Board of Admiralty in December last, on board H.M.S. Liffey.” – Preface, par. 3.
“Uninformed, however, of the date on which Sir William Congreve first put his ideas on the subject on record, or gave them publicity, further than what his work declares, I shall be ready to yield to him my claim to the original invention whenever he may make it appear that I ought to do so. But as to the practical utility of his plan, I must here repeat that his premises appear to me, morally as well as physically, so unattainable, and his whole process so directly at variance with a seaman’s knowledge and experience, that I do not hesitate to predict (whatever may have been the result of the practice in the smooth water of the river Medway, where probably the different distances were measured or otherwise ascertained,) it will never stand the test of experiment in action, in a rough sea, or in ocean water, where alone its utility must be looked for.” – p. 25.
For the particulars of Captain Duff’s invention we must refer our readers to his pamphlet, which appears to have been published at No. 87, Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square, London.
Captain Duff was presented with two gold medals during the late wars: one he received from the Turkish government for his services in Egypt; and the other from the Royal Humane Society, for his “intrepid and manly exertions m risking his own, to preserve the life of a fellow creature.”
Agent.– J. Petty Muspratt, Esq.
DONALD HUGH MACKAY, Esq.
[Post-Captain of 1806.]
Youngest son of the late Hon. George Mackay, of Skibo, N.B. Member of Parliament for Sutherlandshire, by Anne, grand-daughter of Kenneth Sutherland, third Lord Duffus, who was attainted in 1715; and sister of James, the present Baron Duffus, who was restored to that title by Act of Parliament, which received the Royal Assent, May 26, 1826[1].
- ↑ Kenneth Lord Duffus, was a Captain in the Royal Navy at the period when the rebellion broke out in Scotland, under the influence and direction of the Earl of Mar, which unfortunate business was decided by the battle of Sheriff Muir, Nov. 13, 1715. Having engaged in that rebellion, his lordship was included in the act of attainder consequent thereupon. When informed thereof he was in Sweden, but he resolved immediately to return to England
