said evening, he saw there, eleven soldiers, and an officer met
them, dress'd in a blue surtout ; upon his speaking to them,
they appeared very submissive, the officer ordering them to
appear at their respective places at the time, and if they should
see any of the inhabitants of the town, or any other people not
belonging to them, with arms, clubs, or any other warlike
weapons, more than two, being assembled together, to order
them to stop, and ask them their business, and where they were
going ; if they refused to stop, or tell them their business or
separate themselves, to stop them with their firelocks, and
all that shall take their part: after giving these orders, the
officer went off to the northward, and the soldiers southward ;
upon which the deponent proceeded about his business as far
as Wheeler's point, and while there, the bell rang as usual for
fire, and he with others ran to the town-house ; two engines
being there drawn, the men attending, left them on the west
end of the town-house, and going with others into kingstreet,
were stop'd by two centinels of the main guard, and forbid to
pass on their peril, and said if they did, they would fire on
them; but one man somewhat bolder than the rest, said as
the bells rang for fire, and all the inhabitants of the town had
good right to pass thro' any street or lane of the town he
should pass, and shouldering a stick he had in his hand, went
forward and was followed by the deponent and many others
into kingstreet, the deponent taking his station at the west cor-
ner of the house now called the custom-house, and between
the corner and the centry box, where standing about two or
three minutes, he saw six or seven soldiers come from the op-
posite side of the street, near to the head or opening of royal-
exchange lane, where they halted, and some of them spoke to
the centry at the custom-house and faced about, in which pos-
ture they stood about two minutes, and in that time he heard
nothing said to them, or of them, by any of the inhabitants ; but
heard two or three cheers given by the people, and two or
three boatswain's calls piped, upon the last of which the soldi-
ers began their fire, the deponent still standing at the corner
of the custom-house, the first discharge being only one gun,
the next of two guns, upon which the deponent thinks he saw
a man stumble ; the third discharge was of three guns, upon
which he thinks he saw two men fall, and immediately after
were discharg'd five guns, two of which were by soldiers on
his right hand, the other three, as appear'd to the deponent,
were discharg'd from the balcony or the chamber window of the
custom house, the flashes appearing on the left hand and higher
than the right hand flashes appeared to be, and of which the