In 1823, Marryat was appointed to HMS "Larne" and took part in an expedition against Burma in 1824, which resulted in large losses from disease. He was promoted to command the 28-gun HMS "Tees", which gave him the rank of post-captain. He was back in England in 1826, and that year donated two Burmese curiosities to the British Museum, in an unsuccessful effort to become a trustee. In 1829, he was commanding the frigate HMS "Ariadne" on a search for shoals around the Madeira and Canary Islands. This was an uninspiring exercise, and as his first novel "The Naval Officer" had just been published, he decided to resign his commission in November 1830 and take up writing full time.