'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎170] (189/622)

170
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
difficulty and danger with vessels of the insufficient horse-power
of some of the Company' ships. On the 22nd of March, 1843,*
Captain R. Cogan,t who had returned to England after a few
months passed at Bombay in the previous year, brought forward
a motion before the Court of Proprietors, censuring Captain
Oliver for his administration of the Service, in appointing " ad
venturers " to the command of ships, mentioning the case of a
Mr. Newman being appointed, as an acting-master, to the com
mand of the ' Zenobia,' in October, 1842, while Lieutenant A.
Nesbitt, an officer of twelve years' standing, who had been
severely wounded in action in the Company's service, "was
sent in charge of the mails on about one half Mr. Newman's
salary."! His motion also censured Captain Oliver, " for arbi
trarily suspending, degrading, and dismissing officers without
court-martial or any inquiry," instancing the dismissal of Com
mander Young from the ' Berenice,' Commander Kempthorne
from the ' Victoria,' and Lieutenant Bird from the ' Cleopatra.'
The motion was opposed, and the oppression denied, by the
Chairman, General Sir James Law Lushington, and by Mr.
Loch, and it was negatived by a large majority.
# In 1843, tlie Grovernor in Council published the following order
" March 6. The following extract of a despatch, No. 70, dated the 30th of
December, 1842, from the Hon. the Court of Directors The London-based directors of the East India Company who dealt with the daily conduct of the Company's affairs. , is published for general
information :—We direct that when an officer, holding the rank of captain or
commander on the effective list of the Indian Navy, shall be employed in any
office or situation on shore to which a staff salary or allowance is attached, he be
allowed to draw, in addition to such staff salary or allowance, the reduced or
shore pay only of his rank ; viz., if a captain, Rs. 400 a month ; if a cominander,
Rs. 300 ; unless the staff salary or allowance may have been fixed under special
and peculiar circumstances on the principal of consolidation, as in the instances of
the present political agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Aden, and the timber agent at Calicut; in such
cases the pay of the officer will merge for the time being in the consolidated
salary of the situation. We further direct, that if a captain or a commander on
the effective list, and not drawing either of the established command allowances,
shall be employed temporarily under orders of Government doing duty on shore,
for the performance of which no staff salary is allotted, he shall, during such tem
porary employment, be paid at the following rate, viz., if a captain, at Rs. 602 a
month ; if a commander, at Rs. 422 ditto."
f Captain Cogan, who was one of the most distinguished officers of the Service,
died on the 26th of November, 1847, aged forty-nine.
J It should be stated, injustice to Mr. Newman, that he had been employed
as an acting-master in the Indian Navy since the year 1837 or 1838, and had
done good service. He commanded the ' Zenobia' at the time of the outbreak oi
cholera already referred to, and in the 4< Conquest of Scinde" will be found a
letter by Sir Charles Napier to his brother, describing him as " a noble fellow.
Whatever the most unceasing kindness and attention could effect, Mr. Newman
did for the poor sufferers, and Sir Charles Napier, Lord Altamont, and other
military officers on board, presented him with a gold snuff-box in testimony o
their admiration and esteem. . ,
It appears that by General Orders, dated the 10th of March, 1843, Lieutenan
Nesbitt, the officer mentioned by Captain Cogan, was gazetted to the temporaiy
command of the ' Victoria' in the place of Lieutenant J. S. Grieve, who procee e
to Europe on sick leave ; and we find that Mr. Newman was transferre o
the command of the Hon. Company's iron steamer ' Indus,' which was e ^P* 0 ^f
between Bombay and Kurrachee, and in 1843 he was given the commando 1
* Hugh Lindsay,' which was henceforth employed on the Madras side.