'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎183] (202/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAYY.
183
may be made of the most efficient to any service where honour
and credit are to be gained."
On the 28th of October, 1845, there was a great conflagration
in Bombay, to assist in extinguishing which, parties were landed
from H.M.'s ships ' Fox' and ' Pilot,' and from the guardship
4 Hastings,' the sloop-of-war 4 Coote,' and the steam frigates
'Semiramis' and 6 Akbar,' who were directed by their officers
and by Commander Lynch, Superintendent, and Commander
Boulderson, his assistant. There was great destruction of
property, one hundred and ninety houses and shops being burnt,
and fifteen lives were lost. All the seamen worked gallantly
and well, but Commander Boulderson and eight sailors of the
Indian Navy greatly distinguished themselves by their gallantry
in removing 4,000 lbs. of powder from the midst of the flames,
when the service appeared to involve instant death. The 6 Bom
bay Courier' wrote as follows of this deed of daring:—" After
some hours of toil, the men expressed a desire to 6 splice the
mainbrace.' This was speedily complied with, and gave them
fresh vigour for after efforts. During the conflagration notice
was given to the police, that in the lower floor of a house, the
upper part of which was on fire, there was a number of barrels
of gunpowder. A party of sailors immediately volunteered the
dangerous task of removing them, and actually removed the
whole quantity while showers of sparks were falling around
them. Had a spark fallen upon one of these barrels, unpro
tected as they were by any wet cloth or covering, the communi
cation would have been instantaneous, and the consequences
fearful to reflect on. The daring displayed by the seamen was
no doubt gratifying to the feelings of the Service to which they
belong. Two officers and a midshipman An experienced sailor, but not a commissioned officer. of the Indian Navy
were severely injured, the former by the falling of a portion of
a building, and the latter by the explosion of some gunpowder;
a seaman, too, of the same Service, was injured to an extent that
endangered his life."
The Government issued a General Order thanking the officers
and seamen engaged in extinguishing this great conflagration,
and rewarded the eight seamen who had risked their lives by a
donation of fifty rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. each. Sir Charles Napier, ever fore
most in recognising deeds of personal gallantry, wrote, on the
12th of November, to Mr. C. C. Rivett, Magistrate of Bombay,
in the following terms of the devotion they had displayed:—
" My dear Rivett,
" No man can read of Mr. Danvers and Captain Boulderson,
with the fine fellows who went with them to save the powder,
without admiration. What noble fellows ! I hope the Govern
ment will publish an account of this gallant deed to all India,
and reward them by making their gallantry known to the world,
if nob in more substantial ways. If Danvers and Boulderson