'Travels from India to England : comprehending a visit to the Burman Empire, and a journey through Persia, Asia Minor, European Turkey, &c., in the years 1825-26, by James Edward Alexander' [‎48] (101/412)

48 BURMAN EMPIRE.
no other ship has as yet been able to touch. She was built by
Captain Hayes, on fixed principles of his own invention; she is
very weatherly, sails on an even keel, and is exceedingly roomy:
she carries eighteen thirty-two-pound carronades, the carriages of
which are on the new construction ; the lower platform not recoiling,
only traversing; the upper slide recoiling. Two other experimental
vessels, the Fylades and the Orestes, were built at the same time as
the Champion, under the direction of Sir Robert Seppings and Pro
fessor Inman, but they have proved unable to compete with her.
Nearly half our crew (which was a hundred strong) were in
hospital. Almost all the men who had gone up the river suffered
severely from the bites of musquitoes, which caused obstinate ulcers j
some of them had actually lost their limbs, owing to a mortification
having commenced. These insects swarmed in the vessel fore and
aft, so that I had not an over-comfortable birth, although I swung
in the captain's cabin.
We got on board about 4 p.m . on the 9th of January, and expected
to have passed the Elephant in the night; but the first thing I heard
at wash-deck-time next morning was, « On deck there 1" from the
captain : « are we below the Larne Tree yet ?" (half way down the
river). " No, Sir, right abreast of it." Then, from the officer of
the watch : « Below, there! tumble up all the skulkers. Boatswain An officer responsible for the equipment on a ship and overseeing the work of the ship's crew. 's
" mate, cut down that lazy rascal driving his pigs to market
" (snoring) in his hammock there?"—" Aye, aye. Sir," growled
the boatswain An officer responsible for the equipment on a ship and overseeing the work of the ship's crew. 's mate.
On the 11th, the pilot left us, and we stood out to sea with a
fair breeze.
When in the Gulf of Martaban a suspicious sail hove in sight,
which