'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎53] (72/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
53
passage could be made with a sufficiently powerful steamer has
long since been proved, and the steam frigates of the Indian
Navy, and the ships of all steam companies trading in the East,
think no more of crossing the Arabian Sea in the south-west,
than in the north-east, monsoon ; but Captain Brucks, a hardy
seaman of the old school, in whose vocabulary " impossible"
was an unknown term, miscalculated the power of the engines
of his ship to force her through the mountainous sea and high
wind that prevails between the months of June and September.
Having patched up the boilers of the 6 Semiramis,' he quitted
Bombay, with the mails for Suez, on the 15th of July, and, for
eight days, strove his utmost to fulfil his pledge to take his
ship to the Red Sea. But all was in vain, and, after splitting
his fore and aft sails and shipping u blue seas," which threatened
to put out the fires, or swamp the ship, he felt himself
reluctantly compelled to adopt the advice of his officers, and
bore up for Bombay, where he arrived on the 26th of July.
The 4 Semiramis' started with 399 tons of coal, and, on the
23rd, when she turned back, had made less than six hundred
miles, or about half the distance, while she had in her bunkers
only 152 tons, instead of 183, the computed quantity, and the
state of her boilers would not admit a greater pressure than
3^ lbs.
Thursday, the 15th of June, 1837, will long be memorable in
the annals of Bombay for the occurrence of a hurricane, described
as " the severest w T ithin the memory of man." The wind was
at its height about ten a.m., when it veered round to S.S.E.,
with heavy rain, and all the vessels in the harbour, numbering
some fifty sail, drove from their moorings and fouled each
other, or were driven ashore; so great was the destruction that
only about half a dozen escaped without injury. The Hon.
Company's receiving ship 'Hastings' was blown against the
old Bunder head opposite the dock pier, and, at one time, had
seven feet of water in her hold. Nothing saved her from
becoming a total wreck but her marvellous strength, and an
eye-witness wrote :■—" Some idea may be formed of the manner
in which she laboured, frongi her having destroyed a large
portion of the old Bunder pier, to which she is so near that one
might step with ease upon her deck from the shore. The
steamers 'Hugh Lindsay,' Lieutenant Campbell, 4 * and 'Bere
nice,' Captain Grant, which latter had just arrived from
England, were driven against each other, and were greatly
shattered, and the brig ' Aurora' was seriously damaged.
Among the merchant ships the havoc was much greater, while
* Lieutenant C. B. Campbell, wlio was in charge of the < Hugh Lindsay' at
the time, received a letter of commendation for his conduct on this trying
occasion from Sir Charles Malcolm, who said, " Your personal conduct was
such as to merit the greatest praise both for courage and coolness."