Captain Corcorans Hoyden Bride Burrows Annie

download

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-corcorans-hoyden-bride-
burrows-annie-3222632

Explore and download more ebooks at ebookbell.com

Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be
interested in. You can click the link to download.

Captain Corcorans Hoyden Bridehis Cinderella Bridemy Lady In Annie

Burrows

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-corcorans-hoyden-bridehis-
cinderella-bridemy-lady-in-annie-burrows-49100006

Captain Corcorans Hoyden Bride Annie Burrows

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-corcorans-hoyden-bride-annie-
burrows-2892764

Captain Pug Laura James

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-pug-laura-james-45860638

Captain From Castile Samuel Shellabarger

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-from-castile-samuel-
shellabarger-46106004
Captains Call Of Duty Cindy Dees

https://ebookbell.com/product/captains-call-of-duty-cindy-
dees-46175378

Captain Code Unleash Your Coding Superpower With Python Ben Forta

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-code-unleash-your-coding-
superpower-with-python-ben-forta-46419498

Captain Underpants And The Revolting Revenge Of The Radioactive

Roboboxers Dav Pilkey

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-underpants-and-the-revolting-
revenge-of-the-radioactive-roboboxers-dav-pilkey-46600594

Captain Underpants And The Preposterous Plight Of The Purple Potty

People Dav Pilkey

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-underpants-and-the-preposterous-
plight-of-the-purple-potty-people-dav-pilkey-46600738

Captain Underpants And The Terrifying Return Of Tippy Tinkletrousers

Dav Pilkey

https://ebookbell.com/product/captain-underpants-and-the-terrifying-
return-of-tippy-tinkletrousers-dav-pilkey-46600782
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
 Six corporals under Captain Robinson, R.E., with Lieutenant
Pipon, were attached, under orders from Lord Aberdeen, to the
commission of which Lieutenant-Colonel Estcourt was the chief,
for tracing the boundary line between the British dominions in
North America and the United States, as settled by the
Ashburton treaty. Dressed in plain clothes, they embarked at
Liverpool on the 19th April, and arriving at Halifax on the 2nd
May, proceeded by Boston and New York to the Kennebec road
and entered the woods late in the month. In May, 1844, the
party was increased to twenty men by the arrival of fourteen
non-commissioned officers and privates from the English survey
companies. The co-operation of this party was urged as of
paramount importance. It enabled the work, so says the official
communication, to be carried on over a large portion of country
at once with energy and rapidity, and in such a manner as to
insure a more vigorous and correct execution of it than if the
Commissioners were left to depend on the assistance to be met
with on the spot; and which, although greatly inferior in quality,
would have entailed more expense on the public than the
employment of the military surveyors. Each sapper was selected
as being competent to work by himself, and to survey and run
lines of levels, besides keeping in constant employment a staff of
labourers.
Sergeant-major James Forbes retired from the corps on the
11th of April on a pension of 2s. 2d. a-day. He was succeeded by
colour-sergeant George Allan,[429] an excellent drill non-
commissioned officer, who was appointed to the staff at
Chatham, vicê sergeant-major Jenkin Jones, removed to the staff
at Woolwich.
The merits of sergeant-major Forbes have been frequently
alluded to in these pages, but there still remain some other
points in his history to be noticed. To the royal military college at
Sandhurst, he presented several models made by himself on
military subjects. About two years before his retirement he
invented the equilateral pontoon, a vessel of a very ingenious
character. Its sides consist of “portions of cylinders, supposed to
be applied to three sides of an equilateral triangular prism, each
side of the triangle being two feet eight inches long; so that the
cylindrical portions meet in three edges parallel to the axis of the
pontoon. The sagitta, or versed sine of the curvature being
about one-fifth of the side of the triangle, it follows that each
side of the pontoon forms, in a transverse section, an arc of
nearly 90°. Each end of the pontoon consists of three curved
surfaces, corresponding to the sides of the vessel, and meeting
in a point, as if formed on the sides of a triangular pyramid.”[430]
“The form,” says Sir Howard Douglas, “appears to be well
adapted for the purposes of a good pontoon; as whichever side
is uppermost it presents a boatlike section to the water, and a
broad deck for the superstructure. It possesses, also, the
advantage of a horizontal section gradually enlarging to the
highest point of displacement, by which means stability and
steadiness in the water are obtained in a high degree. The area
of a transverse section of this pontoon is greater than that of the
present cylindrical pontoon; and the greater capacity produces
more than a compensation, in buoyancy, to the small excess of
weight above that of a cylindrical pontoon.”[431] A raft of this form
of pontoon was prepared under the eye of the sergeant-major
and sent to Chatham for trial, but although it gained much
favour for its decided excellences, it was finally set aside on
account of “some inconvenience in the management causing a
preference to be given to those of a simple cylindrical form”[432]—
the construction, in fact, established for the service. He was
however awarded by the Board of Ordnance, in consideration of
his trouble and as a tribute to his skill, the sum of one hundred
guineas.
On leaving the royal sappers and miners, he was appointed
surveyor to a district of the Trent and Mersey canal, at a salary
of 215l. a year, with a fine residence and five acres of land
attached. He was also allowed forage for two horses, and all his
taxes and travelling expenses were paid. Some two years
afterwards his salary was increased to 280l. a year, and in 1846,
so highly appreciated were his services, that the Directors of the
company proposed him to fill the office of engineer to the canal.
His integrity however was such, that he would not be tempted
by the great increase of salary the promotion promised, and
declined it, from a modest feeling that he might not be able to
do justice to so important and onerous a charge. Quickly upon
this, he received the thanks of the Directors, accompanied by a
special donation of 100l. Determining upon other arrangements
for the execution of their works, the company disbanded its
establishment of workmen and superintendents, retaining only
the engineer and Mr. Forbes; and such was his character for
alacrity, resolution, and discrimination, that the Directors
appointed him to superintend all the works undertaken for the
company, both on the canal and the North Staffordshire Railway,
which was now incorporated with the Trent and Mersey Canal
proprietary. This alteration in the company’s affairs, caused his
removal from Middlewich to a commodious residence in Etruria,
in Staffordshire, where his energy and influence in the parish
soon gained him the post of churchwarden, and the honour of
being invited to a public breakfast, at which, while the Bishop of
Lichfield held the chair, he had the distinction of filling the vice-
chair. Latterly he has appeared before the public as a writer. His
pamphlet on the National Defences, proposing a locomotive
artillery, addressed to Lord John Russell, was perused by that
nobleman and received the attention of Sir John Burgoyne.
Frequently he has written in the public journals on pontoons. He
has also published a pamphlet on the subject, and another
relative to a pontoon-boat, which he has invented.[433] The latter
is of great interest and may yet receive the attention its
ingenious suggestions deserve. On the 6th of May, 1853, he was
elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers, for
which honour he was proposed by the great Robert Stephenson
and Mr. S. P. Bidder, the two leading civil engineers of this
country. Within the last year, he has been advanced to the post
of engineer to the company, and he enjoys the perfect
satisfaction and confidence of his employers. His salary and
emoluments exceed 400l. a year.
 The operations against the wreck of the ‘Royal George’ were
resumed, for the fifth time, early in May, with a detachment of
fifteen royal sappers and miners, eight East India Company’s
sappers, and about eighty seamen, riggers, &c., under the
direction of Major-General Pasley, with Lieutenant G. R.
Hutchinson as the executive officer. At the end of 1842, almost
all the floor timbers had been got up and 101 feet of the keel,
leaving only about 50 feet more at the bottom; and out of 126
tons of pig-iron ballast, 103 tons had been safely wharfed. There
was therefore confident reason to expect the entire removal of
the wreck before the close of the season; and such indeed was
the success of the enterprise, that Major-General Pasley, on
quitting the work in November, declared that the anchorage
ground, where the wreck had lain, was as safe and fit for the use
of ships as any other part of Spithead. At first four divers went
down regularly, and afterwards five or six were at work at every
slack tide, generally three times a day.
After a few weeks of unsuccessful effort, the firing of three
charges each of 675 lbs. of powder in puncheons, removed a
bank of shingle which chiefly interfered with the divers' success.
These charges were fixed by corporals Harris and Jones, and
private Girvan. In one week afterwards, the divers effected as
much as in the five weeks previously, for not only were the keel
and bottom planking somewhat bared, but a great deal of the
remaining iron ballast was rendered accessible. Six other
charges, of 720 lbs. of powder each, and numerous smaller
charges, were subsequently fired, with results that gave ample
employment for all the divers and the detachment on board.
One or two failures occurred which arose from want of
experience in firing conjunct charges at Spithead; but in other
respects, the operation, which was exceedingly difficult, was
conducted with skill and success, owing to the able
arrangements of Lieutenant Hutchinson, assisted by the leading
riggers, and by lance-corporal Rae and private Alexander
Cleghorn, who had the preparation of the charges and the
voltaic batteries. The divers, too, did everything necessary at the
bottom, and were well seconded in every department by the
sappers and others employed. “In short,” adds the narrative,[434]
“this operation, including the separation of the two mooring
lighters before the explosion and bringing them together
afterwards,” could not, in consequence of the severe weather,
have possibly succeeded, “if all the men had not, from long
experience, known their respective duties well and entered into
them with laudable zeal.”
“On the 9th of July private John Girvan slung the largest and
most remarkable piece of the wreck that had been met with this
season, consisting of the fore foot and part of the stem,
connected by two very large horse-shoe copper clamps bolted
together; the boxing by which it had been connected with the
fore part of the keel was perfect, from which joint six feet of the
gripe had extended horizontally, and terminated in the curve of
the stem, which was sheathed with lead.—The length of this
fragment was sixteen feet, measured obliquely, and its extreme
width five feet.”[435] At another time he recovered an enormous
fish-hook, no less than eight feet nine inches in length from the
eye to the bow!
By corporal Jones, on the 17th following, was slung a large
iron bolt, ten feet long; which, on being brought on deck, was
observed by him to exhibit marks of having been in contact with
brass. He therefore rightly conjectured there must be a brass
gun at the spot, and descending again recovered a brass 24-
pounder, nine and a half feet long, of the year 1748.[436]
“On the 31st of July, private Girvan discovered a gun buried
under the mud, but it was not till the 3rd of August that he
succeeded in slinging it, assisted by corporal Jones, with whom
he generally worked in concert this season;”[437] and shortly after,
the latter diver recovered the last remnant of the keel,
measuring nearly twenty-two feet in length, corporal Harris
having previously sent up portions of it in the early part of the
summer amounting in length to thirty-six feet,[438] and private
Girvan, six feet.
 The only money got up this season was a guinea of 1775,
found on a plank sent up by Jones.
Increased exertions were now made to recover the guns,
which were embedded some depth in the mud, and the divers
cleared the way by sending up everything they could meet with,
until nothing but insignificant fragments could be found. To
assist them, two frigate anchors and the half anchor creepers
with some auxiliary instruments, drawn backwards and forwards
as well as transversely over the site of the wreck, were made to
do effectual work. The East India Company’s sappers had been
removed before these labours began;[439] the whole of the
subsequent diving, therefore, was exclusively carried on by the
royal sappers and miners,[440] and to their vigilance of
observation and unceasing zeal, was attributed the recovery of
thirteen guns late in the season. Of these, corporal Harris got up
three iron and six brass guns, corporal Jones three brass, and
private Girvan one iron.
Here it should be explained “how much more successful than
his comrades corporal Harris was towards the close of the
season, in recovering guns, though the other divers, corporal
Jones and privates Girvan and Trevail, had been equally
successful in all the previous operations. Corporal Harris fell in
with a nest of guns, and it was a rule agreed upon, that each
first-class diver should have his own district at the bottom, with
which the others were not to interfere.”[441]
Jones, though satisfied with the arrangement as a general
rule, was a little disposed to feel aggrieved when, by contrast,
the odds were against him. He was curious to know by what
means Harris turned up the guns with such teasing rapidity, and
going down with the secret intention of making the discovery,
tumbled over a gun with its muzzle sticking out of the mud. This
piece of ordnance legitimately belonged to Harris, for it was in
his beat; but, as Jones enthusiastically expressed it, seeming to
invite the favour of instant removal, he could not resist the
temptation to have its recovery registered to his credit. He
therefore securely slung it, and rubbing his hands with delight at
the richness of the trick, gave the signal to haul up. Harris,
suspecting that his territory had been invaded, dashed down the
ladder and just reached the spot in time to feel the breech of the
gun slipping through his fingers. Jones, meanwhile, pushed on
deck, and was pleased to see that the plundered relic was a 12-
pounder brass gun of the year 1739. Jones a second time
applied to the district over which Harris walked with so much
success, and filched from the nest a brass 12-pounder gun—the
last one recovered this season.
After the removal of the ‘Royal George’ had been effected, but
while the search for the guns was going on, Major-General
Pasley detached to the wreck of the ‘Edgar,’[442] the ‘Drake’
lighter, with thirteen petty officers and seamen of Her Majesty’s
ship ‘Excellent,’ to learn the art of diving. Corporal Jones was
attached to the party to instruct them. Violent gales prevailed at
this period, “which repeatedly drove the ‘Drake’ from her
moorings, not without damage, and at other times caused her to
drift in such a manner that guns, discovered by a diver late in a
slack, could not be found when the weather permitted his
subsequent descent.” Hence only five iron guns of this wreck
were got up during the season, with a piece of the keel and a
floor timber. These were all recovered by corporal Jones, who
had also been engaged one tide in finding an anchor that had
been lost.[443] So anxious was he to add to the magnitude of his
acquisition, that on one occasion he remained below as long as
four hours, but his exertions were unattended with the hoped-for
return.
An interesting fact with respect to the power of water to
convey sound was ascertained on the 6th October. A small
waterproof bursting charge containing 18 lbs. of gunpowder was
fired at the bottom. Corporal Jones who happened at the time to
be working at the ‘Edgar’—nearly half-a-mile distant—hearing a
loud report like the explosion of a cannon, imagined that a large
charge had been fired over the ‘Royal George.’ To those on deck
immediately over the place, the report was scarcely perceptible.
 Private Girvan relieved corporal Jones at the ‘Edgar’ on the
16th October, and got up the breech part of an iron 32-pounder,
which had been cut in two a little in front of the trunnions.[444]
The only mishap this summer occurred to private Girvan. Just
as he appeared above the water the explosion of a charge took
place, from which he sustained a slight shock and a wrench in
the back producing a sensation of pain. Though eager to go
down again his wish was overruled, and he remained on board
for the day. Sergeant Lindsay fired the charge, and the accident
was attributed to a nervous slip of his hand when ready to apply
the wires to the battery.
On the 4th November the divers descended for the last time,
as the water had become so cold that their hands—the only part
exposed—were completely benumbed, so that they could no
longer work to advantage; and then, the operations ceasing from
necessity, the detachment of the corps rejoined their companies
at Woolwich.
Major-General Pasley in according his praises to the various
individuals and parties employed at Spithead, spoke highly of
sergeant George Lindsay in subordinate charge, and the whole
detachment; but more particularly of the intelligent and
enterprising men to whom the important task of preparing all the
charges fired by the voltaic battery was confided. The charges
were numerous and of various quantities, amounting in all to
19,193 lbs. of powder, or nearly 214 barrels. The soldiers alluded
to were lance-corporal John Rae and private Alexander Cleghorn
who were promoted for their services. The still more arduous
duty of diving gave the General every satisfaction. Frequently the
duty was embarrassing and dangerous, and carried on under
circumstances calculated to test most severely their courage and
resources; and so indefatigable were their exertions, and so
successful their services, that the military divers gained the
character of being “second to none in the world.”[445] Most of the
party this season attempted to dive, but, from the oppression
felt under water by some, only two or three beyond the regular
divers could persevere in the duty.
 Upon the report made by Major-General Pasley of the conduct
of the detachment engaged in the operations, Sir George Murray,
the Master-General, was pleased thus to remark: “It has given
me no less pleasure to be made acquainted with the very
commendable conduct of the non-commissioned officers and
privates of the sappers and miners who have been employed
under Major-General Pasley, and have rendered so much useful
service in the important undertaking conducted under his
management.”
From June to September about eight men under Lieutenant
Gosset, R.E., assisted in the undertaking for determining the
longitude of Valentia by the transmission of chronometers. Thirty
chronometers were conveyed in every transmission; and to
privates Robert Penton and John M‘Fadden was entrusted the
service of bearing the chronometers, and winding them up at
stated times and places. On receiving the chronometers from
Liverpool the reciprocations took place repeatedly between
Kingston and Valentia Island; one private being responsible for
their safe transit a portion of the route, and the other for the
remaining distance to and from the station at Feagh Main.
Professor Sheepshanks and Lieutenant Gosset carried out the
scientific purposes of the service, while the sappers not engaged
with the chronometers attended to the duties of the camp and
observatory at Feagh Main, under the subordinate
superintendence of corporal B. Keen Spencer. The professor
instructed this non-commissioned officer in the mode of taking
observations with the transit instrument; and further, in
testimony of his satisfaction, gave generous gratuities to privates
Penton and M‘Fadden. Professor Airy, in speaking of the former,
alludes to the perfect reliance he placed on his care, “and in
winding the chronometers,” adds, “he has no doubt the service
was most correctly performed.”[446] The duty was one in which
extreme caution and care were required, to prevent accident or
derangement to the instruments.
Agitation for a repeal of the union, headed by O’Connell, was
now the great excitement of Ireland, and a rising of the masses
to enforce it was daily expected. With the reinforcement of
troops sent there to preserve order was the first company of
sappers, which was despatched by rapid conveyances, viâ
Liverpool to Dublin, where it arrived on the 26th July. The
company consisted of ninety men of all ranks, and their duties
embraced repairs to the barracks and the planting of stockades
in the rear of the castle, to prevent the ingress, in case of revolt,
of the rebels.[447] They also prepared several thousands of sand-
bags for breastworks. Detachments of one sergeant and twenty
rank and file were sent to Limerick and Athlone in November,
where they strengthened the barracks and loopholed the outside
walls for musketry. The store-rooms of the artillery barracks
were also loopholed. Effectually, however, was the anticipated
outbreak suppressed, and, under the authority of Sir James
Graham, the Home Secretary, the company was recalled to
England and arrived at Woolwich on the 22nd August, 1844.
The yellow fever broke out at Bermuda in August, and
continued with unabated virulence and fatality until the middle of
September. In that brief period, out of a strength of 165 men, it
carried off no less than thirty-three men of the eighth company
and four men of the fourth, besides Captain Robert Fenwick,
R.E., in command of the latter, and Lieutenant James Jenkin, the
Adjutant.[448] The two companies were distributed to St. George’s
and Ireland Island; at the former, where the fever chiefly raged,
was the eighth company, about ninety strong, and at the latter
the fourth. Eighty-eight men had been seized with the malady, of
whom twenty-four were admitted with relapses, and four had
suffered three seizures, none of whom died. Dr. Hunter, a civil
physician, attended the cases in the absence of a military
medical officer. With the civil population his practice was
remarkably successful; for out of 101 natives who took the fever
only one died. He therefore concluded that the artillery, who lost
nine men, and the sappers thirty-seven, fell easy victims to the
epidemic from their intemperate habits. No comparison,
however, was justifiable between coloured people, upon whom
the fever had but little effect, and Europeans; but an analysis of
the cases, as far as the sappers were concerned, confirmed the
doctor’s views to the extent of sixteen men. The remainder,
twenty-one, were men of sobriety and general good conduct.
Lance-corporal Frederick Hibling being the only non-
commissioned officer not attacked, performed the whole duties
of the eighth company, and for his exertions and exemplary
conduct was promoted to the rank of second-corporal. Seven
widows and twenty-two orphans were left destitute by this
calamity, among whom a subscription (quickly made through the
corps, assisted by many officers of royal engineers, nearly
amounting to 200l.) was distributed, in proportion to their
necessities—one woman with six children receiving as much as
33l. The lowest gift was 14l. to a widow without children. A
monument of chaste and beautiful design, consisting of a fluted
column surmounted by an exploded bomb, resting on a neat and
finely proportioned pedestal, was erected in the military burial-
ground at St. George’s, in mournful commemoration of the
victims. On three panels of the pedestal were inscribed their
names, and on the fourth was sculptured the royal arms and
supporters. The work was executed by the surviving
stonemasons of the company, and the royal arms were cut by
private Walter Aitchison.
On the 26th August, in the evening, the ‘Missouri,’ United
States' steamer, Captain Newton, took fire in the bay of Gibraltar,
and a detachment of the corps at the Rock was sent out by Sir
Robert Wilson, the Governor, in charge of two engines under
Captain A. Gordon, R.E., to assist in extinguishing the flames;
but all their diligence and intrepidity were unavailing, for the
vessel was soon afterwards burnt to the water’s edge. During
the service the men were in much danger from falling masts and
spars, and from the explosion of a powder-magazine on board.
The Governor, in orders, thanked Captain Gordon and other
officers of royal engineers, and the non-commissioned officers
and privates of royal sappers and miners, for the creditable and
useful zeal displayed by them on the occasion; and added, “that
the marines, military, and boatmen of Gibraltar have the
consoling reflection that nothing was left undone to save the
vessel, and that the gallant crew was preserved by their united
labour and devotedness.” To each sapper employed at the fire
was issued a pint of wine by his Excellency’s order.
One sergeant and thirty-three rank and file under Lieutenant T.
B. Collinson, R.E., sailed for China in the ‘Mount Stuart
Elphinstone,’ and landed at Hong Kong the 7th October. A party
of variable strength had been stationed there, employed
superintending the Chinese artificers in carrying on the public
works until July, 1854, when the sappers were recalled to
England. Some of their first services embraced the construction
of roads and sewers, the erection of barracks for the troops and
quarters for the officers, with various military conveniences, such
as stores, guard-houses, &c. A residence was also built for the
General in command, and a sea-wall of granite to the
cantonment on the north shore of the island. They also directed
the Chinese in cutting away a mountain to a plateau, of about
eight acres, for a parade-ground, much of which was granite;
and the several explosions rendered necessary to dislodge the
mass were fired solely by sergeant Joseph Blaik. A company of
Madras sappers also assisted in the superintendence of the
coolies, who sometimes exceeded a thousand in number. The
working pay of the royal sappers and miners was 1s. 6d. a-day
each until the removal of the East India Company’s
establishment, when the allowance was reduced to the ordinary
payment of 1s. each. Before the party was quartered in barracks
it was housed for a time in a bamboo hut and afterwards in a
bungalow. The smiths and plumbers were invariably employed at
their trades, as the Chinese were very incompetent in these
branches of handicraft.[449]
On the 9th October his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke
Michael of Russia inspected the troops at Woolwich, on the
common. The royal sappers and miners at the station were also
drawn up with them, and marched past. Next day the Grand
Duke, accompanied by Lord Bloomfield, visited the sappers'
barracks, walked through the rooms, examined the carbine of
the corps, and then looked over, with every mark of attention,
the small museum of the non-commissioned officers attached to
the library. On leaving, he expressed his gratification at what he
saw, and of the efforts made by the soldiers to improve
themselves.
Royal Sappers & Miners. Plate XV.

UNIFORM 1843. Printed by M & N Hanhart.

 The percussion carbine and sword-bayonet, were generally
adopted in the corps this year, superseding the flint-lock musket
and bayonet.[450] The length of the musket with bayonet fixed
was six feet two inches, but the carbine with sword was
constructed an inch shorter. The carbine itself was nine inches
and a-half shorter than the musket, but to make up for this
reduction, and to enable a soldier to take his place in a charge,
the sword-bayonet measured ten inches longer than the rapier-
bayonet.[451]
The shoulder-belt for the bayonet for all ranks was at this time
abolished, and a waist-belt two inches broad, with cap-bag and
sliding frog, substituted. This new accoutrement is the same as
the present one; and the breast-plate then, as now, bore the
royal arms without supporters, within a union wreath, based by
the word “Ubique,” and surmounted by a crown. The sword-
bayonet was this year worn vertically for the first time, instead of
obliquely as formerly.
The pouch-belt was not altered, but the pouch, the same as at
present worn, reduced in dimensions, was made to contain thirty
instead of sixty rounds of ball ammunition. The brush and pricker
were now abolished.
The sergeants' swords were also withdrawn, and their arms
and appointments made to correspond with the rank and file,
the only difference being the addition of ornaments on the
pouch-belt, which, with the waist-plate, were washed with gilt.
The ornaments comprised a grenade bearing on the swell of the
bomb the royal arms and supporters; detached from this,
underneath, was a scroll inscribed “Royal Sappers and Miners,”
to which a ring was affixed sustaining a chain united to a
whistle, resembling an old round watch tower; the whistle itself
forming the battlemented crown, inscribed with the motto
“Ubique.”[452] These ornaments, the suggestion of Major—now
Colonel—Sandham, are still worn by the sergeants.
 The buglers' short sword with three guards was replaced this
year by one after the pattern of the Ceylon rifles' band. The hilt
formed an ornamental Maltese cross with fleury terminations,
and on the flat between the horizontal limbs, above the blade,
was an exploded grenade. The blade was straight, two feet ten
inches long, and the mounting on the scabbard was chased and
embellished. The weapon is still worn by the buglers, and is
altogether neat, pretty, and convenient.—See Plate XVII., 1854.
 1844.

Remeasurement of La Caille’s arc at the Cape—Reconnoitring excursion of

sergeant Hemming—Falkland Islands—Draft to Bermuda—Inspection at
Gibraltar by General Sir Robert Wilson—Final operations against the ‘Royal
George’—and the ‘Edgar’—Discovery of the amidships—incident connected
with it—Combats with crustacea—Success of corporal Jones—Injury to a
diver—Private Skelton drowned—Conduct of the detachment employed in
the work—Submarine repairs to the ‘Tay’ steamer at Bermuda by corporal
Harris—Widening and deepening the ship channel at St. George’s—
Intrepidity of corporal Harris—Accidents from mining experiments at
Chatham—Notice of corporal John Wood—Inspection at Hong-Kong by
Major-General D’Aguilar.

The detachment set apart to measure the base line on

Zwartland Plain at the Cape commenced the second season in
September, 1841. It opened under a somewhat different
arrangement with respect to the issue of provisions. Captain
Henderson managed it in 1840, Mr. Maclear in 1841, and
sergeant Hemming was appointed to act as his quartermaster-
sergeant. Captain Henderson left the work in December and
returned to England.
As soon as the base was measured, the triangulation began,
and was carried on, with the exception of the winter interval,
until January, 1842. Then the work was completed to the north
extremity of La Caille’s arc in the vicinity of St. Helena Bay. A few
months were now spent in effecting the triangulation to the
south as far as Cape Point, and in December, 1842, the work was
resumed to the northward.[453]
In January, 1843, the triangulation commenced at a headland
north of St. Helena Bay, latitude about 32° S., and continued
nearly parallel to the coast line, and about thirty miles from it
until it reached Kamiesberg a little south of Lat. 30°. Here the
arc was expected to terminate. The difficulties encountered this
season were of a formidable kind, and the care required in the
transport of Bradley’s zenith sector and a large theodolite,
occasioned much tedious anxiety for their preservation. The
party, too, was formed of different materials; the infantry
soldiers had quitted, and the shipwrecked crew of the
‘Abercrombie Robinson’ had been engaged in their stead. Most of
these sailors were rough, ill-behaved fellows, and, therefore, the
chief responsibility of the preparations and the conveyances
devolved upon the sappers. In addition to this, the country
passed over north of the Oliphant river was a straggling desert,
and the points used were at high altitudes—one of which
exceeded 7,000 feet.[454]
In its progress northward, the party crossed the Oliphant or
Elephant river on the 15th June, 1843, and the day being
Sunday, encamped on its north bank to spend the sabbath. Six
days after the expedition arrived at the foot of the Kamiesberg,
where fell heavy rain for three days and two nights; and when
the march was recommenced, the ground was so saturated, that
the whole train had to be dug out of the mud repeatedly every
day. In three days only eighteen miles were accomplished and
that with great exertion. The oxen were now so knocked up that
the farmers refused to go any further, and a fresh supply was
procured at a missionary establishment twelve miles distant.
When nearing that institution, the provisions were very low, and
the difficulties of the expedition in this respect were greatly
augmented by a heavy fall of snow. For the whole day the party
were without food, nor could they make a fire to warm
themselves.[455] They laboured, however, with excellent spirit,
and succeeded that night in bringing three of the waggons to the
missionary station; but the other two, sticking fast in the deep
ruts, were not brought up till the next day. The men were badly
shod, and suffered greatly. About a week after, the instruments
were fixed and the observations commenced, which continued
until October 1843, when the party returned to Cape Town,[456]
and afterwards marched up the country to join their company.
The objects used for reflecting or observing were heliostats
about 7 inches in diameter, and were chiefly attended to by the
sappers, who were sometimes detached on this duty for several
months at a time with a couple of natives under them to assist.
On account of the heat, the observations were discontinued at
11 A.M., and not renewed until 3 P.M. Notwithstanding this
intermission, the signal duties were oppressive. All supplies were
got from a distance, which fully occupied the two natives in
procuring them. The sappers were also intrusted with large sums
of public money to pay all demands as the work progressed. On
the Kamiesberg mountain they helped in the observatory in
working the great sector to determine the position of some stars.
Two stone-cutters of the number were detached from the
Kamiesberg to Zwartland and Groenekloof to cut and build a
pillar of stone at each end of the line, to mark the termini of the
newly-measured base; and all, as the general service of the
expedition permitted, erected at every fixed point a strong pile
twenty feet high, secured to a base of twenty feet, to indicate
the sites of the several trigonometrical stations.
Sergeant Hemming, before the close of the duty, was sent by
the colonial astronomer on a reconnoitring excursion to discover
a track from the neighbourhood of St. Helena Bay along the
mountain range to the eastward, to Cape L’Agulhas on the coast.
He was out fourteen days exploring the country, but from its
inaccessible nature returned not only disappointed and
exhausted, but unsuccessful.[457] In March, 1844, his connection
with the astronomical department ceased.[458]
The detachment at the Falkland Islands continued throughout
the year to labour in the establishment of the new settlement at
Port William, which was situated on the south side of Jackson’s
Harbour, and sloped from the shore to a ridge of rocks about a
quarter of a mile inland. Notwithstanding the stormy character of
the seasons, the detachment constructed three good jetties,
made roads and pathways, and formed several ditches to drain
the land and mark the different boundaries. They also erected
and finished with interior fitments, the Governor’s house, and
besides building a temporary barracks for the party with
workshops and other convenient premises attached, small
commodious cottages were run up for persons in official
employment. Of the services and intelligence of sergeant
Hearnden the Governor wrote in terms of unqualified praise.
Both as a soldier and private individual, the influence of his
example was felt in the colony, and he is stated to have been in
an eminent degree faithful and successful in the discharge of his
duty. Most of the men were also well spoken of for their
excellent behaviour and zeal; and amid the innumerable
inconveniences of their situation and services, they maintained
their military character and discipline unimpaired. This was the
more commendable as the temptation to drunkenness—the
prevailing vice in the colony—was, from the absence of the
common recreations so usual in England, and the inclemency of
the weather, almost irresistible.
On the 16th February, forty-four rank and file embarked for
Bermuda under the command of Lieutenant C. R. Binney, R.E., to
fill up the vacancies occasioned by the epidemic in the previous
year, and landed from the ‘Prince George’ transport on the 8th
April. Corporal David Harris, the chief military diver, under Major-
General Pasley at Spithead, was in subordinate charge of the
party.
Sir Robert Wilson, the Governor of Gibraltar, inspected the
companies of the corps at the fortress in common with the other
troops under his command, in May and October, and on each
occasion made flattering allusion to their conduct and discipline.
On the 13th May, after some general remarks of commendation,
Sir Robert Wilson adds—“All the corps and battalions merited
unqualified approbation, and the Governor bestows it with pride
and pleasure. The royal sappers and miners, however, whose
laborious daily duties occupy their whole time, except the
afternoons of alternate Saturdays, deserve, without any invidious
preference, particular commendation for preserving a soldier-like
mien, and exercising as if they had been in the habit of daily
practice.” And again, on the 13th October, he wrote:—“The
practice of the royal artillery yesterday was highly satisfactory
and impressive, and the royal sappers and miners, including the
detachment which arrived only the night before, presented under
arms an appearance and proficiency which corresponded with
the character established by the capacity and assiduous labours
that have distinguished this corps during its employment on the
works of the fortifications since the Governor has had the honour
to command.”
Early in May, Major-General Pasley resumed, for the sixth and
last time, his operations at Spithead. Lieutenant H. W. Barlow,
R.E., was the executive officer under whose charge were placed
sergeant George Lindsay and thirteen rank and file of the corps,
with an equal number of the East India Company’s sappers, and
a strong force of seamen, riggers, &c. The removal of the ‘Royal
George,’ notwithstanding that there still remained nineteen guns
of that wreck at the bottom, was reported to be perfectly
accomplished, and the roadstead quite safe for the anchorage of
shipping. The Major-General, therefore, turned his attention to
the recovery of the guns of the ‘Edgar’ man-of-war, which was
blown up at Spithead in 1711. She had been armed with 70
guns, technically termed demi-cannons, sakers, and falconets.
The first were 32 and 12-pounders; and the others respectively 9
and 6-pounders. The great mass of timber, embedded in mud,
composing the centre of the hull of the wreck, was discovered by
corporal Richard P. Jones on the 23rd May. The sweeps from the
boat having been caught by an obstruction below, Jones
descended by them till he found himself astride a 32-pounder
iron gun, which was peeping through a port-hole on the lower
deck. It happened at the time to be unusually clear at the
bottom, and to his amazement there stood upright before him
the midship portion of the vessel, with an altitude above the
general level of the ground, of thirteen feet and a half. From the
open ports, in two tiers, yawned the mouths of about twelve
pieces of ordnance, grim and deformed with the incrustations of
133 years. This part of the ‘Edgar’ was not much shaken by the
explosions, but when the fore and after magazines took fire, the
head and stern of the vessel were blown away from the body
and scattered to distances exceeding three hundred fathoms. So
violent indeed had been one of the explosions, that the best
bower anchor was not only broken in fragments, but its flukes
and shank were separated from each other, nearly half-a-mile.
The midships, sharing but little in the convulsion, went down like
a colossal millstone, scarcely heeling on her bottom; and the
armament of the decks remained as if ready for battle, without a
carriage unjerked from its platform, or a gun from its carriage.
All the woodwork, however, was so completely decayed by the
ravages of worms, and the insidious action of the sea, that when
the guns were slung, they were hauled through the decks, as if
no obstruction interposed.[459]
Before the close of the season, the whole of this mass was got
up, by the continual removal of pieces loosened by frequent
small explosions. Almost the whole of the keel was likewise sent
up, with innumerable fragments of timber, spars, &c., and many
guns, eight of which had been recovered in one week. The first
was found by corporal Jones. A great number of sinkers or large
stones, by which the wreck buoys were moored, and a number
of small anchors were also recovered. In the early part of August
the operations were much retarded by some very violent gales,
preventing the divers working from time to time; but as soon as
the weather moderated, corporal Jones, with his usual zeal,
taking down with him a large crate, sent up at one haul, besides
a load of staves of casks, &c., ninety-one shot of various sizes.
The guns of the ‘Edgar’ were much scattered at the bottom by
the explosion of her magazines, and the unexpected distances to
which they were thrown, rendered a more extended sphere of
action necessary. This was effected by a simple arrangement of
ropes as guides, upon which worked a transverse line just over
the bed of the roadstead, that caught in its track any object
rearing itself above the general level. In this way the entire area
of the bottom, supposed to conceal any of the fugitive cannons,
was traversed, Jones and Sticklen being the operators; and was
attended with so much success, that nearly the whole of the
guns and wreck were sent up and deposited in the dockyard
before the 31st October, when the season closed. The party
rejoined the corps at Woolwich on the 2nd November.[460]
In addition to Jones, the divers were John Girvan, Donald
McFarlane, Philip Trevail, and William Frame, besides four of the
East India Company and five others occasionally.[461]
During the season corporal Jones got up nineteen guns,
besides an immense pile of other articles in endless variety; and
when the rough and generally unfavourable state of the weather
which prevailed is taken into account, his activity and industry
appear strikingly prominent. “Whatever success,” writes General
Pasley, “has attended our operations, is chiefly to be attributed
to the exertions of corporal Jones, of whom as a diver I cannot
speak too highly.”[462]
Corporal Girvan was also very successful as a diver while
health permitted, but he was prevented from rendering any
particular assistance after the 27th July, from an accident
occasioned by the air-pipe of his apparatus blowing off the pump
on deck. He was aware that something had gone wrong, and
making the signal, was drawn up sensible, but much injured
about the throat and head, and blood was flowing copiously
from his mouth and ears. The air rushed violently out of his
helmet, as if no safety valve had been attached to it. This arose
from the valve not having been taken to pieces since the
commencement of the season, and, moreover, being clogged
with verdigris, could not be properly shut, and hence the air was
enabled to escape.[463]
Private John Skelton, so frequently praised for his ingenuity as
a workman and for his daring as a diver, was during the
operations drowned by accident off Southsea Castle.
The conduct and exertions of the whole detachment were
flatteringly spoken of by Major-General Pasley, particularly
sergeant Lindsay,[464] who, next to the officer in command, had
the chief superintendence. Corporal John Rae[465] and private
Alexander Cleghorn were also named for their intelligence and
services in the management of the voltaic batteries and firing of
the charges, and their duties, next to the divers, were the most
important. The divers occasionally went down as many as twenty
times in a tide, and the remuneration of each was from 1s. 3d.
to 2s. a tide, besides the usual working pay of 1s. a-day. This
enabled each first-class diver to realize between 5s. and 6s. a-
day, exclusive of his regimental allowances.
The royal mail steamer ‘Tay,’ on her passage to Bermuda,
sustained some damage to her bottom by running a-shore on
the Cuban coast. On her arrival at Bermuda on the 16th August,
corporal Harris was employed to examine her. Supplied with a
diving-helmet and suit from the dockyard, he went down and
found part of her cutwater and keel and about twelve feet of
planking on her starboard side carried away. Forty-one times he
dived in repairing the injury, and in three days so effectually
finished his work that the vessel was enabled to return safely to
England with the mails.
By an order from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, then
Lord Stanley, this non-commissioned officer was attached, late in
the year, to the department of the Naval Inspector of Works at
Bermuda, for the purpose of removing, by submarine mining,
coral reefs from the entrances of harbours, so as to make them
accessible to ordinary vessels. Lieutenant-Colonel Reid, R.E., the
Governor of the Island, carried on a correspondence which
extended over a period of eighteen months, to obtain the
services of this diver.[466] The first work undertaken by him was
widening and deepening the ship channel leading into the
harbour of St. George. For three or four years he confined his
exertions to this point, and so well planned and skilfully executed
were his operations that all natural impediments militating
against the safety of the channel, were at length completely
removed by the explosions of innumerable charges of
gunpowder, fired through the agency of voltaic electricity. Under
Colonel Barry, the commanding royal engineer who had the
superintendence of the service for most of the period, the work
was successfully prosecuted. The spaciousness of the channel
for the passage of steam-vessels of large tonnage and great
draught of water, was practically tested on the 26th February,
1848, by Her Majesty’s steamer ‘Growler,’ of 1,200 tons, Captain
Hall. The vessel steamed into the harbour against wind and tide,
drawing fifteen and one-third feet of water, and effected the
passage with ease and steadiness, having beneath her keel
when passing “the bar,” the worst part of the channel, at least
five feet of water.[467] These signally successful operations saved
the Government several thousands of pounds; and in the event
of Hamilton losing its commercial importance, the harbour of St.
George will, no doubt, be selected as the chief water for the
passage of the mails and the trade and marine of the Islands.
At Chatham, late in the year, some mining operations were
carried on under Colonel Sir Frederick Smith, the director of the
royal engineer establishment. The works were pushed under the
glacis in front of the left face of the ravelin, and the right face of
the Duke of Cumberland’s Bastion. All the corps at the station,
with the East India Company’s sappers, were present, working
night and day in three reliefs of six hours each, and the
numerous explosions that took place, and the attempts made to
render abortive the schemes of opposing parties, invested the
operations with the character in many essential respects of
subterranean warfare. The exciting experiments, however, were
not concluded without casualty, for on one occasion from
inhaling foul air, a sapper of the East India Company named
James Sullivan was killed, and three of the royal sappers were
drawn out in a state of dangerous insensibility. These were
privates John Murphy, John A. Harris, and Edward Bailey.
Lieutenant Moggeridge, R.E., who had charge of the party, also
fainted, but he was saved from serious injury by colour-sergeant
George Shepherd rushing into the gallery and bringing him out.
At the time of the accident, the miners were about one hundred
and fifty feet from the mouth of the shaft; and several who went
in to rescue their comrades suffered more or less from the air.
Singular, however, as it may appear, lights were burning near the
ground the whole time, and instantly after the last man was
carried out of the gallery, it was traversed in its whole length by
lance-corporal John Wood,[468] who carried a light in his hand
and experienced no great difficulty in breathing.[469]
The Hong Kong party under Major Aldrich, R.E., was inspected
in the autumn by Major-General D’Aguilar, C.B., in command of
the troops in China; and his Excellency in his official report
“regretted that a detachment of so much importance, and so
well constituted, should have been reduced by six deaths and
three invalided during the half year, and that the men present
should, in their appearance, show the effects of climate.” In
December following the detachment was ordered to be increased
to a half company, and the reinforcement of fifteen rank and file,
sailing from the West India Docks in the ‘William Shand’ freight-
ship, in February, 1845, landed at Victoria on the 28th June
following. In May, 1851, the party returned to England, but its
strength was reduced by casualties to six men only. Of the
remainder, four were invalided, three died, one was drowned on
passage from Victoria to Macao, and one was killed by falling
over a precipice.
 1845.

Sheerness—Increase to the corps at the Cape—Survey of Windsor—Skill of

privates Holland and Hogan as draughtsmen—Etchings by the latter for the
Queen and Prince Albert—Unique idea of the use of a bullet—Inspection at
Gibraltar by Sir Robert Wilson—Falkland Islands—Discharges on the survey
duty during the railway mania.

On the 15th May twelve rank and file were detached to

Sheerness, and, with little variation in its strength, continued to
work there till April, 1849. The men were employed at their
trades, and assisted in carrying out some boring experiments to
ascertain the nature of the strata. Corporal Charles Hawkins,
who discharged the duty of foreman of works, was highly spoken
of for his activity and ability, and the men were praised for their
good conduct and exertions.
A company was added to the strength of the corps at the Cape
of Good Hope by the arrival from Woolwich of the ninth company
under the command of Captain R. Howorth, R.E., on the 20th
August. On landing at Algoa Bay, the reinforcement was removed
to the different military posts on the frontier.[470] The two
companies in the colony now reached a total of 174 of all ranks.
This addition to the command did not occasion an augmentation
to the corps, but reduced one company of the disposable force
at home.
The survey of Windsor, including the Home Park, Castle,
Frogmore, and the Royal Gardens, undertaken by Her Majesty’s
command in 1843 by a party of about twenty non-commissioned
officers and men of the survey companies, was completed in the
summer of this year. Captain Tucker, R.E., had the direction of
Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world,
offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth.
That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of
books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to
self-development guides and children's books.

More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge

connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an
elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can
quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally,
our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time
and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and

personal growth every day!

ebookbell.com