hands were very much burnt, owing to the shortness of the rope, which brought him up before his body reached the water.
Mr. Ryves’s next appointment was as First Lieutenant of the Grafton 74, Captain Sir John Hamilton; which ship being in the Bay of Biscay, on her passage to the East Indies, rolled all her masts away, and was consequently obliged to put back.
A general peace having taken place, and the Grafton being put out of commission, Lieutenant Ryves made a tour on foot over part of France, Switzerland, Alsace, the Duchy of Luxembourg, and Flanders. In 1788 he was appointed first Lieutenant of the Aurora frigate; and in Feb. 1795, to the Arethusa: which latter ship formed part of the fleet sent to Quiberon Bay, for the purpose of co-operating with the French royalists, and was subsequently employed cruising on the coast of France.
In Oct. 1795, our officer was promoted to the rank of Commander, and appointed to the Bull-Dog sloop of war, then in the West Indies; to which station he proceeded as a passenger in the Colossus 74, one of the fleet commanded by Rear-Admiral Christian, and destined for the reduction of the French colonies[1].
On his arrival at St. Lucia, the Bull-Dog being absent, Captain Ryves landed with a body of seamen and during the ensuing operations in that island, was employed in assisting the troops, making roads, and transporting guns, one of which, a 24-pounder, to the surprise of the. artillerymen of the army, who considered it impossible to be accomplished, was mounted upon one of the highest hills, and from thence threw the only point-blank shot which fell into the Morne Fortunée. After the conquest of the island, Captain Ryves remained on shore with 400 seamen, to remove the cannon from the British advanced batteries into the Morne; a service of extreme fatigue, the rainy season having set in, and the detachment having nothing but the bare earth to lie on.
- ↑ The disasters of the fleet under Rear-Admiral Christian are well known, aud have already been noticed by us. See Vol. I, note †, at p. 89; and Vol. II. p. 96, et seq.
