goldfields, tried to desert. Sargent advised the captain to put to sea at once, and when the crew refused to work the ship he placed a guard over them, and called for volunteers from his men, who weighed anchor and set sail. They continued to act as sailors for a week, and the crew were then allowed to resume work, having been kept during that time on bread and water.
He commanded the second battalion of the buffs at Malta till July 1862, when he was given the command of the first battalion in England. This he held till 6 Dec. 1864, when he sold out of the regiment to half pay. He had become colonel in the army on 29 July 1864. For some years he commanded the Inns of Court volunteers, and Mr. (now Sir Joseph) Chitty bore witness to his success in this position (Times, 2 Jan. 1867). On 1 April 1873 he was appointed to a brigade depôt at Milford Haven, and in the following year he was transferred to Oxford. He remained there till he was promoted major-general on 1 Oct. 1877. Much objection had been made to the placing of a military depôt at Oxford, but ‘he worked most cordially with the university and civic authorities … and materially assisted to disarm prejudice and popularise the army in this county’ (Jackson, Oxford Journal, 23 Nov. 1878). On 2 Jan. 1874 he had been given one of the rewards for distinguished service.
After declining the offer of a brigade at Aldershot in 1880, he accepted the command of the troops in China and the Straits Settlements, and held it for three years from 1 April 1882, his tenure of it being shortened by his promotion to lieutenant-general on 7 Oct. 1884. The war between France and China made it a post of unusual responsibility. On his departure in March 1885 he received a cordial address from the civil community, in which due recognition is made of his military skill and promptitude in defending British interests in Shanghai and Canton. He did much not only for the defence of the port of Hongkong, but also for the health of the troops, while maintaining strict order and discipline.
This was his last command. He was placed on the retired list on 1 April 1890, and was made colonel of the first battalion Inniskilling Fusiliers on 17 Jan. 1891. He died at Mount Mascal, near Bexley, on 20 Oct. 1893. A man of great strength and tenacity, of kindly, leonine aspect, impetuous yet shrewd, he was an enthusiastic soldier.
He was twice married: first, on 10 March 1852, to Miss R. S. Champion, who died on 26 July 1858; and secondly, on 28 July 1863 to Alice M., second daughter of Thomas Tredwell of Lower Norwood, Surrey. He left several children.
[Kinglake's War in the Crimea, vols. ii. and v.; London Gazette, 4 Nov. 1860; record of services; Times obituary, 24 Oct. 1893; private information.]
SARIS, JOHN (d. 1646), merchant and sea-captain, appears to have gone out to the East Indies in 1604 with Sir Henry Middleton [q. v.] In October 1605, when Middleton sailed from Bantam for the homeward voyage, Saris was left there as one of the factors for the East India Company; and there he remained till 1609, when he returned to England. On 18 April 1611 he went out again as captain of the Clove and commander of the eighth voyage, the ships with him being the Hector and the Thomas. After touching at the Cape of Good Hope, and making a tedious voyage through the Mozambique Channel and down the East Coast of Africa, they arrived at Mocha on 16 March 1611–12. At Assab Saris was joined by Middleton, anxious to revenge the indignities which had been offered him in the previous year; but a quarrel between the two—principally, it would seem, on the question of precedence—prevented their obtaining adequate compensation, and in August they separated with an angry feeling towards each other. Saris went to Bantam, where he arrived on 24 Oct.
He had instructions from the governor of the company to endeavour to open a trade with Japan, and was charged with presents and a letter from James I to the emperor. On 14 Jan. 1612–13 he sailed from Bantam in the Clove; and after visiting the Moluccas, where the influence of the Dutch rendered it impossible for him to procure a lading, he anchored on 11 June at Firando, where also the Dutch had a small factory. Here he was joined by William Adams [q. v.], who was sent from Saruga to act as interpreter and conduct him to the emperor's court. Journeying by way of Facata, the Straits of Xemina-seque (Simonoseki), Osaca, and thence to Fushimi (Miaco), they on 6 Sept. reached Suruga, where the court was; ‘a city full as big as London.’ On the 7th the emperor bid Saris welcome of so weary journey, receiving his Majesty's letter from the general by the hands of the secretary (Rundall, p. 66). A few days later Saris journeyed to Quanto (Kyoto), distant some forty-five leagues, to see the emperor's eldest son, and then, returning to the court, he received the emperor's commission and privileges, authorising the agents of the company to reside and trade in any part of Japan. With these he set out again for Firando; and after
