by John Marshall

“ The researches of Captain Maxwell in this quarter enabled him to rectify an enormous geographical error respecting the peninsula of Corea, and reveal the existence of myriads of islands, forming an archipelago, a fact before unknown and unsuspected. It is to be remarked, that the Lion, of 64 guns, employed to convey Lord Macartney, the former Ambassador, was the only ship which had ever before penetrated into the gulph of Pe-tche-lee; but her commander, Sir Erasmus Gower, kept the coast of China aboard only, and neither touched at the Tartar nor Corean side. ”

“ All parties were alike zealous to afford every assistance to those who had arrived, and to send relief to the larger body that had remained behind. The East India Company’s cruiser, Ternate, was luckily in the roads, and that vessel, together with the Princess Charlotte, were got ready for sea by the next morning, when they sailed for Pulo Leat. The sincere friendship I felt for Captain Maxwell, and my regard for the officers of the Alceste generally, had led me to promise, on leaving them, that I would return with the first succours ”

“ In order that no time should be lost, preparations were also made for landing a body of troops to take possession of Braam’s Point, on which was a battery of seven 18 pounders, completely commanding the entrance of the Surinam. Brigadier-General Hughes undertook to superintend this service; and the wind proving favorable, Captain Edward O’Brien, of the Emerald frigate, pushed over the bar with the rising tide, and anchored close to the fort, followed by the Pandour troop-ship, and Drake sloop of war. ”

“ Mayne, the Master, to come-to for the night, as well to rest the men, as from a consideration that little advantage could be derived from reaching the roads before daylight. During the night, one of the sailors suffered from temporary delirium, caused, no doubt, by a want of sufficient fluid aggravated, however, by large draughts of salt water, from which no injunctions or entreaties could induce some of the crew to desist [13] . All the provisions and liquors were distributed during the passage with the most scrupulous equality; if ever a difference was made, it was in favour of the men. ”

“ This work he dedicated to Sir Murray Maxwell, “to whose ability in conducting the voyage, zeal in giving encouragement to every inquiry, sagacity in discovering the disposition of the natives, and address in gaining their confidence and good will,” he attributes “whatever may be found interesting” in his pages.
The first edition of Captain Hall’s publication, which gives a full account of the voyage to Corea and Loo-Choo, is divided into a Narrative, an Appendix, containing charts and various nautical and scientific notices, and a Vocabulary of the Loo-Choo language. ”

“ When about a mile from Pulo Leat, rocks, covered by not more than from one to three feet water, surrounded them on all sides. The barge struck several times, but was saved from any serious accident by the skill of Lieutenant Hoppner, who commanded her. After sailing or rowing for about an hour, they gained what had appeared from the ship to be land covered with wood, but to their mortification discovered nothing but insulated masses of granite, interspersed with mangrove trees growing in the water. ”

“ During the whole day, and till a late hour in the evening, the boats were constantly employed conveying articles from the wreck, and towing ashore a raft on which had been placed the baggage, stores, and a small supply of provisions, rescued with much labour and difficulty, under the superintendence of Captain Maxwell, whose exertions and self possession were most highly spoken of by all his fellow-sufferers. ”

“ By this brilliant affair a position was secured, from whence a heavy fire could be directed against fort New Amsterdam; and a communication with the Commewyne river being opened, the means of forming a junction with Brigadier-General Maitland were established. The British at the same time obtained possession of the finest part of the colony, abounding with resources of every description. Captain Maxwell’s exertions upon this occasion were highly meritorious, and much of the success attending the enterprise may justly be attributed to his animating example. ”

“ The trees and underwood cut down had furnished materials for defences, capable of resisting a sudden attack from an enemy unprovided with artillery; platforms had been erected at the most commanding points, and a terre pleine of some yards extent had been formed immediately without the defences to prevent surprise; some hundred rounds of ball cartridge had been made up and distributed to the men with the small arms: pikes, however, some of bamboo with the ends pointed and hardened in the fire, were the weapons of the majority. ”

“ Subsequent to this event Captain Maxwell was actively employed on the coast of Italy, where he assisted at the destruction of several armed vessels and martello towers, as also in bringing off a large quantity of timber from a depot belonging to the enemy at Terracina. On the 22d May, 1810, a party from the Alceste landed near Frejus, stormed a battery of two 24-pounders, spiked the guns, broke the carriages, blew up the magazine, and threw the shot into the sea. ”

“ Captain Maxwell, of the Centaur, having been more particularly attached to the troops under my immediate command on shore, I am bound to notice his spirited and exemplary behaviour.”
Captain Maxwell returned to England with the Commodore’s despatches in June, 1804; and we subsequently find him commanding the Centaur as a private ship on the Jamaica station, where he removed into the Galatea frigate in the summer of 1805. His next appointment was to the Alceste of 46 guns, formerly la Minerve, one of the frigates captured by part of a squadron under Sir Samuel Hood, in Sept. 1806 [2] . ”

“ Supplies of provisions, liquors, and arms had, however, been obtained from it. The creek, where the boats of the ship were laid up, had been completely blockaded by the proas, sixty in number, carrying from 8 to 12 men each, until the appearance of the Ternate, when they had all hastened away [18] .
"Captain Maxwell had carried his intention into effect of establishing himself on the top of a hill near the landing-place. By cutting down trees and clearing the underwood, an open space had been obtained sufficient for the accommodation of the crew, and the reception of the stores and baggage. ”

“ The course taken by the Alceste led to a partial survey of the gulph of Leo-tong, never before visited by any European ship. In coasting along the western shore, a view was obtained of the Great Wall of China, extending its vast, but unavailing defences, over the summits and along the skirts of hills and mountains. Stretching across to the opposite shore, she anchored, and completed her water, in a commodious bay, situated in lat. 39° 33' N., long. 121° 19' E. From thence Captain Maxwell proceeded to the southward until he reached the extreme Tartar point of the gulf ”

“ This desirable object being effected, and the enemy’s communication cut off by the activity of the ships’ boats, the army being on the advance, and every preparation made by the squadron for attacking fort New Amsterdam, the Batavian Commandant thought proper to send out a flag of truce, with proposals to surrender on terms of capitulation. The negociations for that purpose were conducted on the part of the British by Captain Maxwell and Lieutenant-Colonel Shipley, and at 5 P.M. on the 5th May, the fortress was taken possession of by an advanced corps under Brigadier-General Maitland. ”

“ We should here observe, that the Surinam coast is very difficult of approach, being shallow and full of banks: a landing is only to be attempted at the top of high water, and at particular points; the land is uncleared, and the soil very marshy ”

“ This intention was at length effected in a small bay, where the rocks were so mingled with the trees as to afford firm hand-hold. The boats were then immediately despatched to assist in bringing on shore whatever could be saved from the wreck. A more convenient landing place being subsequently discovered near an eminence on which an encampment might be formed, the whole party removed thither, leaving a marine behind to communicate with the boats as they successively approached the shore. ”

“ On her approach the batteries and seventeen or eighteen war-junks endeavoured to make good the threat, by opening a heavy, though ill-directed fire. The return of a single shot silenced the flotilla; and one broadside, poured in with three hearty cheers, proved quite sufficient for her more formidable opponent. The other batteries being soon after, quieted, the Alceste proceeded without further molestation to the second bar, and subsequently to Whampoa, at which latter place she remained until the arrival of Lord Amherst and his suite, in Jan. ”