PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
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306
The SERVICES of the NAVAL BRIGADE in the MALAY PENINSULA. Acknowledgments of the Major-General Commanding the Foroes engaged. (No. 20.)
"Audacious," at Singapore, January 20, 1876. SUBMITTED for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty with reference to my letter of the 17th instant.
The Secretary of the Admiralty.
SIB,
A. P. RYDER, Vice-Admiral, Commander-in-Chief.
Head Quarters, Penang, January 11, 1876.
On the probable conclusion of active operations in Perak district of the combined naval and military expeditionary force, I beg to be allowed to express to you my sincere thanks and acknowledgments for the cordial and able assistance I have at all times received from you as serior naval officer during these operations, as well as for the per- sonal courtesy and kindness I have experienced while on board Her Majesty's ships commanded by yourself, Commander Singleton, Commander Stirling, and Commander Bruce. I also beg to express my grateful sense of the alacrity in providing for, and attention to, the men's comfort shown by these officers while the troupe were on board their respective vessels.
I shall esteem it a great favour if you will oblige us by conveying to the officers, petty officers, and men of the Naval Brigade forming part of the Perak expeditionary force my high appreciation of their indefatigable exertions during the whole period of a very arduous advance by water as well as by land. In the former, the labour under- taken by the men, unaccustomed to the work of poling against a strong current, and under a hot sun, was excesive; and on the land, from the extreme badness of the jungle road, the heavy weight of ammunition and rockets to be carried, the exposure at night, and occasional shortness of provisions, the service was a most trying one.
On both occasions the cheerful willingness, the good spirits and temper that invariably prevailed, excited my warmest admiration, nor must I omit to refer to the promptitude with which, as occasion required, the rockets were brought into action, and the good service done by them. In conclusion, I beg to assure you of the honour I have felt it to best be associated, in command with the Naval Brigade, on this occasion, and of wishes for their welfare and happiness.
Captain Alexander Baller,
Commanding H.M.S. "Modeste,"
Senior Naval Officer.
my
I have, &c. (Signed) FRANCIS COLBORNE,
Major-General Commanding Forces, China and Straits Settlements.
The following despatches have already appeared in the public newspapers :—
"Audacious," Hong Kong, December 8, 1875.
SIR,
I HAVE the honour to forward herewith, to be laid before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, reports of proceedings addressed to me by Commander Francis Stir- ling of H.M.S." Thistle," dated respectively the 12th and 16th of November 1875, showing the progress of events up to the latter date.
2. In submitting these reports I have the honour to draw their Lordships' attention to the position in which Sub-Lieutenant Thomas F. Abbott was placed on the 2nd and 3rd of November, and the efficient way in which he anticipated and prevented the attacku of the Malays by fortifying the Residency at Banda Bahru, which probably discouraged the other tribes from joining in the aggressive movements of the murderers of Mr. Birch. I also wish to draw their Lordships' attention to the efficient services rendered by Com manders Francis Stirling, of H.M.S. «Thistle," and John Bruce, of H.M.S. “Fly,” as well as the officers and men under their command.
I have, &c.
(Signed) A. P. RYDER,
Vice-Admiral, Commander-in-Chief.
T
SIB,
309
Enclosure 1.
The Residency, Banda Bahru, November 12, 1875. I BEG to inform you that on the 10th instant I brought the "Thistle " up the river as far as Durian Sebatanj (about 45 miles from the mouth of the river), and then came up to the Residency to put myself in communication with Major Dunlop, tem. porary Special Commissioner in Perak. On the 11th (yesterday) I returned with Mr. Swettenham (Assistant Commissioner) to Durian Sebatanj, and moved the "Thistle" to a position more favourable for blockading the Upper Perak, and also for commanding Duriau Sebatanj, and we were also fortunate enough to secure the person of Hadji Alli, a native Chief on the enemy's side, by completely cutting off his retreat, when he sur- rendered. At the same time we secured & considerable amount of arms and ammunition destined for the interior.
I have stationed Captain Bruce at Durian Sabatanj for the present to superintend the transport of stores, &c., a work of some difficulty owing to the extreme shallowness of the river.
An attack in being organised on the enemy's stockade at Passir Sala as soon as suit- able guns and boats arrive from Singapore, probably in a few days.
I beg to enclose Sub-Lieutenant T. F. Abbott's report of events that have occurred here from the 1st of November, and would desire to bring strongly before your notice the great judgment and coolness he has displayed in circumstances of a most trying and difficult nature; and it is without doubt owing to his vigorous arrangements for the defence of the Residency (of which he was in charge after Mr. Birch's murder) that it was not attacked before the arrival of reinforcements. His Excellency the Governor bas also expressed to me his high appreciation of his conduct.
I have, &c. (Signed)
Vice-Admiral Alfred P. Ryder,
Commander-in-Chief, China Station.
SIR,
Sub-Enclosure 1.
F. STIRLING,
Commander and Senior Officer,
Straits of Malacca.
The Residency, Banda Bahru, Perak, November 6, 1875. I HAVE the honour to report to you, for the information of his Excellency the Governor of the Straits Settlements, the following events that have occurred in Perak since the 1st of November instant :---
Mr. Birch desired me to accompany him in his mission up the Perak River, to post the recent proclamations of the Governor and the notices connected with the future administration of the Government of Perak, and we left together; ourselves in the large boat, mounting a 3-pounder brass gun, attended by a sampan penjanj with 10 Sepoys of the Resident's guard armed with Saider rifles, and a small mortar, and by another sampan penjanj fitted up as a cooking boat. At about 5.30 p.m. on the evening of the 1st of November, we stayed at Passir Penjanj, where we dined, and pushing upwards imme- diately after dinner, we moored our boats at Passir Sala, near the Maharajah Lela's house, between 10 and 12 p.m., and slept there for the night.
A little after 6 o'clock on the following morning I crossed over to the opposite bank (Camponj Gaga) to shoot there, everything being quiet when I left, and when, after about three hours shooting, I returned to the river bank, I observed the Datu Sagor beckoning to me in an excited manner, and when he approached me with a number of armed men, he said Mr. Birch was dead, several Sepoys killed and others fled, and advised me to fly into the jungle. I, however, preferred to take to a sagar, accompanied by two boys (Solomons and a boatman) and we pushed to the middle of the river. One boat- man soou deserted, and having only a pole and a paddle we had great difficulty in managing the boat, a well-directed fire being kept up from the right bank principally, for half-way to the Residency, which I reached, however, without accident about
10.30 a.m.
Here I found one of our boats had already arrived with the intelligence, having on board the body of Mr. Birch's interpreter, Arshad, who died on the way down, and nine Sepoys (two of whom were severely and one slightly wounded), and both Mr. Birch's private servants.
The big boat and one sampan penjanj, containing the bram gun and mortar and ammu- nition, two blue ensigns, one Union Jack, several boxes of official records, 100 dollars in
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Auference :-
EPIC.O. 882
3 ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC.
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO