636 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



Icr. After the embarkation, some 

 of the boats having to pass through 

 London-bridge, it nas ten o'clock 

 before they all readied the place of 

 rendezvous o(f the Tower. Pre- 

 cisely at a quarter before 9 o'clock, 

 the carl of Harrington arrived at 

 the Mansion-house, accompanied by 

 lady Harrington, lo; d i-^ctoi shan), and 

 lady Anne Maria Stanhope, and his 

 stad". About (he same time arrived 

 the sheriffs of London. The whole 

 party immediately set off to thcTow- 

 er-stairs,inorderorproccsMOiiasthcy 

 arrivcil, preceded by the lord may- 

 or's carriage and six horses, in 

 which were his family. Having 

 readied the water-side, the earl of 

 Harrington and tiie lord mayor 

 alighted, and repaired to the gover- 

 nor's of the Tower, where they met 

 his royal highness the duke of Vork, 

 and his four aides-de-camp, Mitli 

 whom the)' returned, and embarked 

 immediately, together with the rest 

 of tlieir party, under a royal salute 

 from the 'J'ower, and proceeded 

 without further delay, accompanied 

 by the committee's barge for the 

 day, and the lord Nelson barge, in 

 which were several persons of dis- 

 tincHion. As this part of the flo- 

 tilla movx'd along, Tiiey were pre- 

 ceded and followed by some hun- 

 dreds of boats, many of which were 

 elegantly decorated. An equal num- 

 ber still remained with the river 

 fencible boats, contai'iiug the volun- 

 teer regiments, which was attended 

 with a ha])py ellee^ ; for, liad the 

 whole of the flotilla moved off to- 

 gether, the attraction would have 

 been confined to one spot, and the 

 river would have been blocked up 

 from the immense number of boats. 

 'J'he shores on each s'de of the river 

 were crowded with people. The 

 tops of the houses were covered: 



nor was there a spot in the whole 

 distance to Greenwich unoccupied. 

 The ships in the river vied with each 

 other on the occasion, in their fanci« 

 fid decorations. All the way as the 

 flotilla passed, it was saluted with 

 incessant discharges from temporary 

 batteries on shore, and the ships in 

 the river. The whole of the busi- 

 ness on the ri\er was conducted with 

 the greatest regularity. Four river 

 fcMcible boats preceded the barges, 

 to keep a clear stage, and each boat 

 mounted an 18lb. carronade, and 

 was we!l manned. On the lord 

 mayor's barge arriving opposite th« 

 Tiiames police office, the volunteers 

 bilonging to that establishment were 

 d.awu out in boats and saluted it. 

 The same attention was paid by the 

 volunteers at the West India docks, 

 who appeared on the banks in mili- 

 tary array, and fired three vollies 

 with great precision. At Deptford 

 the militia of the Tower Hantlets 

 saluted. The several divisions of 

 boats did not proceed from the 

 Tower until near half an hour after 

 the lord mayor's barge. Each di- 

 vision was commai\ded by an officer 

 of tiie river fcncibles; and space of 

 about 150 yards was allowed be- 

 tween each division. The first divi- 

 sion, which comprised the 1st regi- 

 ment, was contained in 9 boats. 

 Tlie second regiment occupied 12 

 boats; th(; 4th 11, and the rest 

 about the same proportion. The 

 bands of each regiment played all 

 t!ie way, and produced a most 

 charming efiect upon the water. 

 The same good order which had hi- 

 therto prevailed, existed at the dis. 

 embarkation at Greenwich. The 

 company in the lord mayor's barge 

 landed at the centre stairs, and were 

 all hospitably received at the gover- 

 nor's bouse until it was time to re- 

 pair 



