As soon as this delivery of arms was effected,
hundreds applied for passes to leave the
town. Andrews must have reflected the feel-
ings of many when he wrote, "If I can escape
with the skin of my teeth, shall be glad."

There were for a few days much hurry
and bustle, both of egress and of ingress. At
first as many as wished were allowed to go
out, and the chief difficulty was one of trans-
portation. It is to be supposed that for a
while the admiral kept to his agreement to
lend boats to the refugees. There was a very
considerable exodus. "Near half the inhab-
itants," wrote Andrews on May 6, "have left
the town already, and another quarter, at
least, have been waiting for a week past."
Andrews probably exaggerated, yet hundreds
of the better class went out, and about five
thousand of the poor. These latter were
quartered among the different towns at pub-
lic expense.
1 Frothingham's " Siege," 95.
