and 16, 1791; the result of which so intimidated the invaders that they relinquished their hostile design, and gladly consented to a pacific arrangement.
Mr. Dobbie continued in India until the arrival of Commodore Rainier, who had been appointed to the chief command on that station shortly after the declaration of war between Great Britain and the French republic. He then joined the Suffolk 74 bearing that officer’s broad pendant, and was employed in her boats, cutting off the communication between Fort Oostenburg and the main during the siege of Trincomalee, in Aug. 1795[1]. Whilst thus engaged he assisted at the capture of a sloop, which was brought out from under the enemy’s guns; and distinguished himself by his spirited and zealous conduct on two or three other occasions.
On the day after the surrender of Oostenburg, Mr. Dobbie and another midshipman, the late Captain James Hingston Tuckey[2], were mainly instrumental in arresting the progress of a fire which broke out in that fort, and which actually reached the outer door of the grand magazine before any effectual measures could be adopted to avert the impending danger. On hearing the alarm given, and seeing the flames burst forth, Messrs. Dobbie and Tuckey, then on their way to the watering place, promptly collected a few men with buckets, &c., hastened to the scene of danger, and by very great exertions kept the fire under, until a sufficient number of soldiers were assembled to extinguish it. Their conduct on this alarming occasion was afterwards highly spoken of in the Madras newspapers; but through some mistake it was stated that they belonged to the Centurion 50, instead of their being described as midshipmen of the Suffolk.
After the reduction of Trincomalee, Commodore Rainier made preparations for subjugating the Dutch spice islands, on which expedition he sailed from Madras, Oct. 16, 1795. On the 25th Dec. in the same year, he advanced Mr. Dobbie to the rank of Lieutenant, and appointed him fifth of the Suffolk.
