'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎78] (97/622)

78
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY,
the ; Adonis,' from Mauritius. Mr. Christopher immediately left
Male in a native boat on the 7th of Juty, to render assistance,
and, having succeeded in saving the lives of the crew, returned
to Male on the 28th of July. On the 17th of the following
month, Lieutenant Young, who had never quitted his bed, was
forced to leave Male with the men of the 6 Benares,' who had
all also fallen ill, and, a few days after their departure, Mr.
Christopher was seized with fever, and, after struggling against
the malady for some time, was obliged to quit the island on the
9th of September, 1835. One of the surviving officers of the
survey writes to us:—"Young and Christopher volunteered to
remain at Male, or King's Island, the seat of government of the
Sultan, to acquire a knowledge of the people and their language,
and make meteorological observations; this was at the risk of
their lives from the peculiarly sickly influence of the climate on
Europeans, but they braved this in hopes of doing some good
to the people as well as contributing to knowledge and science.
They soon fell ill, in spite of all their care and spirit, and at
last became so much worse that the king, who, with hisjpeople,
revered them for their consistent Christian conduct, had his
own vessel launched from the shore, where she had been hauled
high up and covered in, and having fitted her out, sent them
across to Colombo at great risk of both crew and vessel from
the terrible weather, as he said, i They were sure to die if they
remained, and were good and holy men, and he could not let
them die if it was possible to get them away in time, for God's
judgment would fall on the island.' They both recovered under
the kind care of the Government Missionaries of Colombo, where
their memory was lovingly cherished for years after."
This important survey was not performed without the usual
quota of loss. Mr. Robert Riddell, a young officer of singular
promise and sweetness of disposition, succumbed to the pesti
lential climate of the Maldives soon after his return to Bombay.
Lieutenant Young and Mr. Christopher made good use of the
brief time at their disposal, before sickness prostrated their
energies. They wrote a memoir on the inhabitants, and the
latter compiled a vocabulary of the Maldivan language, which
may be found in Vol. VL of the 44 Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society."
Captain Moresby proceeded again to the Maldives in the latter
part of 1835, and returned to Bombay during the monsoon months
of 1836; again, on the 24th of September, he sailed for the
Maldives, and, on completing the survey, proceeded, in February,
183in the 'Benares,' accompanied by the 'Royal Tiger,'
Lieutenant Powell, to examine the Chagos Archipelago, of
which he made an interesting report. Before the survey was
completed. Captain Moresby was directed to proceed to Madras,