single tree had been cut there. He built a small log house on the bank of the river just above the mouth of Loder's creek as a shelter for his young and helpless family. In it they were destined to spend the next nine years of their lives.

The trials of the settlers at Portland Point were at their worst in the year 1777. Had Sir George Collier, who commanded the North Atlantic squadron, heeded the advice tendered by the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia at the beginning of the year, he might, by stationing a warship in the harbor of St. John, have saved the unfortunate settlers from the depredations of the miserable privateers that infested the coasts. He, however, contented himself with sending thither occasionally the Vulture to drive away marauders, which policy proved in many cases little better than locking the stable door after the horse had been stolen.

The Vulture was probably the sloop of war that ascended the St. John at the time John Allan and his party were driven from the river by Colonel Francklin and Major Studholme, and William Hazen and James White rescued from their captivity. Three years later the same sloop of war ascended the Hudson river with Major John André and Colonel Beverly Robinson, and it was from her deck on the night of the 23rd September, 1780, the ill-fated André landed at Haverstraw Bay to prosecute by Sir Henry Clinton's orders, the negotiations with Benedict Arnold for the surrender of the American strong holds on the Hudson. The upshot of this deplorable adventure is a matter of history. When the Vulture returned down the Hudson it was