teers for the different regiments in India, many of the very men whom he had previously landed at Minorca. On his return from the Red Sea he surveyed the ports of Zeyla and Barbora, in the Arabian Gulf (ports which had never before been entered by any European ship), and with much difficulty, as well as personal risk, succeeded in establishing a source of supply for his countrymen, should any reverse have obliged the army to approach that quarter. His exertions at this period are thus noticed in a letter written by the late Rear-Admiral John Sprat Rainier, dated Dec. 23, 1820:
“My dear Carden,– I look back with pleasure to our arduous services in the Red Sea and India; though being performed in that remote region, they are unknown and unnoticed in this quarter of the globe. The Governor of Bombay attributed the preservation of the magazines, arsenal, and dock, almost entirely, to the zealous and active exertions of the navy, when that rich and combustible city was nearly reduced to ashes: your distinguished conduct on that occasion, I well remember. But our exertions did not terminate here; we rescued the property of thousands, and the lives of many, at the extreme peril of our own. I imagine Sir Home Popham, if alive, would have borne testimony to the value of your assistance in that remarkable and most essential service of enabling the British army to cross the desert between Cossire and the Nile, which it is allowed would have been impracticable but with the aid the squadron afforded at the very crisis of commencing their march[1].” * * * *
The fire alluded to by Rear-Admiral Rainer, broke out at Bombay on the 17th Feb. 1803, and burnt down the greater part of the town, leaving only the dock-yard, arsenal, castle, and European buildings. In the midst of the conflagration, Captain Carden distinguished himself by his intrepidity in forcing open a magazine, the outer door of which had already caught fire, and setting a noble example to his men, by seizing the nearest barrel of gunpowder, carrying it, covered with his jacket, to the ramparts, and throwing it from thence into the ditch. By this daring act, the lives of many hundred persons were saved; yet, strange to say, the only reward Captain Carden ever received was the thanks of the Governor and Council, conveyed to him, in common with other officers, through the naval commander-in-chief. He was soon after obliged to invalid in consequence of hepatitis, brought on by his great exertions, and return home as a passenger on board an Indiaman.
