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HISTORY OP THE INDIAN NAVY, 271

A few months later, another of the Hon. Company's ships
was of service to the cause of humanity, by rescuing the crew
of H.JM.'s frigate 'Alceste,' of forty-six guns, commanded by
Captain Maxwell. The ' Alceste' had sailed on the i)th of
January, 1817, from Manilla for England, with Lord Amherst
and suite, then returning from the embassy to China; within
nine days of her departure, while making for the Straits of
Gaspar, the frigate struck with a tremendous crash on a rt-cf
of sunken rocks, and, in a few minutes, the water iilled the
hold and flowed over the orlop-deck. The Ambassador and
his suite were immediately landed on the island of Pulo Leat,
about four miles distant, and, before night, all the crew joined
them. As it was now found that the island was destitute of food,
every effort was nuide to recover as much as possible from the
wreck, and, daring the next few days, they succeeded in collect-
ing several casks of flour and some arms, which were of almost
equal importance to them in their unfortunate situation, as a
large number of Malay pirate proas had made their appearance,
and not only took possession of the wreck, but threatened to
attack the breast-work enclosing a circular position, within
which Captain Maxwell had retired with his crew. j\Ieantime,
Lord Amherst, with the other members of his embassy, I'orty-
seven in all, had proceeded in a large cutter to Batavia, in order
to procure assistance, and it arrived not a day too soon. On
the morning of the 3rd of March, the Hon. Company's cruiser
' Ternate,' of sixteen guns, hove in sight, and, advancing on the
pirates, quickly dispersed them with her broadsides ; before
nightfall all the ofiicers and crew of H.M.S. 'Alceste' were
safely on board the little cruiser. Captain Maxwell who,
throughout these trying circumstances, had exhibited the
gallantry and self-denying example which are the most cherished
characteristics of the British officer, and who was well seconded
in his eflorts to maintain discipline by his crew, said, during
the course of his examination at the court-martial convened to
try him for the loss of his ship, "Having seen all my compan-
ions in distress fairly embarked, I felt, in walking off to the
boat, that my heart was lifted up with gratitude to a kind Pro-
vidence who had watched over us." And he had cause for
thankfulness, as appears from the following account of the pro-
ceedings of the day preceding the arrival of the ' Ternate,'
which reads like a ])age out of IMarryat's novel, ' ^lasterman
—
Ready:' "At dawn on Sunday, the 8rd of March, the whole
horde of savages advanced to the island, yelling and firing their
pieces, and beating their gongs, and they anchored within a
cable's length of the shore. Some further attempts were made
at a parle}', and a negotiation for assistance, but without any
feeling of sincerity on tiie ])art of the Malays. Their force
kept continually increasing, and in the course of the day no