'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎286] (305/622)

286 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
The ships of the Indian Navy, which had for so long a period
navigated without loss the shallow waters and intricate chan
nels of the Burmese coast, were not destined to leave its shores
without leaving behind the bones of one of the finest steam-
frigates possessed by the Service. The 6 Moozuffer,' whose
officers and men had taken such a prominent part in all the
operations of the war from the capture of Rangoon, and who
everywhere had earned the repeated thanks of the officers under
whose orders they had served, had been employed in the early
part of 1853 running between Rangoon and Calcutta. Thus
we find that, on the 17th of February, she arrived at the
Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. ; and the news she brought of the disaster at
Donabew, and an outbreak at Reeling, in itself an insignificant
affair, was considered of so threatening a character that the
Government despatched her on the 24th of February, with four
companies of the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers, for Moulrnein. On the
15th of May the 4 Moozuffer' again arrived at Calcutta, and, on
the 8th of July, left her moorings for the last time.
The following letter, descriptive of her loss off the Rangoon
river, is from a military officer who was on board at the time
" After leaving the Sandheads, we crossed the bay all right,
and everything was going on pretty well, with the exception of
the weather, which was thick and foul. We first touched at
Khyouk Phyoo, and took down from there the pilot who was
well acquainted with the Arracan coast, in the navigation of
which the captain and officers of the ship were inexperienced.
We had remained nearly two days at Khyouk Phyoo, where
we w^ere joined by the 4 Zenobia,' and the two ships embarked
the Arracan Battalion for Rangoon. On leaving the port and
getting to sea, we soon left our consort hull down, and held on
down the Arracan coast at a rapid pace. The first night it
blew half a gale, and w T e must have been going at a very high
rate of speed, but I believe that the ship was only allowed nine
knots an hour in the dead reckoning by the log. The next day
and night were so foul and overcast that no observation could
be taken, and the consequence was that, on the third day, the
captain was necessarily ignorant of the ship's position, and no
one else on board was better informed. On the fourth day,
land was seen, but as it presented no known peculiarity, and
everything was murky and indistinct, we kept off and on,
endeavouring to make out where we were, until at length,
tranquillity of tlie frontier was mainly attributable to my exertions and the
bravery of my men. I received a very handsome present from Lord Dalhousie,
and an appointment (the last lie ever gave) as Master- Attendant of Damousie.
On one occasion, I swore sixty-six heads of villages, under a Buddhist oath, to a e-
giance to Queen Victoria, and every man passed me with his neck bared for ie
sword-cut if I doubted his honesty of purpose. I was nine months on the iron ier,
Brazier and Strong under me were first-rate at boat service, and a credit to e
Indian Navy."