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370 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
it was a wonder it had not saved tlie crew the trouble of hoisting
out by goino- over the side it was rephiced by a crooked spar
;
])roRented by the Imaiim, which was a few feet shorter than the
foremast. However, no spars or other appliances could have
saved the ' Ariel,' which foundered, like other brigs of the
so-called "coffin" class, owing to her build, though this did not
exonerate the Superintendent who sent her on a cruise in an
nnseaworthy condition.
After the reduction of the Joasmi ports in 1820, a strong
squadron of the IVIarine vessels was stationed at Ras-ul-Khymah,
to enforce the fulfilment of the stipulations of the treaty, and
maintain a surveillance of the coasts ; and the brig ' Psyche'
was moored in the creek above the town, so as to sweep the
approaches with her guns in the event of any attack upon the
garrison. In May 1820, Captain Thompson, the Commandant
and Political Kesident, expecting an attack by the Arabs, a
body of two hundred seamen, under the command of Lieutenant
Tanner, was landed nightly from the cruisers, and every one
was much harassed. At length, as already mentioned, in July
Ras-ul-Khymah was evacuated in favour of Deristan, in the
island of Kishm, and the officers and seamen were employed
assisting in the demolition of the fortifications and embarkation
of the guns and stores, when, owing to the intense heat, many
valuable lives were lost.* The garrison embarked on board
the cruisers on the 11th of July, under the light of a grand
conflagration of the last of the Joasmi craft and the woodwork
and " cadjans" of the houses, and proceeded to the opposite
coast. Owing to calms, which prolonged the passage to three
days, the water ran short, and the men, when landed, were sick
and worn out : according to one account, fully one-third of
both services w^ere laid up with fevers, but they soon recovered
at Deristan, which was found to be a fairly healthy station.
Complications soon, however, arose with the Beni-boo-Ali, a
tribe of Arabs, which, owing to military mismanagement,
* Among those who died from tlie effects of exposure and over-fatigue, was a
young officer of singular promise and possessing many accomphshments. This
was Mr. Albert Waterworth, midshipman of the Hon. Company's cruiser
' Antelope,' who, after an illness of nine days, contracted at Kas-ul-Kliymah,
where he had been for some weeks past actively employed with a party of seamen
on shore, died at Deristan on the 23rd of July, of inflammatory fever, at the age
of eighteen. The following tribute to the worth of this young officer, written by
his commander, Lieutenant Tanner, appeared in the Bombay papers : — " With
considerable talent and a good education, this lamented young officer possessed
many eminent virtues
; he was distinguished by an active and enterprising
character, sound principles, and an amiable disposition, with mild and engaging
manners, that secured to him the respect and regard of all who knew him. This
tribute of regard to the memory of departed worth, cut off in the flower of
youth, is offered by his commander, who sincerely feels, and wiU long deplore,
the great loss which his own ship and the Service at large has sustained
by the melancholy event. His mortal remains were attended to tlie grave
by the officers and seamen of the squadron with every mark of respect."