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478 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
was sent to Government, In June, 1829, the flotilla was
reduced, and Lieutenant Rowband alone remained to conduct
the duties. Lieutenants Nott and Sharp retin-ned to Calcutta,
and, in the following December, arrived at Bombay, where the
latter was appointed First-Lieutenant of" the ' Clive,' then com-
missioned by Commander John Croft Llawkins, and about to
proceed to the African coast on her memorable cruise ; and
Mr. Nott became Senior Lieutenant of the new steamer
• Hugh Lindsay,' fitting out under the command of the late
Commander John Henry Wilson, for her even more memorable
voyage to Suez.
In February, 1827, a small squadron, consisting of two of
H.M.'s ships and the Honourable Company's sloop-of-war,
' Amherst,' was employed under Sir Gordon Bremer, of H.M.S.
' Tamar,' in blockading Berbera* and the adjacent portion of
the African coast opposite Aden, for the purpose of punishing,
and exacting restitution from, the Soomalies, who, in 1825,
had plundered an English brig, called the 'Marianne,' and
murdered the greater portion of the crew, the captain, mate,
and a few seamen alone escaping to Mocha, whence they
proceeded to Madras. The Soomali chief and people agreed
to the demands made upon them, paying a portion of the
indemnity then, and promising to discharge the whole demand
by instalments within two years. Before this agreement was con-
cluded, it was necessary to land a force, and Berbera was burnt
after a skirmish, in which the British experienced some slight
loss. This was the first occasion in which these lawless people
came into collision with the Bombay Marine, but, unhappily for
them, it was not the last. The stipulation as to the payment
of the indemnity within two years, was not carried out, and, in
1832, we find that the Hon. Company's brig, ' Tigris,' com-
manded by Lieutenant Nott, was employed blockading the
coast ; indeed one or two of the ships of the Indian Navy were,
from this time forward, particularly after the acquisition of
Aden, constantly " looking in" at Berbera and other places on
the Soomali coast, for the purpose of keeping the police of
these waters.
As the close of 1827 marks the commencement of a new era
in the history of the Service, we will briefly show what the
* Tlie town of Berbera lies at the bead of tbe harbour, which is the only
sheltered one on the coast, and varies in size and population according to the
season of the year. Thus, between the months of October and Marali, the place
presents the appearance of a fair, and the people number at least fifteen thousand
souls. At this time the tribes from the interior bring then- commodities for ex-
change with the Banian merchants who flock from Mandavie, Porebunder,
and Bombay, or the more humble traders from Yemen, Bahrein, and Grane.
The first notice we have been able to find of Berbera, is contained in a paper
entitled " Information on the Town of Barbera, situated on the East Coast of
Africa," by Lieutenant R. Ethersey, I.N., which was printed in the " Trans-
actions of the Bombay Geographical Society," vol. i. p. 286.