Captain Murray

“ He has the scar of a spear wound on his brow, which Captain Murray says was received in holding sixty armed men at bay, while he secured the retreat of some helpless persons. Yet he continues to be much burdened by his responsibility for these fair girls, who, however, are enjoying themselves thoroughly, and will be none the worse. ”

“ Murray halted irresolute. If the Scotsman had been of grosser make, Kit would have joined the company of King's men who slept in Wilstrop Wood. It was easy, with the men he had at call, to silence this hot-headed youngster.
"That is your resolve?" he asked slowly.
"D'ye doubt it? Captain Murray, it is a loathsome business enough to pick the pockets of the dead, but to take clothes and all——"
"The Scots had no hand in it, I tell ye. Our lads hae over-muckle care for the dead of either side. ”

“ He refused the idea of being sent to England, and hoped that Captain Murray would be content with the first lieutenant’s duty being done by a one-armed officer. He is now perfectly recovered, and doing his duty as first lieutenant: all his conduct has been so highly creditable, that I should be unjust not to recommend him to your lordship’s protection.”
And in a private letter, the hero, again speaking of him, says, “He is an excellent officer and a good man. In nine days from the loss of his arm he returned to his duty as first lieutenant.” ”

“ On the renewal of hostilities in 1803, Murray was appointed to the Spartiate, but at the same time Nelson invited him to go with him as captain of the fleet in the Mediterranean. Murray hesitated, on the ground that such a service often led to a disagreement between an admiral and his first captain, and he valued Nelson's friendship too highly to risk the danger of an estrangement. ”

“ He subsequently commanded the Valorous 26, on the Newfoundland station.
Captain Murray married, May 30, 1821, Rachael eldest daughter of Benjamin Tucker, Esq. Surveyor-General of the Duchy of Cornwall.
Agents.– Messrs. Maude and Co. ”

“ Who would not rather command a gunboat, or even a despatch vessel or fire-ship, than be a junior lieutenant, mate, or midshipman on board a line-of-battle ship or the smartest frigate afloat? Such were Murray’s feelings as he and Adair paced the deck of the somewhat unseaworthy little schooner of which he had been placed in charge by Captain Grant. While he stood away towards Sierra Leone, the Ranger continued her course to the southward. ”

“ I anticipate enjoying a very pleasant cruise, as we seem to be favoured with every thing that could render our situation agreeable. Captain Murray is one of the best of men, and treats us with all the kindness and attention we could wish. The climate is mild and healthy. The Tripolitans keep among themselves, and never venture out, so that we shall have nothing to do but to visit the different ports of the Mediterranean. ”

“ Captain Hemming had been directed to send fifty hands from the frigate, and with the assistance of Rogers and Adair, by working all night, the sails were bent, and early next morning the brig glided out into the harbour.
The land-wind still blew strong, smelling of the hot earth, albeit mixed with spicy odours. Murray was eager to be away. His duty required him to use all speed. He had also a feeling that he might be of service to those in whom he was so deeply interested. ”

“ There are few sights more thrilling than that of a vessel foundering at sea; and p. 280for several weeks the Sagamore’s people thought of little but the lost bark and her crew. The Dundee’s steward was set to work in the galley, and the able seamen were divided between the two watches, where each day’s numerous duties soon made them forget their recent hardships. Captain Murray took the loss of his vessel much to heart, and was greatly depressed for some days ”

“ If there was a hint of an indicated threat in this remark Murray ignored it.
"Master Martin knows his ship," he answered, "as doth Captain Flint his. You lads are forever pondering why certain men rise to command. There lies the answer, Silver. 'Tis knowledge of how to handle your ship; aye, and to fight her, and to plan at need how not to fight her."
Silver knuckled his forehead, handing back the glass.
"Sure, sir, they all says a good captain is born and never made, and we be main fortunate as has two that can't be beat or took or harried from their ways." ”

“ Immediately upon my return to the company, my boatmen entered the house: "The wind is fair, sir." Well, then, we will depart. It is late in the afternoon, but no matter, I will embark directly; I have been determined to embrace the first opportunity, well knowing the suspense the captain must be in, and the pain attendant thereon. Accordingly, as soon as matters could be adjusted, I set off; but not till my old friend, taking me by the hand, said: "You are now going to New-York; I am afraid you will, when there, forget the man, to whom your Master sent you. ”

“ Captain Sturt’s means of transport were comprised in a whale boat and small skiff, built in seven days on the Murrumbidgee, and with these means and a stock of provisions barely sufficient, it afterwards appeared, for subsistence, this determined man did not hesitate to follow the course of the Murray to its mouth ”

“ Murray laughed softly.
“Why, Dick, I can almost hear what he would say about my impudence to attempt to teach him his duty. No, thank you, my dear boy; if he and Anderson think it right to trust the American, why, it must be right. If you feel that the nature of these fellows ought to be pointed out, why, you go and do it.”
Roberts took another look at the lugger’s crew, and then shrugged his shoulders, just as the captain came on deck, followed by the American and the first lieutenant. ”

“ I rose and held out my hand, and she came from behind her father's chair to meet me with an exquisite frankness.
“You shall have my thanks, Captain Fyffe,” she said, “all my life long, whether you disclaim them or not. And you too, Mr. Brunow. I suppose we all go to town together?”
The count had risen from his seat while she spoke, and stood before us with one hand stretched out to Brunow and the other to myself. “I am poor in words,” he said, with a shaking voice; “I am poor in everything. ”

“ And the Council further requests that your Excellency will be pleased to cause one of the said Medals to be conferred on Captain Francis Cadell, who completed the first commercial voyage, as owner and commander of the Lady Augusta steamer and Eureka barge, with a cargo of Murray wool; and the remaining medal may be deposited with the records of the Legislature of South Australia, under whose sanction the necessary pecuniary aid was voted in encouragement of the steam navigation of the River Murray. ”

“ Away went Terence. He had a hard battle to fight with his captain, who, however, expressed his admiration of the spirit evinced by Murray. Needham and Wasser, and another man and a boy, were directed to go on board to act as crew. Dr McCan came on board the schooner: and having prescribed for Murray and his two negroes, and pronounced them in a fair way of recovery, took his departure. Murray then made sail and shaped a course for Sierra Leone, much happier than he had been for a long time. ”

“ They said all that was proper to her regarding her father’s death, and expressed their hopes that Murray would soon return to Jamaica and receive his well-earned honours.
“He is sure to be promoted,” said Jack. “When he is, I have great hopes that the admiral will appoint him to the command of the corvette, should Captain Babbicome resign her, as I think he is very likely to do, for he evidently wishes himself looking after his cows and pigs at home.”
Miss O’Regan and her attendant, with Higson and the three midshipmen, proceeded up at once to Kingston. ”

“ Captain Lascelles had seen the accident. He was on the poop. Stepping back, he himself let go the life-buoy, noting exactly the spot where the accident had occurred. But not an order did he give. Perfectly cool, he stood waiting till the sails were reefed. Murray meantime caught sight of Jack, who lay senseless on the water, to the surface of which he had just risen, after having once gone down from the force with which he had fallen into the sea. Murray dreaded lest he should again see him sink. He exerted all his strength to get up to him. The life-buoy was not far off. ”

“ Another pair of slings on a second traveller was now fitted, and Adair being placed in it, Mr Gale accompanied him on shore, helping him along through the surf. Murray and Jack followed, several of the men, with ropes round their waists, rushing out into the surf to help them, for no men more than sailors know how to appreciate the act of devotion the two lads had that night performed. The captain met them as they came dripping out of the surf, and shook them heartily by the hand. He was one of those doing men who do not expend many words in expressing their feelings. ”

“ On the 20th Oct. 1806, Rear-Admiral George Murray being appointed to the command of a secret and important expedition, was pleased to select his former Lieutenant, the subject of this memoir, to be his Flag-Captain, in the Polyphemus, of 64 guns; which ship, attended by a small squadron, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, and was there joined by a fleet of transports, having on board upwards of 4,000 troops, towards the latter end of March, 1807. ”

“ The plan of the captain was, supposing the morning should present no prospect of getting off, to deposit the remainder of his cargo upon the beach; but, if they should get off, we were immediately to follow; the goods were to be replaced; and the sloop dismissed. I went not to bed, and when the morning dawned, just at high water, the wind blowing from the shore, they got off, making a signal for us to follow; and with all possible dispatch we prepared to obey, but the wind instantly shifting, drove us back, and they proceeded on to New-York, leaving us in the bay. ”

“ In 1886 Murray acted as naturalist to the solar eclipse expedition to the West Indies; and again visited the same area on a dredging expedition in 1897; in 1898 he chartered a tug for a dredging expedition in the Atlantic, 300 miles west of Ireland, on which he was accompanied by a party of naturalists; and in 1901 he became director of the civilian scientific staff of the national Antarctic expedition in H.M.S. Discovery, under Captain R. F. Scott. He was, however, only able to accompany the expedition as far as Cape Town. ”

“ Participation of privation, and equal distribution of comfort, had lightened the weight of suffering to all; and I found the universal sentiment to be an enthusiastic admiration of the temper, energy, and arrangements of Captain Maxwell. No man ever gained more in the estimation of his comrades by gallantry in action, than he had done by his conduct on this trying occasion: his look was confidence, and his orders were felt to be security.
“The next and part of the following day were employed in embarking the crew and remaining stores on board the Ternate. ”

“ Periodically it, overflows, causing wide inundations. The principal tributaries of the Murray are those from New South Wales, including the Edward River, the united streams of the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan, and the Darling or Callewatta. In 1829 Captain Sturt traced the Murrumbidgee River till it debouched into the Murray, which he followed down to Lake Alexandrina, but he was compelled, after great hardships, to return without discovering its mouth. ”

“ But Murray in the other prison had smelt the reek before, and was able to put a name to it promptly. "By Jove! Captain," he shouted mistily from the distance, "they're going to smoke us to death; that's the game."
"Looks like trying it," panted the little sailor, from his work.
"That's dried camel's dung they're burning. There's no wood in Arabia here, and that's their only fuel. When the smoke gets into your lungs, it just tears you all to bits. I say, Skipper, can't you come to some agreement with Rad over those blessed rifles? It's a beastly death to die, this." ”

“ The Murray, thus combining within its basin nearly the entire drainage of the province of Victoria, with a large portion of that of New South Wales, and much of the eastern part of South Australia, appears to have been unknown to British Colonists before 1830, when Captain Charles Sturt, of the 39th Regiment—one of the most ardent and intrepid explorers the world has ever seen—whilst tracing the source, or rather course, of the Murrumbidgee, by order of the Sydney Government, came upon this noble river ”

“ 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. ”

“ The other high island is only a single mountain almost destitute of trees and verdure. The other two are only crazy barren rocks. We saw three two mast boats under sail near the reef, which we supposed belong to the islands. Murray Islands lie in Latitude 9° 57′ S. and Longitude 216° 43′ W. We kept turning to the Southward along the reef until the 28th in search of a channel and in the forenoon of that day we thought [72] we saw an opening through the reef near a white sandy island or key, and a little before Lt. Corner was sent in the yawl to examine it. ”

“ 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 ”