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[Page 17]
Feb, 1773 - The Hague
much upon being a real old Bachelor in Common life he is far from being sensible & in Common Conversation almost a fool yet whatever he has undertaken howsoever singular he has always excelled in to a very high degree he skates better than any man in Holland no one can roll up a pewter plate so close as he can he dances well on the rope & can take the Saute perilleuse that is turn round in the air which few Tumblers indeed are able to do in all the Common excercises [exercises] he is without equal he undertook the anatome [anatomy] of a Caterpillar & wrote a large quarto volume upon it his plates were very difficult to engrave therefore he engraved them himself & inimitably they are done as are the best plates in Grembleys polypes which he also engravd. At present he is decypherer [decipherer] to the States & a gentleman here told me that he himself sat by while he with ease decyphered [deciphered] a paper in which each letter had 16 arbitrary characters to distinguish it.