propriety of standing out to sea, and deferring the debarkation till a more favourable opportunity. At this moment, a vessel was brought alongside of Captain Popham, which had been cut out from the Lighthouse battery by the Vigilant ; the report from which was, that the force in the garrisons of Ostend, Nieuport, and Bruges, was but slight. On the receipt of this intelligence General Coote proposed to land immediately, even if the surf, which broke with much violence on the shore, should make his retreat doubtful. To this spirited proposal Captain Popham acceded, and instantly ordered the troops to be landed, without waiting for the regular order of debarkation. Such was the alacrity displayed upon this occasion, that many of them actually reached the shore, under protection of the gun-boats, before they were discovered. It was one o'clock in the morning when the squadron first came to an anchor; by four, a considerable number of the troops was landed; and it was not until a quarter past, that the enemy's batteries opened on the ships. The fire was immediately returned, in a most spirited manner, by Captain Mortlock of the Wolverene, Lieutenant Edmonds of the Asp, and Lieutenant Norman of the Biter. From the precision with which the Hecla and Tartarus bombs threw their shells, the town was several times on fire, and the ships in the basin were much damaged. As a feint to cover the operations of bringing up the materials, and of destroying the sluices, a summons was sent to the commandant of Ostend to surrender the town and its dependencies to his Majesty's forces; to which he returned an answer, that the council of war had unanimously resolved not to surrender the place until they should have been buried under its ruins.

At length, by five o'clock, the whole of the troops were landed, together with a body of sailors, and all the necessary implements for destroying the sluices, covered by the gunboats.

The fire from the batteries having much damaged the vessels opposed to them, Captain Popham called them off, and directed the Dart, Harpy, and Biter, to take their stations;

but, it being low water, they were incapable of getting sufficiently near to produce much effect. At half-past nine the Minerva transport, which had parted company, joined; but, from the circumstance of the surf running very high, it was impossible for the troops which she had on board to participate in the military operations.

The party which had landed marched directly to the sluicegates; and, at twenty minutes past ten, a great explosion took place, which indicated their total destruction.

The canal, which it was the object of the assailants to destroy, was a grand national work, which had cost the States of Bruges an immense sum of money, and had taken the labour of five years to complete. The sluice-gates were indeed demolished, and several boats were burnt, but the explosion failed in its intended extent. That failure, however, was by no means attributable to Captain Popham; his activity and skill, throughout the affair, reflected on him the highest credit.

When, in 1799, a treaty had been entered into between Great Britain and Russia, by which the latter was to furnish a certain number of ships and men for the projected expedition against Holland, Capt. Popham was sent to Cronstadt, in the Nile lugger, in the capacity of a British commissary, to superintend and facilitate the embarkation of the Russian troops.

The Emperor Paul having expressed a wish that the Nile lugger should be brought up close to the palace of Peterhoff, for his own immediate inspection, Captain Popham repaired thither, and was almost immediately honoured with an imperial visit. The satisfaction which the emperor felt at his reception, and at the manoeuvring of the lugger, in which he enjoyed a fine sail, induced him to repeat his visit on the following day, accompanied by the empress, the prince and princesses, and a large retinue. On the first occasion, it may be presumed that Captain Popham was fully prepared to receive his royal guest, and that he was enabled to treat him

accordingly; but, on the second visit, the imperial party's entertainment consisted only of some ship-beef and biscuit, and God save the King!' sung by British tars.

The satisfaction which Captain Popham afforded to their imperial majesties was not rewarded with empty compliments. Amongst other distinguishing marks of royal favour, the emperor, in person, presented him with a very elegant gold snuffbox, set with diamonds, and a large picture of the donor. The empress also sent him a diamond ring of considerable value.

About this time the Emperor Paul had assumed the title of Grand Master of the order of St. John of Jerusalem; which enabled him, as a mark of his particular esteem, to confer upon Captain Popham the cross of Malta. This honor was afterwards confirmed to him by his Britannic Majesty. It is said he was the only knight of the order whose promotion was formally recognised at the court of St. James's.

After visiting several of the Russian ports, and travelling 600 miles within the polar circle, upon a secret mission of importance, Sir Home took leave of their imperial majesties, in order to return to England, where, after a boisterous passage, he arrived safely.

Worn out by incessant fatigue, and assailed by illness, he sought a short repose in his domestic residence at Weybridge, whither he retired; but, no sooner had returning health invigorated his frame, than he engaged, with renewed ardour, in the active service of his country. In the same winter (1799), he went over to Holland; and when the Duke of York took the command, and advanced into the country, he had the good fortune of rendering great and essential service to the combined English and Russian armies. Jointly with Captain Godfrey, of the navy, Sir Home was entrusted with the command of three gun-boats, on the canal of Alkmaar. By the skilful management of this little flotilla, the flanks of the British were protected, and the advancing columns of the Gallo-Batavian army so much annoyed, that, in his public

dispatches, the Duke of York expressed himself highly indebted to Sir Home Popham and Captain Godfrey for their

assistance.

Sir Home Popham's numerous services had now rendered him so conspicuous that some pecuniary reward from Government was deemed requisite; and accordingly, on the 26th of December, 1799, he had an annual pension of 500l. settled upon him, payable out of the fund arising from the duties of 4 per cent. in Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands, to be continued to his widow.

In the course of the year 1800 he was employed in the equipment of an important expedition; and, on the 5th of December in that year, he sailed for the East Indies with a squadron of four sail of the line.

One of the immediate objects of this expedition, was to convey a detachment of troops from the Cape of Good Hope up the Red Sea. As it had been determined by the English cabinet to drive the French from Egypt, it was wisely resolved, at the same time, to make use of all the resources presented by our foreign dominions, for the purpose of giving every possible assistance to Sir Ralph Abercrombie, in an attempt at once so perilous and important. Asia accordingly poured forth her motley-coloured inhabitants, while a detachment of 1200 men was ordered from the Cape of Good Hope, which had been recently wrested from the Dutch. On Sir Home's arrival at the latter place, the necessary preparations were made for the embarkation of the troops; and he sailed from thence on the 28th of February, 1801, having on board the two flank companies and one battalion of the 61st, the dismounted troopers of the 8th regiment of cavalry, together with a detachment of artillery; the remainder of the forces having been prevented from accompanying him by the prevalence of an infectious disorder.

On the 7th of May this little squadron, after a very dilatory passage, had reached Mocha; and on its arrival at Juddah, the Commodore was happy to find the division of troops

from India, under the command of General Baird, there. As it was of the utmost importance that this officer should arrive as soon as possible at the place of his destination, he was prevailed upon to accept of the accommodation of the Romney for himself and staff.

On the 7th of June, having reached Cosier, measures were immediately taken for disembarking the troops and stores. After this, the subject of the present memoir, at the express instance of the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian army, intended to have accompanied the detachment across the desert with a body of seamen, and even to have marched as far as Cairo; but he was prevented by orders from Admiral Blanket. He, however, proved eminently serviceable, by supplying small casks for the carriage of the water, in lieu of the mussacks which had been sent from India, and were now found defective. He also appears to have attended to the interests both of the Government and of the India Company, by a reduction of the enormous expence of tonnage, in respect to such vessels as had become unnecessary.

General Baird having marched for the Nile on the 30th of June, the Commodore left Cosier on the 2d of July, and visited Juddah and Mocha; and as the secret committee of the East India Company, at the request of Mr. Dundas, who then presided at the Board of Controul, had invested him with a political appointment, in order to enable him to treat with the Arabian Princes, he entered into a correspondence with the Sheriffe of Mecca, and several of the country powers; while Mirza Mehendy Ally Khawn, the native political resident from the Bombay Government at Juddah, proposed to dethrone his Holiness, under pretence of being an usurper.

Soon after this, instead of repairing to Bombay for stores and provisions, Captain Sir Home Popham deemed it more eligible to proceed to Calcutta, in order to have an interview with the Governor-General in person; which was afterwards converted into a charge against him. Accordingly, after a passage of seventeen days from the Red Sea, the Romney ar