It Remained, However, For The Latter Officer To
Complete The Work.
Some idea may be formed of the perils these officers
and men went through, when we state the 'Benares' was forty-two times
aground.
"Robert Moresby, the genius of the Red Sea, conducted also the survey of
the Maldive Islands and groups known as the Chagos Archipelago. He
narrowly escaped being a victim to the deleterious climate of his station,
and only left it when no longer capable of working. A host of young and
ardent officers,--Christopher, Young, Powell, Campbell, Jones, Barker, and
others,--ably seconded him: death was busy amongst them for months and so
paralyzed by disease were the living, that the anchors could scarcely be
raised for a retreat to the coast of India. Renovated by a three months'
stay, occasionally in port, where they were strengthened by additional
numbers, the undaunted remnants from time to time returned to their task;
and in 1837, gave to the world a knowledge of those singular groups which
heretofore--though within 150 miles of our coasts--had been a mystery
hidden within the dangers that environed them. The beautiful maps of the
Red Sea, drafted by the late Commodore Carless [2], then a lieutenant,
will ever remain permanent monuments of Indian Naval Science, and the
daring of its officers and men. Those of the Maldive and Chagos groups,
executed by Commander then Acting Lieutenant Felix Jones, were, we hear,
of such a high order, that they were deemed worthy of special inspection
by the Queen."
"While these enlightening operations were in progress, there were others
of this profession, no less distinguished, employed on similar
discoveries. The coast of Mekran westward from Scinde, was little known,
but it soon found a place in the hydrographical offices of India, under
Captain, then Lieutenant, Stafford Haines, and his staff, who were engaged
on it. The journey to the Oxus, made by Lieut. Wood, Sir. A. Burnes's
companion in his Lahore and Afghan missions, is a page of history which
may not be opened to us again in our own times; while in Lieut. Carless's
drafts of the channels of the Indus, we trace those designs, that the
sword of Sir Charles Napier only was destined to reveal."
"The ten years prior to that of 1839 were those of fitful repose, such as
generally precedes some great outbreak. The repose afforded ample leisure
for research, and the shores of the island of Socotra, with the south
coast of Arabia, were carefully delineated. Besides the excellent maps of
these regions, we are indebted to the survey for that unique work on Oman,
by the late Lieut. Wellsted of this service, and for valuable notices from
the pen of Lieut. Cruttenden. [3]
"Besides the works we have enumerated, there were others of the same
nature, but on a smaller scale, in operation at the same period around our
own coasts. The Gulf of Cambay, and the dangerous sands known as the
Molucca Banks, were explored and faithfully mapped by Captain Richard
Ethersey, assisted by Lieutenant (now Commander) Fell.
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