APPENDIX to the CHRONICLE. 



55): 



under Admiral Linois in the Indi- 

 an Seas, in a Letter addressed to 

 the Honuiiruble the Court of Di- 

 rectors of the East India Coin- 

 pan}]. Dated Earl Camden, Au- 

 gust dt/i, 1804*. 



For the information of the Ho- 

 nourable Court, I beg leave to ac- 

 quaint you, that the Earl Camden 

 was dispatched from Canton by the 

 Select Committee the 31st of Janu- 

 ary last ; and the ships noted in the 

 margin + were put under my orders, 

 as senior commander ; also, the 

 RoUa Botany Bay ship, and the 

 country ships, as per margin t, 

 were put under my charge, to con- 

 voy as far as our coxrses lay in the 

 same direction. I was also ordered 

 to take under my protection a Por- 

 tuguese Europe ship, that was lying 

 in Macao Roads, whose Supercargo 

 had solicited it from the Select Com- 

 mittee. 



Our passage down the river was 

 tedious, and the fleet much dis- 

 persed ; the ships being under the 

 directions of their several Chinese 

 pilots, I could not keep them col- 

 lected as I wished. 



The Ganges, a fast-sailing brig, 

 was put undei my orders by the 

 Select Committee, to employ in any 

 manner that might tend to the safe- 

 ty or convenience of the fleet, till 

 we had passed the Straits of Ma- 

 lacca. I was then to dispatch her 

 to Bengal. 



We passed Macao Roads on the 

 night of the 5th of February, and I 

 conceive the RoUa had anchored so 

 near Macoa, as not tq see the fleet 



and 



escaped, but not before they had 

 run the gauntlet of all the ships and 

 cutters, and were very closely en- 

 gaged for a considerable time by 

 the Merlin. Favourite, Locust gun- 

 brig, and Hope cutter; and on this 

 occasion I feel particularly indebted 

 to the exertions of captains Brenton 

 and Foot, and lieutenants Lake and 

 Dobbins, whose vessels were very 

 often, during the action, in very 

 shoal water, with a falling tide ; in- 

 deed nothing but the bad sailing 

 of the Merlin prevented captain 

 Brenton from cutting off the stern- 

 most brig. The Locust lost her 

 main-topmast, but I have not heard 

 of any other loss. The conduct of 

 the captains Sykes, James, Paul, 

 and Beauchamp, commanding the 

 bombs on both these occasion, was 

 highly meritorious ; and although 

 their ships were frequently struck, 

 it gives me great pleasure to add that 

 no lives have been lost. What damage 

 may be done to the enemy by near 

 500 shells and carcasses thrown into 

 the town and bason last evening 

 and this morning, it is impossible to 

 calculate ; but I may without vanity 

 say, that, if the exertions of the 

 enemy's flotilla be not much greater 

 on our shore than on their own, we 

 have little to dread from them. I 

 cannot conclude without expressing 

 my obligations to every officer and 

 man employed in this squadron. 



1 am, &c. R. D. Oliver. 



Commodore Dancers Accoimt of his 

 difcating the French Squadron 



* For an account of the honours and rewards bestowed upon sir N. Dance, 

 the officers and men of his fleet, vide Chronicle, page 409. 



t Warley, Alfred, Royal Geors^e, Courts, Wexford, Ganges, Exeter, Earl of 

 Abergavenny, Henry Addington, Bombay Castle, Cumberland, Hope, Dorsetshire, 

 Warren Hastings, Ocean. 



t Lord Castlereagh, Carron, David Scott, Minerva, Ardaiier, Charlotte, Friend- 

 ship, Shaw, Kissaroo, Jahaungeer, Gilwell, Neptune. 



Nb.4 got 



