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HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY. 505 ;

piracy of a distinguished officer of tlie Service, who was made
a scapegoat for the sins of others, and the first voyage of a
steam vessel from Bombay to Snez, under the command of an
officer of the Bombay Marine, an event, the importance of which
can scarcely be exaggerated.
Commander John Croft Hawkins, arraigned on the extra-
ordinary charge of piracy, was one of the most able officers of
the Service, and had repeatedly received the thanks of Govern-
ment ; indexed, it was his zeal for tlie public welfare, in carrying
out the orders conveyed to him by his official superiors, that
induced this high-minded officer to commit au act which was
technically of an illegal character, and fraught with most grave
consequences to himself. The case created a great stir, and
aroused strong feelings of partisanship throughout the press of
India. Our duty, as the historian of the Indian Navy, is
sini))l_y to chronicle facts, and to lay before the public, letters,
hitherto unpublished, from which they will be able t(^ form an
opinion as to whether, on the one hand, Commander Hawkins
exceeded or mistook his instructions, and on the other, whether
his official suj)erior. the Superintendent of the Indian Navy,
abandoned to his fate an officer who, with rare loyalty, sacrificed
himself in order to screen his chief,
Conm^iander Hawkins was posted to the 'Clive' in A])ril,
182i), and, in the following month, proceeded to the Persian
Gulf, whence, after visiting Muscat and Bassadore, he returned
to Bombay in September. As at this time there was a defi-
ciency of European seamen in the ships of the Indian Navy,
and the supply of lascars, hitherto shipped at Gogo, in the
Gulf of Cambay, failed to fill the vacancies, Connnandcr Hawkins
was selected to proceed to the coast of Africa, for the purpose
of shipping black boys, who were to be trained for the Service.
The ' Clive' at this time carried an armament of sixteen 82-
pounder carronades, and two long nines, with a crew of ninety-
four Europeans, including three lieutenants, master, purser,
surgeon, six midshipmen, cajjtain's clerk, gunner, boatswain,
carpenter, apothecany, the rest being petty ofiicers and seameii
she had in addition a detachment of iMarines, and one boat's
crew of native seamen, shipped for the ))urpose of saving the
Europeans from exposure to the sun, in tlie generally unhealthy
climate experienced on the coast of Africa.
The following were the sailing instructions addressed to
Connnander Hawkins, signed by Sir Charles Malcolm, and
dated the 4th of January, 1<S.'5():
''Sir,
"It having been deemed expeilicnt by this (iovcrnment, as
per enclosed copy of a letter from Mr. Secretary \Villoughiiy,
under date of the lOth of Decendier, 182«>, to raise seamen for
the Honourable Company's Marine from the coast of Africa,