ment of 83 men, moored close to the shore, within a reef of rocks, at the island of Rodriguez: the manner in which this service was executed will be seen by reference to p. 116, et seq. where we have also noticed the loss of the Sceptre in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, Nov. 5, 1799.
On the day previous to that melancholy disaster, Mr. Tucker, then acting as second lieutenant, requested Captain Edwards to grant him permission to attend a ball that was to be given on shore, saying he would not leave the ship until the business of the day was finished, and promising to return on board at day-light the next morning, in order to attend to his duty as the executive officer, the first lieutenant being at sick-quarters. Captain Edwards told him in reply, that as the third and fifth lieutenants were also on shore, and his standing orders were, that the ship was never to be left without at least two lieutenants and the master, he did not like to deviate from them. Mr. Tucker had previously sent to the third lieutenant to come on board in the evening and relieve him, but, as a ball was pending, he had no expectation that his request would be complied with: however, while the ship’s company were at their supper, he was agreeably surprised to see his messmate come alongside, and he soon afterwards went on shore, leaving orders for a boat to be sent to bring him off at day-light. During the night it came on to blow very hard; and next morning, on repairing to the place where he expected a boat would be, Mr. Tucker found such a sea running that it was utterly impossible for one to approach the shore, and he could perceive the people on board the Sceptre busily employed in striking lower-yards and top-masts: the wind continued to increase during the day, until it blew a hurricane, and the sea to roll in from the ocean, in almost resistless billows: before 8 P.M. the Sceptre and most of the vessels in the bay were ashore; she soon went to pieces, and her captain, the third and fourth lieutenants, the master, the captain’s son and three other midshipmen, two warrant officers, and about 280 of her crew perished. A list of those who escaped this terrible catastrophe will be found at p. 222 of Suppl. Part I.
