WILLIAM CLARKE JERVOISE, Esq.
(See p. 46.)
[Captain of 1828.]
On the 15th Jan. 1830, this officer, then in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia, addressed his commander-in-Chief as follows:
“Sir,– I avail myself of the only opportunity which has occurred, by the arrival of the Norfolk, on her way to India, to have the honor of informing yon, that I quitted Port Jackson in His Majesty’s ship Success; under my command, on the 27th of October, for the purpose of proceeding to Madras, in pursuance of instructions from Rear-Admiral Gage; and as I had to take the western passage through Bass’s Strait, I deemed it of the utmost importance not to pass the new settlement of Swan River, without ascertaining whether my services might not be required; particularly as the Governor of Port Jackson remained in ignorance of its fate, and strong rumours existing of a powerful French squadron having put to sea, to effect, if possible, a settlement before us; and as Captain Montague, in the Crocodile, had not succeeded in reaching it on his passage from India, I was the more desirous of satisfying myself with the state of the new colony for your information.
“It is now, Sir, with extreme concern, I have to report to you, that in the performance of this service the ship grounded on a reef off the south end of Pulo-Carnac, on the morning of the 28th Nov., whilst making for Cockburn Sound, and was not extricated until the 3d Dec, when, after being lightened of every thing except the ballast, site was hove off and warped into Cockburn Sound, a distance of seven miles.
“The damage was found to be considerable, having broken all the pintles of the rudder, part of the main keel gone, larboard bow stove in below the water line, and part of the stem carried away, which caused the ship to leak so much, that nothing but the most unparalleled exertion on the part of the officers and crew, with the most resolute determination to save the ship, could have kept her free. It is in the full confidence of a continuance of their extraordinary zeal and enthusiasm, that I am not without hopes of heaving the ship down, and putting her in such a state of repair as to be able to proceed, in furtherance of my orders, to Madras.
“Previous to my having attempted the passage, I took the precaution of ascertaining from the master, Mr. R. W. Millroy, (who was in the ship, and said he had sounded the passage, when commanded by Captain Stirling) whether he felt himself competent to take charge of the ship; to which he replied, with the utmost confidence, that he was fully capable, and recommended Cockburn Sound, as a much better and safer anchorage than Gage’s Roads, where I had otherwise intended to have gone.
