amount of thirty or forty, mostly boys and youngsters, who as-
sembled in King-street, before the custom-house, and gave
three cheers, and some of them being near the centry,
at the custom-house door, damn'd him, and bid him fire and
be damned ; and some snow balls were throwed, or other
thinngs: whereupon the centry stept on the steps of the cus-
tom-house door, and loaded his piece, and struck the butt of
it against the steps, presented it at the people several times :
at length the people drawing nearer to him, he knocked at the
custom-house door, and I saw it open'd about half-way. In the
space of six or seven minutes, I saw a party of soldiers come
from the main guard, and draw themselves up in a line from the
corner of the custom-house to the centry-box; the people still
continued in the street, crying, fire, fire, and be damn'd, and
hove some more snow-balls ; whereupon I heard a musket
go off, and in the space of 2 or 3 seconds, I heard the word
fire given, but by whom I know not, and instantly the soldiers
fired one after another. I then stood between the centry-box
and the custom-house door. And further I know not.
    WILLIAM TANT.

Suffolk, ss. Boston, March 20, 1770. William Tant, above-
named, after due examination, made oath to the truth
of the aforesaid affidavit, taken to perpetuate the re-
membrance of the thing.
Before, JOHN RUDDOCK, Jus. Peace and of the Quorum.
BELCHER NOYES, Justice o' Peace.

(No. 46.)
I THOMAS Cain of lawful age, tesify and say, that on
monday, the 5th instant, being in a house on the long
wharff, I heard a bell ring, which I imagined was for nine
o'clock, but being informed by a person in my company that
it was 12 minutes past that hour by his watch, I then con-
cluded the bell rung for fire, so I run up King-street, in com-
pany with Mr. William Tant, and asking a few people whom
I met, the cause of the bell's ringing, was answered the soldiers
had insulted some of the town's people by the ropewalks. I
then went down Quaker lane as far as justice Dana's house,
where I met a number of people coming up, and asked them
if there had been any disturbance at or near the ropewalks,
they answered me that there had been several people insulted,
and knocked down by the soldiers in different parts of the
town. I then came up into King-street, where they assembled
together below the town house, (to the best of my knowledge)
between 30 & 40 persons, mostly youngsters or boys, and when