Page:Tupper family records - 1835.djvu/53

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ing the Alacrity brig, having applied to Captain Pechell, on the voyage from Gibraltar to Malta, for an officer capable of taking charge of a watch, Mr. Tupper was selected for that purpose. Captain Yorke wished him to remain on board the brig, but he preferred joining the flag ship, and a flattering testimonial of Captain Yorke's approbation was found among his papers, when received in Guernsey after his decease. I Being placed on the admiralty list for advancement, through the interest of a relative residing in London, he was, while at Smyrna, promoted from the Revenge into the Seringapatam frigate ; but Captain Pechell * was so satisfied with his conduct, during the short period he was under his orders, that he prevailed upon the admiral to transfer him to the Sybille, and Lieutenant Tupper, as gladly as unfortunately for himself, joined the latter ship, which was distinguished on the station for superior gunnery and discipline. She was what is termed "a crack frigate;" her commander was not only a scientific, but an expe- rienced and zealous officer ; and young men of the first families and interest were then serving under him.f

The Sybille was at Alexandria, on her way from Malta to the coast of Syria, when intelligence was received by Mr. Salt, the well known oriental traveller and the British consul general in Egypt, of the plun- der of a Maltese and a Sardinian vessel by a strong party of Greek pirates, who had taken possession of a small barren island on the southern coast of Candia, and whose treatment of both the crews had been attended with circumstances of great atrocity. Cap-

  • Captain Pechell, C. B., succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his

father, the 18th June, 1826, on which day the rencontre at Candia took place.

t Some mention is made of the Sybille, her captain, and the attack of the pirates at Candia in Whychcotte of St. John's. — Vide Appendix B, No. 3.

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