duct an armament sent from Bombay to occupy the island of Roderiguez, and thus pave the way for the reduction of the isles of Mauritius and Bourbon, This object was successfully accomplished; and Captain Byng had the satisfaction of receiving the thanks of the Government of Bombay, together with a present of 300l. for the very cordial and important assistance afforded by him to the military under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Keating.
The Belliqueux continued on the East India station until the month of June, 1810, at which time Captain Byng received orders to proceed to China, for the purpose of affording protection to the homeward-bound trade. On the 14th Feb. 1811, he sailed from Macao Roads, in company with seven of the Hon. Company’s ships; and, after encountering very tempestuous weather in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, arrived with his charge at St. Helena (May 15), where he was joined by the Menelaus and Chiffonée frigates, five Indiamen, and several South-Sea-whalers, the whole of which reached the Downs in safety, on the 8th of August following. Previous to leaving India for China, the Belliqueux had exchanged 50 of her healthy men, for a similar number from other ships, whose constitutions had been much impaired by a service of ten years and upwards, in the oriental tropics; she also received on board 32 men invalided from various diseases. During the voyage from China to England, no less than 224 men had been placed on the sick list, the whole of whose cases happily yielded to medical treatment, to which due efficacy had been given by a light and proper diet of fresh food, very large quantities of which had been procured through the liberal donations and judicious arrangements made by Captain Byng[1].
- ↑ In the Naval Chronicle, vol. 28, p. 57, and six following, there appears a letter from R. W. Bampfield, Esq. late Surgeon of the Belliqueux, recording the mode of treatment adopted towards the patients, from which we make the following extracts, illustrative of the benevolent exertions of Captain Byng: P. 59. “The useful experience acquired by a residence in India,” says the writer, “of the most prevailing diseases on long voyages, had taught us, that the scurvy, contrary to received opinion, is sooner induced in a tropical, than in a cold climate; and is not only most destructive itself, but impedes the cure of all other diseases, or aggravates them; while we had as-
