On Friday the 14th of September, 1792, the troops destined to accompany Lord Macartney, on his Embassy to the Court of Pekin, received orders to embark at Spithead, in the following order: twenty of the royal artillery, on board the Lion man of war of sixty-four guns, commanded by Sir Erasmus Gower; twenty infantry, and ten light dragoons, on board the Hindostan, a fine new Indiaman of 1200 tons burthen, under the command of Captain William Mackintosh.

On Tuesday the 25th, his Lordship and suite came on board, and on the following day the ships weighed anchor, in company with several merchantmen bound to the westward. On Thursday the 27th, we saw the Isle of Wight, bearing eastnorth-east, distant five leagues, it blowing very hard from the south-west, the Jackall brigantine, which was to accompany us, being at this time far astern; on the following day we lost sight of her entirely, and were apprehensive that some disaster had happened to her, which had obliged her to put back again to Portsmouth.

About noon we came to an anchor in Torbay, where we continued till the 1st of October, when a smart breeze springing up from the eastward, we weighed anchor once more, and in a few hours lost sight of our native country. Several ships in sight, some homeward, some outward bound.