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222 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
which usually enabled Marine officers to retire with an ample
fortune. To none of these good things of office did the gallant
Commodore succeed ; when, therefore, he took his departure ou
furlough to E^ngland in 1806, he was a poor man, though,
doubtless, it was a poverty honourable to him as a patriot and
a seaman, for in times wlien the hands of many public servants
in both the I\Iilitary and Civil services were not withheld from
the receipt of bribes, it was honourable for an officer who had
filled such responsible posts to show his to the world, undefiled
from the pollution of aught save his bare pay.
In 1807, while in England, he was, as a special reward for his
services, appointed Deputy Master Attendant at Bengal, and
was designated to succeed as Master-Attendant on the death or
resignation of the incumbent, without in any way prejudicing
his rank, standing, or pa^^ in the Bombay Marine.
Captain Hayes returned to India in November, 1808, and, from
that date, acted as Deputy Master-Attendant and Secretary to
the Marine Board until the 15th of April following, when he was
appointed Master-Attendant and a member of the Marine Board.
While holding this double appointment, he proved himself a
thorough man of business, and evinced, in the most practical
manner, his desire to effect a saving in the hitherto somewhat
reckless system of expenditure in the Marine Department. By
dint of careful supervision, he saved the Government, during
the first six years he held the office of Master- Attendant, seven
and a-half lacs of rupees, or .£75,000 ; still further, by his
attention to the economical management of the interests con-
fided to his charge, it appears from official statements that by
employing in various services, foreign to the original purpose of
their construction, certain vessels under his control, and thereby
avoiding the expense of hiring private ships for those services,
he eifected a saving of not less than three lacs of rupees (<£30,000).
He also improved the Pilot Establishment. Such were some
of the beneficial results accruing to the Government through
the exertions of this meritorious officer.
In 1803, the Company's fourteen-gun brig ' Fly,'* Lieutenant
* Tliis small cruiser had been before employed carrying despatches to and from
tlie Indiiin Goyernment, for we find that Lord Nelson, immediately after the battle
of the Nile, deputed one of his officers yvith letters to the Governor of Bombay
reporting his brilliant victory. The bearer of these despatches pi'oceeded via
Aleppo and Bagdad, where the Turkish Pasha received him with great consider-
ation, and embarked at Bnssorah on board the ' Fly ' lor Bombay. The Company
continued to retain a Resident at Bussorah during the first quai'ter of the present
century, long after their trade had ceased to be of any consequence ; but tliis
functionary was of service in forwarding despatches, representing British interests,
and promoting the trade between the port and merchant vessels carrying the
Euglisli pass and colours. The establishment, which was kept up at a cost of
£5,000 per annum, was located in the finest house in the city, and vied in the
splendour of its surroundings with tlie entourage of the Mutesillim, or Governor,
himself. Later on, the post of Resident was suppressed, for there no longer
remained any excuse lor its maintenance, the despatches when forwarded overland