'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎76] (95/622)

76
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
selected for the cantonments, than fever decimated the small
force. The surgeon, one officer, and several men died. Lieu
tenant Ormsby, first of the 6 Tigris,' became delirious; Mr.
Mackenzie went home sick; and Mr. Midshipman An experienced sailor, but not a commissioned officer. Shum was
insane for months from fever, and had to resign the Service. Mr.
Mackenzie writes to us, " Ere the island was abandoned, scarce
a man could be found with strength sufficient to dig a grave for
his companion. At one time every man, save the doctor, was
prostrate with fever, and he eventually died. Several officers
had their health permanently ruined, and few survived to tell
the tale of the Socotra expedition." The detachment of troops
w 7 as withdrawn in April, 1835, and all idea of continuing
Socotra as a coaling station was abandoned. Had the Govern
ment followed the advice of the naval officers who had surveyed
the island, and occupied the highlands adjacent to Tamarida,
this loss of life might have been avoided. #
As soon as Commander Robert Moresby had completed the
survey of the Red Sea, he w T as ordered to examine the Maldivef
Islands, and, accordingly, sailed in the old 4 Benares,' w^hich was
patched up for the duty, accompanied by the 'Royal Tiger,'
commanded by his assistant surveyor. Lieutenant F. T.
Powell,J and a large decked boat, called the Maldiva, with
Mr. R. Riddell, midshipman An experienced sailor, but not a commissioned officer. , in command. The surveying staff
consisted, besides these officers, of Lieutenants George Robin
son, and James A. Young (brother of the late Captain John W.
* It is well known the Indian G-overnment have lately come to terms with,
the chiefs claiming Socotra, and the chance of its falling into the hands of a
foreign power by sale has been obviated.
t The Maldives were noticed so far back as the ninth century by two Moham
medan travellers who visited China, and again, in the fourteenth century, they
were explored by the dervish, Ibn Batuta. The prodigious chain of islets
known as the Laccadive, Maldive, and Ghagos Archipelagos, extend for nearly
1,500 miles from about the latitude of Mangalore to far beyond the Equator, and
are known by the Arabs as the " Eleven thousand islands." The characteristic
physical feature of this immense chain of submarine volcanoes is the Atoll,
or circular group of islets extending around a basin of deep water ; the
islands representing the rim, and the basin the hollow of the crater. The
Chagos group, it would appear, were discovered by the Portuguese. Davis
passed through them in 1598, the ' Stranger ' traversed them in 1719, the
'Grantham 5 in 1728, and many English vessels in 1740, 1760, and 1780.
Previous to the year 1740, says a writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. , the French had explored and surveyed
the Chagos, and they came into British possession with the Mauritius in 1810.
Ihe group lies in a space of 135 miles north and south, and Diearo Garcia is
the principal island.
X Iherc were three officers of the name of Powell at this time in the Service,
namely, Frederick William Powell, Philip Jervis Powell, and F. T. Powell.
Owing to the numerous cases in which there were officers of the same name in
the Service, mostly brothers, confusion arises in identifying them. Thus there
were two Maughans, two Guys, two Youngs, two Campbells, two Wyburds, two
Macdonalds, two Notts, two Lowes, two Jones, two Whitelocks, two Roses, two
Barkers, two Robinsons, two Grieves, two Woods, two Careys, two Williams, two
Rogers, two Lewis, two Parkers, two Nixons, and two Lowders. Strange to
say, there was no officer in the Service bearing the familiar patronymic of
Brown, and only one Smith.