Page 461 - INDIANNAVYV1

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NA^^". 429
Yonr notice the good conduct of the officers and seamen you
did me the honour to phxce under my command, and 1 feel con-
fident had the enemy stood, they wonhl have shown themselves
to be British seamen."*
In November, 1824, Captain Barnes died from the effects of
ch'mate. In him the Company lost a gallant, zealous, and
enterprising officer, who, though he knew the great risk he
incurred in going on service, volunteered at Bombay to take
command of the newly-launched frigate in her first commission,
when his services were gladly accepted by the Government.
'
Captain Hardy, having given over charge of the ' Teignmouth
to Captain Goodridge, succeeded to the command of the
' Hastings.'
Not less brave and energetic than his predecessor.
Captain Hardy had already frequently gained the approbation
of Captain Marryat and the Commander-in-Chief. At this time
a large number of seamen were shipped at Calcutta for the
' Hastings,' which became very efficient under its new Captain,
and First-Lieutenant, Mr, Henry Wyndham. Other changes in
the command of the Company's ships, necessitated by the
death of Captain Barnes, were the promotion of Lieutenant
Moresby, first of the ' Prince of Wales,' to the temporary com-
mand of the ' Mercury,' in the place of Captain Goodridge,
until the arrival of Lieutenant Anderson, then j\Iaster-Atten-
dant at Man galore.
Encouraged by the successful results of the operations
undertaken at Ramree in October, Colonel R. Hampton, com-
manding the troops at Cheduba, contrary to the advice of
Captain Hardy, determined to undertake the reduction of the
Vv'hole island. Accordingly, a party landed on the morning of
of the ord of February, 1825, and proceeded to attack the
defences by land, whilst the gun-boais effected a passage up
the creek leading to the harbour, across which strong stakes
were planted. In consequence of the treachery of the guides,
the troops, after a fatiguing march, found themselves in a thick
jungle, at a considerable distance from the stockades, and it
became necessary to return to the beach before the evening,
without effecting the object of the attack. As the troops retired,
the Burmese kept up a scattered fire from the jungle into which
they had been driven, and from some entrenched positions ; but
* Captain Vincent commanding the troops, in concludiug his Report to Colonel
: —
II;imi)ton, says " Tliough it may be considered presunipiion in me to speak of
the merits of any otlier brancli of tlie Serviee than that to whieh I immediately
belong, I cannot, in tlie present instance, avoid bringing to the notice of tlic
Lieutenant-Colonel the liiglily meritorious conduct of the otlieers, scamcTi, and
Marines of the lion. Com]iany's frigate 'Hastings,' and surveying ship ' Invcfli-
gator,' who acted in conjunction with tlie troops, not only as reganied tlieir
readiness to meet every obstacle which the nature of the service led us to expect,
but likewise in their steady and promjit obedienc-e to the rigid rules of discijiline,
which the peculiar nature of the enterprise rendered so essentially necessary to bo
observed."