judged the whole Tunnage & Naval Officers Fees would
amount to, thus suppose one of the Vessels that is permitted
to run between Rappahannock & Patapsco be of the Burthen
of Sixty Ton & it be allowed that She will make eight Trips
in a year the Sum that the Owner is to pay annually to the

Letter Bk. I.

Ld Prop^y is £28 stg & so in proportion to the Naval Officer
in lieu of his Fees. Were we to insist on the Skippers
coming a shore every Trip to enter & clear at the Office the
Loss by the Delay would be so great that the Proprietors of
the Iron Works had better hire some Maryland Vessels to
carry their Ore than send their own to fetch it & then you
know His Ldp would receive no Tonnage at all, nor would
the Naval Officer be entitled to more than half Fees. This
Consideration induced me to give the Gentⁿ such an Indul-
gence as is abovementioned & I hope His Ldp will approve
thereof & believe that His Interest has been properly re-
garded. When the Naval Officer returns his Account you will
see what Vessels are employed in carrying Ore & what
Duty they respectively pay. When Col^o Lloyd comes over
to Annapolis I shall submit to him what has been done with
regard to this matter, had he been here when the Gentⁿ came
from Virg^a I should most certainly have consulted him at the
time, but the Distance that is between Us & the great Diffi-
culty there is in getting him over on any occasion whatever
deprives me almost entirely of his Advice. There is not I am
persuaded any Room to apprehend that the Naval Officers
make any kind of Agreement with the Masters or Owners of
other Vessels concerning the Tonnage or the Payment of any
other Duty or Impost, neither do the Masters of Tobacco
Ships pay Tonnage according to the number of Hhds that
they carry but they all pay according to the Burthen or true
measure of their respective Vessels. I have received my
Brother Joshua's Letter with a Copy of the Ld Keepers
opinion concerning the Duty imposed on Convicts. I believe
M^r Tasker will never choose to resign the Office of Com-
missary Gen^l while he can keep it & with regard to his Age I

p. 338

presume he would tell you that he is not many years older
now than he was when the office was first conferred on him ;
there can be no doubt but it would have been better on many
Accounts that M^r Dulany his Son in Law should have suc-
ceeded to that Office when it became vacant but it was a
Proposal you know that His Ldp at that time would not hear
of. For my part I know not what to do with regard to the
Lease which M^r Thomas holds for Part of Talbot Manner,