'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎37] (56/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
37
other officers were employed in surveying, and, upon the com
pletion of the two steamers, the officers and men were dis
tributed between them, as follow:— 4 Euphrates,' Captain Est-
court, in command ; Lieutenants R. F. Gleaveland, R.N., H. F.
Murphy, R.E.; Messrs. E. P. Charlewood, and J. Fitzjames,
R.N.; Mr. W. Ainsworth; Messrs. C. Rassam, and Seyyid Ali
(interpreters) ; Mr. Thomas Hurst (Engineer); and Dr. and
Mrs. Heifer (passengers). 4 Tigris,' Lieutenant Lynch, in
command; Mr. H. Eden, R.N.; Lieutenant R. Cockburn, R.A.;
13r. Staunton, R.A.; Dr. A. Staunton; Messrs. W. Elliot, and
J. Sader (interpreters); Mr. A. Clegg (Engineer) ; and Lieu
tenant R. B. Lynch (passenger). The party of soldiers,
seamen, and natives, was equally distributed between the two
vessels.
The 'Euphrates,' being first completed, commenced the de
scent and survey of the river, and, soon after, the 'Tigris'
followed and joined her consort at Kara Bambuge, where the
river Euphrates has a breadth of about 400 yards. Thence
the 'Euphrates' steamed the remaining nineteen miles to
Beles, on the 19th of April, the 'Tigris' soon after joining
her there with the flats and rafts. After a brief stay at Beles,
where the engineers, Messrs. Clegg and Hurst, were discharged,
their time of service having expired, the 'Tigris' steamed
down the river on the 4th of May, and the 'Euphrates' fol
lowed on the 6th, having received on board a supply of pro
visions from Aleppo. Both steamers anchored a little below
Jiaber Castle, near Thapsacus, where Alexander the Great
crossed the Euphrates. Near to a place called El Edhen, the
' Euphrates ' grounded, when the ' Tigris' was recalled to assist
her in getting off. The descent was resumed on the 9th of
May, as far as Racca. and Amran, a careful survey being taken
of places of interest on both banks, including Thapsacus and
Susa. Thence they proceeded, the 'Tigris' leading, between
cliffs varying from 300 to 500 feet in height, to the ruins of
Halebi, said to have been the summer residence of Zenobia,
opposite which the steamers brought up. Here Colonel Chesney
received despatches from Sir John Hobhouse, directing the
return of the Euphrates Expedition ; he, however, resolved to
keep the orders a secret, and continued the descent to Deir.
On the 18th of May, the steamer arrived at the junction of the
Euphrates and Khabur, the A raxes of Xenophon, where are the
ruins supposed to be those of Carchemish, of Isaiah, and on the
opposite bank, those of Calneh, of Genesis, with the ruined
abutments of Trajan's Bridge between the two. The ' Tigris'
being smaller than the ' Euphrates,' ascended the Khabur, but
the water shoaling, had to return. Next morning the steamers
proceeded as far as the town of Maden, near which is
" Rehoboth of the Ammonites," of Genesis, and having pur-