The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-01-28 00:00:00

REPORT OF CAPTAIN TROTTER

Sir,—l have only time, on landing from the Warre mer-
chant schooner (in order to save a post), to beg you will in-
form the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty of my
arrival from Fernando Po, which I left on the 23d of Novem-
ber, at the recommendation of the medical officers, for the
re-establishment of my health.
Although now almost entirely recovered, tendency to at-
tacks of ague make it advisable that I should not travel by
night, hut I hope-to be able to report myself at the Admiralty
the day after to-morrow at furthest.
I regret to be obliged to report the death of Lieutenant
Stenhouse, Mr. Woodhouse, assistant-surgeon, and Mr.
Wilmot, clerk of the Albert, and one seaman and a marine
belonging to the same ship,. since I last wrote to their lord-
ships, on the 25th of October, besides a seaman of the
Soudan, on the passage home with me from Africa; but the
remainder of the crew of the Albert, I am happy to say, were
all getting better, and are by this time, I hope, safely arrived
at Ascension.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
Liverpool, Jan. 25

H. D. TROTTER, Captain
To the Secretary of the Admiralty.

Her Malesty's steam-vessel Albert, Clarence-cove,
Fernando Po, Oct. 25,1811.
Sir,—My last letter to you, dated the 18th of September.
from the confluence of the Niger and Tchadda, would ac-
quaint the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that fever
had broken out on board the ships of the expedition, and
that I had found it necessary to dispatch the Soudan to the
sea with all the cases the surgeons deemed to require a change
of climate, directing Lieutenant Fishbourne to take charge of
her in the absence of Commander Bird Allen, engaged in his
ditty of commissioner.
I also informed their lordships in the same letter that the
Albert was about to proceed up the Niger and the Wilber-
force up the Tchadda, in prosecution of the objects of the
mission.
After the departure of the Soudan, however, two of the
engineers of the Wilberforce were taken ill, and the crew had
become weakened by an increased number of cases of fever
that Commander William Allen found it impossible to proceed
up the Tchadds,.and I accordingly ordered him to take his
vessel forthwith to the sea, and, if necessary, on to Ascension.
As there was still an engineer quite well on board the
Albert, and another convalescent, and 1 considered the ship
in other respects quite able to continue longer up the river ;
and as Dr. M`William, the surgeon, thought the fever, when
we reached higher up the stream, might probably assume a
milder character, and the change of air might soon restore
the patients still remaining on board, who were not desirous
of going in the Wilberforce to the sea; and it being of im-
portance to reach Rabbah this year, to finish the chain of
treaties with chiefs on the banks of the Niger, 1 deemed it
my duty to try the experiment, and accordingly I weighed at
the same time with the Wilberforce, on the 21st of Septem-
ber, and the Albert proceeded up the river while she moved

down.
The cases of sickness, however, continued to increase, till
at length, when we got to Egga, on the 28th of September,
the only remaining engineer was taken ill, and no officers,
excepting Dr. M' William, Mr. Willie, mate, and myself,
were free from fever. We continued wooding and preparing

;oreturn down the river till the 4th of October, wlienl was

myself seized with fever, and Mr. Willie a day Or two after-

On the sth of October Mr. Willie weighed and dropped
down the river, but was soon prevented by sickness from
carrying on duty ; and Dr. M`William, assisted by only one
white seaman, lately recovered from fever, took charge of

the vessel, not thinking' it right, in my state of fever, to
report Mr. Willie's illness. _ .

[Capt. Trotter then feelingly describes the difficulties they
had to encounter in working the vessel down the river, and
pays a well-merited tribute to the exertions and ability of
Drs. Stanger, and M`William. When they were about 100
miles from sea, Capt. Becroft providentially made his appear-
ance, and his assistance is considered of such paramount
importance, that Capt. Trotter has presented him with £lO5,
and his engineer with £lO 10s.]
Capt. Trotter then proceeds—
The Soudan, as alluded to before, left the Confluence on
her passage down the river on the 19th of September, under
charge of Lieut. Fisbburne, with the master, a mate, and the
second engineer able to do a little duty ; but on the following
day these officers were too ill to afford Mr. Fishbourne any
assistance. He had, however, two stokers able to drive the
engines, who were for a time well enough to do duty, and he
reached the mouth of the Nun in the short space of two days
afterwards. During the last 24 hours before reaching Fer-
nando Po, he was compelled to work the engines and do
every other duty himself. Such exertions could not fail to
hurt his health, and he was seized with fever at this place
after his arrival, though I am happy to say he was doing well
on board the Wilberforce when she sailed for Ascension.
I beg strongly to recommend the zeal and exertions of this
officer for the favourable consideration of their lordships.
The. Soudan opportunely met the Dolphin at the mouth of
the Nun, and received prompt assistance from her com-
mander, who embarked 35 patients, (all that were fit to be
removed,) and sailed with them for Ascension, under charge
of Mr. Sterling, assistant-surgeon of the Wilberforce.
Before the Soudan reached Fernando Po, Mr. Marshall,
acting-surgeon, and Mr. Waters, clerk in charge, fell a sacri-
fice to the climate, and a stoker of the Soudan. and the sea-
men's schoolmaster of the Albert, died after their arrival.
Mr. Thompson, assistant-surgeon of the Wilberforce, had
charge of the sick on board the Soudan on her passage down
the river, and his exertions and fatigue, from which he is
now suffering, were only equalled by those of Mr. Fishbourne.
The Wilberforce left the Confluence on the 21st of Septem-
ber, but, owing to the necessity of cutting fuel, did not reach
the mouth of the Nun until the 25th, nor Fernando Po till
the Ist of October. Dr. Pritchett, the acting surgeon of that
ship, had 26 cases under treatment when she left the Con-
fluence, and the number increased afterwards, and I can as-
sure their lordships that the exertions of that officer were of
no ordinary kind, and his duties on the way to Ascension,
now that he has no assistant, are likely to be still more ar-
duous; this officer's services, and those of Mr. Thompson,
acting-surgeon of the Soudan, render them highly deserving
of their lordships' consideration for promotion. The In-
spector of Fleets and Naval Hospitals will, when he receives
their report, be well able to judge of their merits and arduous
services on this expedition.
[The exertions of the officers on board are then detailed
with touching commiseration, and are strongly recommended
to the consideration of the Lords of the Admiralty; and
Captain Trotter states that the Niger is quite unfit for white
constitutions, and in future as few as possible will be con-
tinued in the swam-vessels.]
The following concludes Captain Trotter's report :
Captain Becroft, whose knowledge of the river exceeds
that of any other person, is of opinion (and I quite concur
with him on the subject) that the Niger should not be entered
before the beginning of July, as it is doubtful whether the
river will have sufficiently risen to insure the passage up
without detention, so that their lordships may calculate upon
the Albert and Wilberforce remaining at Ascension till the
Ist of June.
It will be necessary for one steam-vessel to go up the
Niger next year, as I left the Amelia tender at the Conflu-
ence of the Niger and the Tchadda, for the protection of the
people of the model farm. Not thinking it right to leave up
the river any white person after the fatal sickness we had
experienced, I placed the vessel in charge of a trustworthy
black, with 12 other natives of Africa under him, all intelli-
gent steady men.
Their lordships will remember that they gave permission
for the utensils of the model farm to be carried out by the
expedition, which were landed at the desire of Mr. Can, the
superintendent, at a spot which he selected for the site of the
farm, situated immediately opposite to the Confluence ; and
as Mr. Can made a request for naval protection to his people
in the absence of the steamers, which I considered very rea-
sonable, I obtained volunteers to remain there in the Amelia
before the Albert went to Egga ; and on my return to the
Confluence I was too ill to do duty, but Dr. AP William, at
my desire, sent nine months' provisions on board, and
cowries were left to buy several months more. In our dis-
tressed state it would have been impossible to tow the
Amelia down the river, but, independently of that consider-
ation, it was, I conceive, necessary to leave a vessel for the
protection of the farm people.
It is also very desirable that a vessel should get up to Bab-
bah, if possible, next year, not only to complete a series of
treaties which have been already commenced, but to show
the people of Rabbah that a man-of-war can get up to their
town ; and the presence of one of her Majesty's vessels there
might, I conceive, have a beneficial effect in their future
treatment of the Nufi.nation, whom we found much oppressed
by the Felatahs, and also tend much to the extinction of the
slave trade in the upper part of the Niger. This, however,