'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎427] (446/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
427
Superintendent on the 27th of July, 1874, and thus, at length,
the reform for which he had long battled, was inaugurated
under the auspices of an officer of the Service which had, for a
century, carried out the surveys of Eastern seas. In December
of that year, Commander Taylor proceeded to Bombay, accom
panied by Staff-Commander Ellis, R.N., and immediately
operations were commenced by an examination of the Laccadive
Islands and Kolachel in Travancore. The former was con
ducted'by Staff-Commander Ellis in the 'Clyde' gunboat: and
the latter by Mr. Morris Chapman, formerly a midshipman An experienced sailor, but not a commissioned officer. in the
Indian Navy, in the ' Constance,' schooner, both vessels, it is
scarcely necessary to say, having formerly belonged to the
Service. Commander Taylor, having started the survey from
Bombay, proceeded to Calcutta, where he was joined by three
Navigating Lieutenants, and two Navigating Sub-Lieutenants
of the Koyal Navy, selected by the Admiralty at the request of
the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , and by Mr. R. C. Carrington, of the Hydro-
graphic Department, as draughtsman. Commander Taylor's
the Bay of Bengal, and the Laccadives and Maldives ; also, a sclienie to supplement
and perfect existing charts, both by working up materials, not then utilised, and
by new surveys, and fully detailing for each the method in. and the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. by,
which it should be carried out, and its probable cost. After full inquiry and
consultation with the Marine authorities and others interested in the coasting
trade and approaches to our coasts and harbours, I submitted a report of the
measures which, in my judgment, were required. This report was substantially
adopted by the Grovernment of India, which accepted the responsibility of com
pleting and maintaining the charts of the Indian Coast, from Pakchan Estuary,
at the southern extremity of Tenasserim to Sonmiani Bay, on the western limits
of theSind coast, of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Mergui Archipelago
and the Laccadives. It was also proposed that I should return to England via
Bombay, that I might be available to furnish the Secretary of State with any
further details which might be necessary, in order to finally arrange for the
manner in which the services of officers of the Eoyal Navy might be secured.
During my stay at Bombay, where I was detained nearly three weeks, as member
of a Committee under the presidentship of Colonel Alexander Eraser, B.E., C.B.,
to report upon the Hydraulic Lift at Hog Island, I made it my duty to bring the
question of missing original charts before many of the officers who had formerly
served in local situations connected with the Dockyard and the Observatory,
where the Indian Navy Draughtsman's Office was located. The result was that
a great number of valuable documents were found at the time, a few of which
I took to England, and deposited at the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ; amongst, them were
original maps of Mesopotamia, which Captain Felix Jones, I.N., found of use in
the compilation of his new great map of Arabia. But after securing tjaese, from
information received at the Store-keeper's Office, I reported to the Government
of India a contemplated wholesale destruction of some three thousand old charts
because of their being dust-stained, torn, and insect-eaten ; my suggestion was
(and fortunately it came in time to be carried out) that these charts should be
sent to Calcutta to await my return. This proved a real treasure-trove ; many
invaluable original charts were preserved from destruction, and now are carefully
stored at Calcutta and catalogued. Three or four originals, on a large scale, cf
portions of Captain Moresby's Survey of the Ked Sea were discovered, and copies
of which have been forwarded to the Hydrographer. The proposal of the
G-overnment of India for the resumption of Marine Surveys, together with the
scheme submitted based on my report, preceded me to England, and was there
sanctioned by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India in Council, in a despatch
dated the 16th of July, 1874, and I was appointed Superintendent of Marine
Surveys on the 27th of July of the same year."