To William Laing from Aberdeen He had hired a sloop intending to sail to Montrose, rest there for a day or two and then sail back to Aberdeen. James Hay Beattie now became very ill with seasickness and extreme debility, and wished to go back. James Hay Beattie cannot now endure the idea of going to sea again. He is so enfeebled that that he can hardly walk up and down the stairs. Beattie thanks Laing for phial of elixir which James Forrest has just brought. Asks Laing to come but not to speak too much of the sea expedition. 13 August 1790