'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎399] (418/622)

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HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY,
399
pleted the survey of the entrance into the Irrawaddy by the
Barague river; and the report they brought was that " a good
channel for ships up to 700 tons' burden exists at all seasons,
with not less than three and a half fathoms." The 4 Spy' dis
covered during the survey a fine channel into the Irrawaddy by
the China-Buckeer branch, with some fifteen or twenty fathoms
of water. Mention has already been made of the survey, during
the Burmese War, of the Sittang River by Lieutenant Hellard,
of the 6 Ferooz,' with the boats of that ship. In February,
1854, Lieutenant Ward arrived at Tonghoo, having accom
plished a more detailed and systematic examination of the
Sittang River; but, strange to say, this survey was never pub
lished, though he was more fortunate with his other labours,
and hisSailing Directions for the Straits of Malacca'^ appeared
in 44 Horsburgh's Directory."
Lieutenant (now retired Commander) Ward ranks among
the first of the race of surviving Indian Navy surveyors. As
one of those who assisted the late Captain Sanders in his survey
of the south-east coast of Arabia—a band which included
Lieutenants Constable, Fell, James, and Whish—he was em
ployed to compile the 44 Pilot of the Gulf of Aden, including the
South-Eas.t coast of Arabia," which was published by the Ad
miralty in 1863.
In the beginning of 1855, a year and a half after the termi
nation of the Burmese War, the King of Ava sent a com
plimentary mission to Lord Dalhousie, which was conveyed to
Calcutta in the ' Zenobia.' In the following summer the
Governor-General returned the compliment by the despatch, to
the Burmese capital, of an Embassy consisting of the following
officers:—Captain Phayre, # Commissioner of Pegu, as Envoy;
Captain H. Yu]e,t Bengal Engineers ; Dr. John Forsyth, Super-
intending-surgeon in Pegu; Major Grant Allan, of the Quarter
master General's Department and Special Deputy Commissioner
on the Frontier; Commander J. Rennie, commanding the 'Zeno
bia,' to survey the Irrawaddy and report upon its navigation,
assisted by Lieutenant J. A. Heathcote and Mr. Midshipman An experienced sailor, but not a commissioned officer. W.
H. Ogilvy, of the Indian Navy ; and Mr. Oldham, Superintendent
of the Geological Survey of India and President of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal. Captain Willis, 84th Regiment, commanded
the escort, consisting of the Light Company of the 84th Regi
ment, and a native officer and fifteen men of the 8th Irregular
mortallj. Mr. Shepherd, seeing that Mr. Lay was attacked, pulled across to
his assistance, and was also fired at from both banks of the river, but without
mjurj. Lieutenant Ward, thereupon, thought it prudent, for the present, to
give up surveying the river trigonometrically, as the native boats' crews would
not stand by their officers.
*= Now Major-General Sir Arthur Phayre, K.C.S.I., C.B., G-overnor and Com
mander-in-Chief of the Mauritius.
t Now Colonel Yule, C.B., Member of the Council of India.
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