"تاريخ البحرية الهندية. (١٦١٣- ١٨٦٣)." [‎١‎٠‎١] (٦٢٢/١٢٠)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
101
miles down to advise the flotilla of the news, and it was then
discovered that the Ameers had been trying to tamper with the
boatmen. The steamer remained at Jerruk till the 6th of
February, when she again went to Hyderabad, where Colonel
Pottinger* detained her temporarily.
The great advantage of steam power was also made manifest
by the important services rendered by the 'Semiramis,' Lieu
tenant Porter, which was employed conveying troops, and
towing two or three transports to Cutch and the mouths of the
Indus. Her career of usefulness was, however, cut short by
her running ashore at midnight, on the 13th of February, near
the entrance of the Gulf of Cutch, and a whole month elapsed
before she was got afloat. Though blame was attributed to the
commander and the officer of the watch, as regards not paying
sufficient attention to the navigation and lead, yet nothing
could exceed the discipline and exertions of the officers and
crew up to the date, of reaching Bombay, and the senior mid
shipman, Mr. Laing, died from fatigue. Ultimately, the 4 Semi-
ramis' was converted into a block ship and coal dep6t at Aden,
and her name was changed to the 4 Charger.'
The 4 Wellesley,' seventy-four guns, Captaiu Thomas Maitland
(the present Admiral the Earl of Lauderdale), bearing the flag of
Rear-Admiral Sir FrederickLewisMaitland,Commander-in-chief
in the East Indies, arrived at Bombay from China and Ceylon
in January, 1839, and proceeded to the Indus, on the 17th, to
join Sir John Keane, who sent the Admiral a laconic request to
44 proceed to Kurrachee and take it." Sir Frederick complied,
and, on arriving there on the 1st of February, in company with
the 6 Berenice,' 4 Constance,' and 'Euphrates,' and H.M.'s brig
6 Algerine,' twice sent a flag of truce summoning the fort of
Manora, which formed the chief defence of the town; but the
infatuated garrison refused all terms, and fired on the boats of
the squadron, which were engaged in landing the troops. The
6 Wellesley,' accordingly, opened fire, and a broadside or two
speedily reduced the fort to ruins, and brought the commandant
to terms, upon which Lieutenant Gr. Jenkins, attached to the
6 Wellesley,' landed and hoisted the British flag on the fort.f
* Colonel (afterwards Sir) Henry Pottinger, who held the high offices of
H.M.'s Envoy to China, Grovernor of Hong Kong, of the Cape of Good Hope,
and of Madras, commenced his career in India as a midshipman of the Indian
Navy, and prided himself on his connection with the Service.
f As a military operation, the capture of Kurrachee was of little moment,
but from the great and increasing importance of the place, the following details
of the affair by Lieutenant Jenkins will be perused with interest:—" The pinnace
of H.M.'s ship c Wellesley,' being despatched to intercept a boat coming from the
westward, on nearing the fort, was fired into. At eight a.m. the following day,
accompanied by Captain Grey, of H.M.'s 40th Regiment, I was sent with a flag
of truce to summon the fort to surrender. The Governor refused any terms ;
I was ordered to give him fifteen minutes for consideration ; at their expiration
he quietly assured us that, as a Beloochee, he could not quit his charge till
driven from it. On my reporting this to the Admiral, H.M.'s ship ' Algerine *