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Mr. TOUCHET then moved that the thanks of the meeting be given to the Sheriff for his ready compliance with the request made to him for the purpofe of convening the meeting, and alfo for his very proper conduct in the chair, which was unanimously agreed to.

FORT WILLIAM, Oct. 26, 1800. In pursuance of the notice circulated on the 16th inftant, the Committee appointed to prepare the addrefies voted at a general meeting held the 8th, met at the theatre this morning; from whence they proceeded, accompanied by a great number of the British inhabitants, to the Government Houfe, where they arrived about ten o'clock, and had the honour of being introduced to the Moft Noble the GovernorGeneral; when Major General Popham, the chairman of the committee, having read and prefented the addreffes to the Moft Noble the Governor General, his lordship was pleafed to make the following reply:

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"GENTLEMEN,

"The unanimity and promptitude of your procedings on the fubject of this dutiful and loyal addrefs to his Majefty, furnifh an additional teftimony of your ftedfaft attachment to his royal perfon, family, and government, and of your un alienable affection for your native country.

"It muft ever afford me fincere fatisfaction to obferve the happy effects of fuch fentiments in your minds; and I fhall always be ready to embrace any opportunity of fubmitting to his Majefty the renewed pledges of your loyalty, duty, and public fpirit.

"On the prefent occafion, I can not convey to you my approbation of your addrefs to his Majefty, without feeling the emotions from which it proceeded, and without

participating in the fentiments which it has juftly expreffed.

"In the fame fpirit, therefore, which has animated your breafts, I acknowledge with you the fignal favour of Divine Providence, which has defended the invaluable life of our moft gracious Sovereign in fo great a peril; which has rendered the danger of his facred perlon a new bond of the loyalty and affec. tion of his faithful people; and has preferved his royal virtues to be the ornament and ftrength of his throne, and the bulwark of our laws, liber, ties, and religion. (Signed)

"WELLESLEY."

TREATY WITH THE NIZAM

FORT WILLIAM, Oct. 20, 1830. THIS day difpatches have been received by the most noble the Governor General in Council, from Captain Kirkpatrick, refident at the court of Hyderabad, announcing that on the 12th inftant, a Treaty of perpetual and general defenfive Alliance was concluded between the Honourable East India Company, and his Highness the Subahdar of the Deccan, whereby his Highnefs, in commutation for the fubfidy payable to the Honourable Company, has ceded to the Honourable Company in perpetual fovereignty, all the territories acquired by his Highnefs, un. der the treaty of Seringapatam on the 18th of March 1792; and alfo all the territories acquired by his Highnefs, under the treaty of My, fore on the 22d of June 1799, with the exception of certain districts fituated to the northward of the river Tumbuddra, which are retained by his Highnefs in exchange for the provinces of Adoni and Nundyal, and for all his Highness's remaining poffeffions and dependencies fituated to the fouthward of the river Tum, buddra, and of the river Kristna,

below

below its junction with the Tum
baddra, the provinces of Adoni and
Nandyal, and all the faid districts,
polletions, and dependencies of his
Highnefs, fituated to the fouthward
of the Tumbuddra, and of the Kri
na below its junction with the Tam-
buddra, being ceded to the Honour
able Company.

The annual revenues of the countries ceded by this treaty to the Honourable Company, amount (according to the valuations contained in the fchedules of the late Tippoo

Sultaun, and of his Highness the Subahdar of the Deccan,) to fixtytwo lacks, feventy-four thoufand and two hundred and fixty-two rupees.

Ordered, that a royal falute be immediately fired from the garrifon of Fort William in honour of this occafion.

By command of the Moft Noble the
Governor General in Council
(Signed) G. H. BARLOW,
Chief Sec. to the Gov.

LONDON, 1ft January 1801.

LOSS OF THE QUEEN EAST INDIAMAN.

THE following is an extract of a letter from an officer on board the Kent Indiaman, dated from St. Salvadore, on the coaft of Brazil, the 17th of July 1800.

"We fhould have left this place ere now, but for a melancholy acci. dent which has befallen the Queen Indiaman, which had put in here with us a few days fince, for want of water. On the 9th, between two and three o'clock a. m. our officer who had the watch on deck, difcovered a fmoke iffuing from the gunroom ports of the Queen, which was moored a little way from us. Immediately we called the captain and officers, for although no alarm was given from the Queen, yet; as the was evidently on fire, every exertion was made to man our boats, with the fire-engines, buckets, &c. for their affiftance; but within a few minutes of our difcovering the Imoke, fhe was completely in flames from ftern to the bows, and in a few minutes more the three mafts were overboard. Unfortunately it blew very fresh, and a current of at leaft three or four knots. This of courfe rendered it difficult for the boats to get along-fide to fave the people,

and fo rapid were the flames, that about thirty foldiers perished below decks, being unable to get up the hatchways. All the officers of the fhip are faved; and fortunately for us, the current carried her clear of the bay, and the drove a confiderable diftance before fhe blew up, about 7, a.m.-The caufe of the fire is not afcertained, as no perfon had been in the gun-room after eight o'clock; and although feveral people flept over the gun-room fcuttle, the fmoke was not difcovered till near three o'clock. The fcene was dreadful, from the cries of between 2 and 300 men, and many perishing in the flames and fea. Thofe that are faved are almost entirely naked, from being hurried out of their beds. The remaining troops, and all the pafengers, (about 300,) proceed in the Kent to India. There are five ladies, and General St. John and family are accommodated by the captain of the Kent with his cabin apartment.

"Mot of the paffengers, Captain Craig, and fome of the officers, were afhere at the time. Unfortunately fix of the paffengers and feventy of the arew perished. The

knife from his pocket, and put an immediate end to his life, by cut

"This is the third Eaft Indiaman which has been deftroyed by fire fince the year 1791. The two former were the Princefs Amelia and the Earl Fitzwilliam. The commanders of all the three fhips were, however, faved."

first mate, Mr. John Craig, was on
board, and did not leave the fhip
till the very laft moment, after having his throat.
ing done every thing that it was
poffible for a man to do. The only
way in which this dreadful difafter
can be accounted for is, that imme-
diately upon the arrival of the
Queen at St. Salvadore, a guard of
Portugueze were fent on board, to
prevent, as they faid, fmuggling;
and a gun-boat at the fame time
was laid along-fide of her, the crew
of which kept a fire of wood con.
ftantly burning; fome of it, it is
fuppofed, they threw in at the fcut-
tle-hole of the gun-room, for it was
there the fire was firft difcovered,
and no one of the fhip's company had
been near it with a candle.

"Among the unfortunate fuf. ferers on board was Edward Mayne, Efq. jun. of Powis Logie, in Scot. land, writer in the fervice of the Hon. Eaft India Company. When just about to step into the boat which was to carry him from the awful fcene, he recollected that there was an unfortunate paflenger confined by ficknefs to his cabin. He dew to rescue him from the im. pending deftruction, and in a fhort time appeared with the hapless in. valid on his fhoulders. Alas! it was too late; the boat had put off, and in a few minutes the fhip blew up.

"The fate of Mr. Smith alfo, a gentleman of the bar, was truly deplorable-In endeavouring to get from the hip, one of his arms was jammed between her and a boat lafhed along-fide, whilft the fire was raging near him, fo that apparently he was precluded from a poffibility of efcaping. In this dreadful di. lemma, he entreated fome of the people, who were getting over the hip's fide into another boat, to cut off his arm, that he might join them; which not being complied with, he contrived to take a pen.

CAPTURE OF THE KENT

EAST INDIAMAN.

On Tuesday, March 3, the following account was received in town of the capture of the Hon. Company's fhip Kent, Captain RIVINGTON, after an engagement of confi derable duration, with the Confance, a French privateer of 26 guns, and 250 men, Capt. SURCOUFF, off the Sand Heads.

On Tueday morning the 7th of October lati, a trange fail was difcovered in the N. W. quarter; the Kent at that time was lying to for a pilot, and Captain Rivington, conceiving the veffel in fight to be a pilot fchooner, immediately bore down, hoifted his colours, and made the fignal for a pilot; the stranger upon this made fail and hauled up towards the Kent, It was foon af, terwards difcovered that the was a fhip, the hands were immediately called to quarters, and the fhip prepared for action: upon her approach to the Kent, as the fhewed no co. lours, a fhot was fired at her from the larboard fide, which was fol. lowed up, as the paffed upon the ep. pofite tack, by a broadfide, and a conftant fire kept up while the was within reach of the guns. The pri vateer, for it was now- afcertained to be one, foon afterwards tacked, came up on the larboard fide, and commenced the engagement within about muflet fhot, but without doing much injury, although the continued in this pofition for fome

time:

:

the: fhe then got a-head, and paling round the bow of the Kent, renewed the engagement on the other fide, nearly at the fame diftance, and for the fame length of time, but with as little effect as before. She afterwards made fail ahead, as if with an intention of relinquishing the attack, and making off, which the could eafily have done, having greatly the fuperiority in failing when he had got about the distance of half a mile a-head of the Kent, fhe was, however, obferved to haul her mainfail up, and wear round immediately towards her, and in about ten or fifteen minates afterwards, or as foon as her guns would bear, fhe, for the first time, hoifted the National colours (Surcoff afterwards declared that he had forgot them before), and fired a broadfide and volley of mufquetry from every part of the fhip, which was immediately returned by the Kent, and continued while her guns would bear: the privateer then wearing round her ftern, ran ged clofe up along-fide and received afull difcharge from the Kent's starhoard guns; at this moment fhe fred a whole broadfide, and threw a number of hand grenades from her tops into the Kent, fome of which penetrated the upper deck, and barft on the gun deck; at the fame rime a fire of musketry was kept up from her tops, which killed and wounded a number of paffengers and truits that were on the quarter deck and poop: when the ships were completely locked with each other, Captain Surcouff entered at the head of about 150 men, completely armed for boarding, having each a fabre and a brace of piltols; the contest upon, deck was now defperate, and laged for about twenty mi. nates; but the enemy having greatly the fuperiority, both in umbers and arms, were victorious, ad a dreadful carnage enfued, they

fhewing no quarter to any one who came in their way, whether with or without arms; and fuch was their favage cruelty, that they even stab. ed fone of the fick in bed.

Upon gaining poffeffion of the poop, the French immediately cut down the colours, and foon after this had complete poffession of the hip.

Captain Surcouff finding fome difinclination in his crew to board, had been under the neceffity of plying them feveral times with liquor, as well as to promife them an hour's pillage in the event of their carrying the fhip; and this time they completely occupied, breaking open every package they could come at, and even taking the coats, hats, fhoes, &c. from the perfons of the officers and paffengers.

From the commencement of the action until the time the French were in poffeffion of the fhip, was about an hour and forty-feven minates, and from the gallant manner in which the officers and crew of the Kent behaved while the fhips were clear of each other, there is not a doubt but he would have overcome the privateer; but there being a very great deficiency of fmall arms, they had no means of repelling fuch a number of boarders, fo well prepared for clofe action; and Captain Surcouff acknowledged, that had he not fucceeded in carrying her, kis own thip must foon have funk along.fide.

It is with extreme regret we add, that Captain Rivington, after the moft manly conduct in the defence of his hip, fell by the musketry from the tops of the privateer, while Surcouff was in the act of boarding.

In the afternoon the officers, paffengers, and crew of the Keat, were fent on board an Arab vessel, and which had been plundered by the privateer the day before; they

after.

i

afterwards landed at Calcutta. Some of the feamen were, however, detained on board the privateer, and put in irons, with the hopes of inducing them to enter. The chief officer, furgeon, and furgeon's mate, with about thirteen of the moft dangerously wounded, were detained on board the Kent, under pretence of its requiring too much time to remove them.

Although the prize-mafter informed the unfortunate people who were fent on board the Arab, that there was abundance of provifions and water, yet, upon inquiry, there was found but a very fmall quantity of rain water, fcarcely equal to half-a-pint each per day, for four days, with a few dates and raw rice to fubfift on; and they were confequently reduced to the utmost diftrefs before they were relieved by one of the pilot fchooners which they met in the roads.

General St. John and his family were on board the Kent, and appear to have been particularly unfortunate. All his jewels, plate, and baggage, had been burnt on board the Queen, at St. Salvador, in July laft.

LIST of Officers, Scamen, Paffengers, and Troops, KILLED and WOUNDED on board the lon. Company's feip Kent, in action with La Confiance, French Privateer, off the Sand-Heads, in the Bay of Bengal, the 7th of October; in twenty-five fathoms

zwater.

[Published by Order of Government.] Killed.

Robert Rivington, Efq. commander
Mr. W. Cator, free-mierchant, Bengal
Mr. T. H. Graham, writer, do.
Mr. J. Findlay, carpenter
Mr. W. Pazely, boatswain's mate
Mr. R. Moore, cadet, Madras
Mr. Alex. Pentland, do. Madras

Corporal Wally, H. M. 10th regt. foot
T. Cooper, 76th do.

S. Cole, 27th light drag.

J. Davies, 25th do.
J. Pickering, 29th do.

J. Mullagen, Hon. C.'s recruit.

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Mr. R. Youl, 3d officer, dangeroufly Mr. J. Tween, 4th do. do. Capt. Pilkington, Aid-du-Camp to the Hon. Gen. St. John, do. Enfign Palmer, H. M. 10th regt. do. Enfign Byne, 76th do. do. William Karr, feaman Mr. J. Ewer, writer, Bengal Mr. J. Warner, cadet Mr. H. Gibfon, affifiant furgeon Mr. Charles Gohagan, cadet, Madras Mr. C. Mitchell, do. Mr. L. S. Smith, do. Corporal Spicer, 76th foot Corporal Finegan, 29th light drag. J Healing, private, do. J. Scawood, do. do. W. Colliers, 27th light drag. W. Potts, do. do. H. Perry, do. 5. Danics, 1oth regt. foot S. R. Gillings, do. G Wright, do. J. Griffiths, Hon. C.'s recruit H. Hayding, do. J. Garnerith, do. Adw. O'Neil, do.. J. Stafford, do. W. Dickson, do.

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