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HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY, 219

1799, despatched some of their ships with three hundred
European and Native troops, exclusive of followers, under the
command of Colonel (afterwards General Sir) John Murray, who
was appointed Political Commissioner for the Red Sea; and on
the 3rd of May, Perim, not being claimed by any Government,
was formally taken possession of by the East India Company.
The island only remained in the occupation of the English until
the 1st of September following, when it was evacuateil, owing
to the want of water, the troops being withdrawn to Aden,
whose chief, Ahmed, offered them an asylum. Colonel Murray
remained at this stronghold, destined at no distant date to pass
inider the sway of his country, until the following March, when
lie brought his troops back to Bombay.
Acting in co-operation with the military and naval expedition to
Egypt of 1801, under Sir Ralph Abercromby and Lord Keith, on
the 21st of April in that year, a small squadron of vessels, under
Rear-Admiral John Blankett, in the Leopard,* fifty guns, landed
'
at Suez a portion of the 8(3th Regiment and other troops which,
after taking possession of the town, previously evacuated by the
French, marched on the 6th of June to Cairo, under command
of Colonel Lloyd of the 86th Regiment. On the loth of June,
the ' Leopard' and other vessels anchored at Cosseir, where a
squadron, under command of Captain Sir Home Riggs Popham,of
the ' Romney,' fifty guns, had been engaged since the 8th of the
the month in landing the second division of General Baird's army,
which had been despatched from India, the first division, under
Colonel Murray, having arrived and disembarked in the
preceding month. Several vessels of the Bombay Marine
participated in this expedition, and assisted in transporting
General Baird's force from Bombay to Cosseir. The total of
the force consisted of five thousand two hundred and twenty-
six soldiers, and included a division of one thousand two hundred
men from the Cape, and two regiments and some artillery from
the Bombay Presidency. General Baird marched across the
Desert via Kenneh on the Nile, to Cairo, which, however, had
been surrendered by General Belliard to General Hutchinson
on the 27th of June, several days before his arrival ; the
capitulation of General Menou and his entire army of eight
thousand men at Alexandria, on the 2nd of September, caused
the final ruin of the cause of France in Egypt. The ofiicers
and crew of the Bombay Marine engaged in this expedition
received the Euypt medal.
In 1800, at the request of the Court of Directors, Sir Home
Popham, commanding H.M.S. ' Romney,' had been despatched
from England on a doul)le mission to the Red Sea, having for
its object the revival of the trade in coffee, as well as the
conveyance of troops to Egyjjt. Sir Home proceeded in
company with the ' Leopard' to Mocha, where Admiral Blankett