Page 533 - INDIANNAVYV1

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY. 501

Oil the 2()tli of April, 1829, an addition was made to the
Service in the ' Tigris,' which was launched at Mazagon
dockyard. The 'Tigris' was a ten-giin brig, of" 258 tons,
93 feet in length '' between perpendiculars," 20 feet extreme
breadth, and with a height between decks of 5 feet 10 inches.
She was commissioned by Commander John Sawyer, who,
early in August, proceeded in her up the Persian Gulf, and
succeeded in effecting the direct passage against the south-
west monsoon in nineteen days, instead of sailing by the long,
circuitous route known as the Southern ])assage, — " a feat of
seamanship," writes Captain Tanner, " then known to have
been often attempted but never before accomplished by any
navigator."* For this service the Bombay Government
expressed their high gratification, under date of the 27tli of June,
1830.
In the same year as the ' Tigris' was launched, a small six-
gun schooner, called the ' Royal Tiger.' was added to the
Service, and, in 1832, a sister schooner named the ' Shannon.'
In November, 1827, the Hon. Company's schooner, ' Zephyr,'
while cruising against pirates in the Straits of Singapon-. {\-\\
in with twelve piratical proas, which she at once attacked, and
succeeded in sinking or dispersing the whole of them. Two
natives, belonging to a boat recaptured from the pirates, stated
that an Euroi)oan boat's crew of six men had been murdered
by these pirates a few days before the 'Zephyr' fell in with
them. This statement was confirmed not long after, when the
only survivor of these men, who had deserted in a boat from
the ship ' Inglis,' in Singapore, was brought to Peiiang by a
native chief, and stated that he had been wounded, but had
managed to escape with his life by swimming ashore, the
remaining five of the boat's crew being either speared or killed
in the water while attempting to escap(^
No event of any great importance occurred in l.SJS.f In
* Captain H. A. M. Drought puts forward a claim to the honour of hnvinp
been rhe first to make the direct passage to the Gulf, on behalf of Licutomint
—
Haines. He writes to us: " Tlio ' lienares,' Lieutenant S. U. Haines, sailed
from Bombay iu tlie beginning of June, lS-9, anil made the ilireet passage to
Museat in eighteen and a-lialfor nineteen days. (.)u her return spoke the 'Tigris,'
Commander Sawver. I was a midshipnuin on board llie ' Uenares' at the
time."
t The following is the description of tlie uniform sanctioned in Julv, 1S2.S, by
the Governor in Council, for the olUcers of the Bombay Marine, soasto assiuulate
the dress more to that of the Royal Js'avy —
" Captains above tliree years,—Coat, blue clotli, blue stand up collar, slojied in
the front, one and a-half inch gold lace round tlie top and front, a slasiied sleeve
with blue three-pointed llai), three buttons and hol.-s, blue culf, one and a-half
inch gold lace round the top and down tlie front edge, pocket Haps with three
points, no buttons, skirts lined witli wliite kerscynuMC, two rows of buttons in
the front, ten buttons in each row, the two rows to be three inclies apart, from
the front of the button-hole to tlie centre of the button, the ekirt to begin at one-
sixth of tlie circumference from the front edge, two bullous on tlie hips and two
on the bottom of the plaits, the button to be raised, gilt, one inch in diameter,