Page 196 - INDIANNAVYV1

164 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
A larg'e fleet was, accoi\lin<^ly, fitted cnit and sent against the
pirate chief, but so great was the dread in which he was held
that they feared to attack him. In this state of affairs, the
Sheikh applied to the Company's agent at Bushire, and, as there
were two vessels of the Bombay Marine at that port, Captain
Price, commanding the 'Swallow,' the senior officer, at once
offered to undertake the duty ; but his force was utterly inade-
quate for the object of reducing the island, even if he could have
counted upon a loyal co-operation on thepartof his faint-hearted
allies. On the approach of the combined force to Kharrack,
Meer Mohunna's fleet came out to meet them, when an action
ensued, from which, however, the Persian fleet took care to keep
out of harm's way, and then ran back whence they came,
without firing a shot. After some heavy cannonading, the enemy
withdrew their fleet under the protection of the fort, and the
British vessels remained off the island, where they were joined
'by the Persian squadron. Captain Price now proposed a joint
attack on the fort, which was a well-built work of considerable
strength ; to this the Persians consented, but, as before, when
the firing began, the Bushire fleet were nowhere to be seen. It
was useless for two small vessels to contend against the powerful
artillery of a strong fort, and, after vainly attempting to make
an impression on the walls. Captain Price was forced to retire.
It is said that on this occasion, Meer Mohunna fired red-hot-
shot, which set fire to one of the cruisers, a noteworthy circum-
stance, as these terrible missiles are generally supposed to have
been first employed at the siege of Gibraltar twent}^ years later.
Shortly after this, a party of nearly forty officers and men
from the Company's cruisers landed on the island of Corgo, and,
during the night, were attacked by an overpowering force, from
Kharrack, under Meer Mohunna, when they were nearly all cut
to pieces. As the vessels were now too shorthanded to con-
tinue operations, and the Persians, for whose sole benefit they
were undertaken, declined to assist. Captain Price quitted his
station off the islands and returned to Bombay.*
According to the account of the attack on Kharrack given b}''
Parsons, who says he learned the particulars from some of the
( -ompany's officers who were actually engaged, six of the Com-
pany's ships and smaller vessel s-of-war co-operated wnth the
—
Persians. He says : "Although the attack was made b}' sea,
* The author of the article on Kliarrack, in the Asiatic Journal, before quoted,
writing of these events, eajs : — " In 1768 the Peisians offered to transfer the
island to the Company, if they would co-operate in effecting its conquest from
Meer Meana. They declined tlie offer, but engaged to assist the Persians in
recovering it in the promise of a f'-ee and open trade throughout Persia. An
attack was made on the island on the 20th of May, but failed from one of the
Company's eliips taking fire. A renewal of the attack was subsequently abandoned,
in consequence of a party from the ships, whilst watering at Corgo, having been
surprised by an ambuscade of Meer Meaua's, who killed tweuty-four and wounded
seven of the crew."