'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎537] (556/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
537
the time of the arrival of the ' Constance,' with a tremendous
surf running, and Lieutenant Cookson, who was aware that
an attempt, made by a merchant ship a few days before,
had failed, and that the position of the poor fellows was
desperate, stripped off his clothes, and fastening a line round
his waist, swam ashoie through the surf and brought the men
off to the boat, ail three being more dead than alive. With
characteristic modesty, this gallant officer, on his arrival at
Bombay, made no mention of his act, but it nevertheless came
to the knowledge of Commodore Wellesley, who, in a letter
to Government, dated the 17th of June, reporting the return of
the 6 Constance,' says Although Lieutenant Cookson, com
manding the 'Constance,' with a modesty which does him credit,
has refrained from alluding, even in his official report, to the
difficulty he experienced in rescuing these two men, I cannot
avoid bringing to the notice of your Excellency in Council,
what I have learned from other sources, viz., that after re
maining two days at anchor off Jibleea, the t Constance ' during
that time lying exposed to bad weather and a heavy sea,
without being able to communicate with the shore, Lieutenant
Cookson swam on shore with a line from a boat, by which
means he hauled the two men into the boat, and there is no
doubt that he nearly lost his own life in doing so. Such
conduct, I cannot doubt, will entitle him to the commendation
of 3^our Excellency in Council." Government, in acknow
ledging Commodore Wellesley's letter, on the 8th of July, stated
that " the Governor in Council is much obliged by your having
brought to his notice the manner in which Lieutenant Cookson
effected the rescue of the men who had been abandoned on
Jibleea Island, by Messrs. Ord & Co., lessees of the Kooria-
Mooria Islands. His Excellency begs that in conveying to
Lieutenant Cookson the thanks of the Government for his
successful execution of this duty, you will express to him the
high sense which they entertain of his bravery and skill, with
which, at much personal risk, he effected the rescue of the
Europeans, left by their employers on the uninhabited island of
Jibleea."
Commander Cruttenden sailed, on the 4th of May, 1861, # in
curable from Aden ; that the statement of the dryness of the climate is false ; and
that the meeting considers that the lessees should forfeit the amount ef license."
# The following movements of ships of the Service during the year are of
sufficient importance to be recorded ;—Sir Greorge Clerk, being desirous of com
municating personally with the Ghiicowar of Baroda and the chiefs of Kattywar,
as he had with some in the Southern Mahratta country, on his return from
Sedasheghur in the ' Semiramis,' proceeded in the ' Victoria,' Lieutenant Sedley,
on the 12th of January, 1861, to Surat, and thence, accompanied by Sir William
Mansfield, to Kurrachee, returning to Bombay again in that ship on the 27th of
February. The ' Victoria' also took up to Kurrachee Commander Balfour, on
his appointment as iSuperintendent of the Indus flotilla, in place of Captain
Macdonald, and the command of the ' Semiramis' was assumed by Commander