so great a distance from Rangoon, and taken from his own mess in the Larne. The young gentlemen, Messrs. Winsor, Tomlinson, and Pickey, have also been sufferers with him. I have the honor to be, &c.
“To Brigadier-General Sir A. Campbell, K.C.B., &c. &c. &c.”
On the 22d Dec, the Shaw-in-shaw, with a cargo of timber on board, was quite ready for sea; and on the 25th, a petty officer having been ordered to take charge of her, Lieutenant Dobson returned to the Larne. On the 28th, he resumed the command of the Satellite; and on the 30th, was sent back to Pagoda Point, with seven gun-boats under his orders.
In the beginning of 1825, Sir Archibald Campbell prepared to advance upon the Birman capital; and, in order to leave no obstruction in his rear, directed the enemy to be driven from the old Portuguese fort and the pagoda of Syriam, both which posts they had re-occupied and much strengthened since their late unsuccessful attacks upon Kemmendine. During the performance of this service, by the military and naval detachments under Lieut.-Colonel Elrington and Lieutenant Keele, R.N., the Satellite was stationed at the entrance of Syriam river[1]. In the night of Jan. 29th, an auger hole was bored in her bottom, and she had 4½ feet water in the hold before it was discovered. This is supposed to have been done by her carpenter, a Chinese, in order to prevent her from proceeding up the river.
Previous to the advance upon Ava, it was necessary to open a passage up the Lyne river, for which purpose a force was detached from Rangoon, under Lieutenant-Col. Godwin and Captain Chads, who captured a large stockade at Than-ta-bain, with thirty-six guns mounted, and destroyed an immense number of fire-rafts, and canoes filled with combustibles, for the annoyance of the British shipping. On this occasion, the Satellite was allowed to approach within half a mile before the enemy opened their fire, which proved extremely heavy, and raked her “until she brought up by the
