'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎77] (96/622)

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HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
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Young, C.B.) ; Messrs. C. D. Campbell, W. C. Barker, A.
Macdonald, R. Mackenzie, W. Christopher, Michael W. L,ynch
(who died during the Mesopotamian survey), and Felix
Jones.* The last officer drew the original charts, and their
execution was so beautiful that they were inspected by the
Queen.
The ' Benares' arrived at Male, or King's Island, situated
about the centre of the Maldive group, on the 15th of November,
1834, and her appearance at first occasioned much trepidation, as
it was believed that she had come to reinstate Sultan Hamed,
who had been driven from the throne on account of his tyrannical
conduct and forced to seek shelter at Cochin. After some delay,
Commander Moresby commenced the survey without the per
mission of the Ministers of the young Rajah, but, eventually,
when the ex-Sultan was recalled to his nephew's councils, he
obtained the necessary sanction. The officers and men of the
'Benares' suffered greatly from illness, only Lieutenant Young,
Messrs. Christopher and Campbell, being fit for duty, and they
attributed their immunity to the fact of their being abstainers.
Accordingly, in February, 1835, the ' Benares,' leaving the
' Royal Tiger' behind, proceeded to Cochin for an entirely fresh
crew. While at this port. Lieutenant Robinson, assisted by
Acting-Lieutenant Campbell, made a survey of the harbour of
Cochin, and the chart was published by Government. On the
return of the ' Benares' to the Maldives, the new crew soon
became inefficient through illness, and, on the 8th of June,
1835, the ship quitted the islands for Bombay.
When her return was decided upon. Lieutenant J. A. Young
and Mr. W. Christopher, with great devotion, volunteered to re
main at Male, the seat of the Sultan's Government, with a view
to learn the language and acquire information regarding the laws
and customs of the natives. Having received the permission
of the Bombay Government, these two officers, accompanied by
a few men, landed on the 4th of June, 1835, and took up their
residence in the building assigned to them. They kept a journal
of their proceedings, from which, on their return to India, a
Memoir was compiled, which may be found in Vol. I. of the
" Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society " (pp. 54
—108). After a stay of only three weeks. Lieutenant Young
was seized with fever, which incapacitated him for further
exertion. At this time news arrived of the shipwreck, on one
of the islands of the Collomandon group, of an English vessel,
# Of the above officers Captains Robinson, Campbell, J ones, and Barker, and
Lieutenant Mackenzie, still survive; Lieutenant Winn, second of the ' Benares,'
during the Red Sea Survey, and Captains Cruttenden and Rennie, who par
ticipated in that survey, are also still to the fore. Of the preceding, Captain
Campbell alone had served in the surveys of the Persian Grulf, Red Sea, and
Maldive Islands, he having been continuously employed in the 4 Benares' on this
duty between 1828 and 1835.