THE LATE CAPTAIN RICHARD BUCKOLL. What though no sculptur'd pile your name displays Records your dreadful daring with applause; Yet shall Remembrance from oblivion's veil BIOG FALCONER. IOGRAPHY would lose a very considerable portion of its interest, if alone confined to record the prowess of men of distinguished rank; if, like the minstrels of old, it merely followed the train of the rich and powerful, and only called forth its energies to celebrate the hero that was successful, or the monarch that was renowned. In the continuance of our memoirs it is therefore necessary occasionally to vary their course, that the reader, who may have been gratified in tracing the progress of naval officers arrived at the higliest rank in the Profession, may also be duly sensible of the various dangers by which others, of equal merit, have been early arrested in their career of glory; or worn out with age, and long service unrewarded, have passed unheeded by, unable to surmount those obstacles which too much abound in all professions, to the detriment of unassuming merit, and zeal that has no patron. The subject of our present memoir, Mr. Richard Buckoll, was of the former class. He received his education at Guilford, in the county of Surry, where he was born on the 23d of June 1771. His early patron, Admiral Sir Francis Geary, being much struck with the open character and daring spirit of the boy, recommended to his friends to send him without loss of time to Mr. Bettesworth's academy at Chelsea, that he might prepare himself for the naval profession. Mr. Buckoll was accordingly sent thither; and Mol. II. N after making a most rapid progress through every branch of nautical science, in the month of February (1787) he joined the Adventure frigate, 44 guns, Captain Parry, bound for the coast of Africa. There are few officers who have made five voyages to the coast of Africa during the period of their continuing midshipmen-Mr. Buckoll by this means acquired considerable experience. The Adventure having returned to England in the month of June (1788), sailed again for the same station in the Autumn following. The health of Captain Parry being too precarious to allow him to undertake the voyage, the command of the Adventure devolved on Captain Inglefield, who came back in August (1789). This officer afterwards made three successive voyages to the coast of Guinea* in the Medusa, 50 guns, during the whole of which, as on the first, Mr. Buckoll accompanied him as midshipman. On his return to England Mr. Buckoll received fresh assurances of patronage from Sir Francis Geary; whose friendship was as steady as those principles which gave such a lustre to his character. In September (1791) the Medusa sailed again for Africa: being so continually exposed to the dangers of this unhealthy coast made no impression on the spirit of our young officer, though numbers daily fell around him; and he began to flatter himself that he was at length seasoned against all the contagion of the climate. After leaving this station at the usual period, the crew of the Medusa experienced, during their passage, considerable hardships: their whole allowance per day consisted of three quarters of a pound of biscuit, in so damaged a state as to be scarcely eatable. On reaching the island of *On the Guinea coast, the English trade to James Fort, and other settlements near and up the river Gambia; where they exchange their woollen and linen manufactures, their hardware, and spirituous liquors, for the persons of the natives By the treaty of peace in 1783, the river of Senegal, with its dependencies, was given up to France. Gold and ivory, next to the slave trade, form the principal branches of African commerce. These are carried on from the same coast, where the Dutch and French, as well as English, have their settlements for this purpose. Ascension, they caught great numbers of turtle; but even these, from being eat without moderation, added to the great scarcity of biscuit, had nearly proved fatal to many of them. Captain B. Hallowell, of the Scorpion, 16 guns, was left dangerously ill at Antigua, and the master of the Medusa died. Captain Inglefield immediately made Mr. Buckoll signal officer; a situation which prevented him from being so continually exposed to the night dews:-with the exception of a very few days, he had not now been on shore for upwards of five years, during which he experienced a variety of arduous duty, without once receiving the smallest reprimand from his superiors; nor did this fail of affording him at considerable comfort and support, as may be gathered from the following conclusion to one of his letters, that was written at this time: "Exclusive of the very short period I was under Captain Parry, my whole time has been served * Ascension Island lies on the coast of Africa, in W. longitude 17. 20. S. lat. 7.5. It was first discovered, as Mr. Forster informs us, in the year 1501, by Joao de Nova Galego, a Portuguese navigator, who named it Ilha, de Nossa Senbora de Conceicao. The same admiral on his return to Portugal, in 1502, discovered the island of St. Helena. Ascension was seen a second time by Alfonso d'Albuquerque, on his voyage to India in 1503, and then received the name it now bears; but was at that time in the same desolate, and barren state, in which it has since continued. The dreariness of this island surpasses all the horrors of Easter Island, and Tierro del Fuego, even without the assistance of snow. It consists of a ruinous heap of rocks, many of which seem to be totally changed by the fire of a volcano. Nearly in the centre of the island rises a broad white mountain of great height, which from some verdure that appeared upon it, has obtained the name of Green Mountain. Those parts of the lava which surround it, are covered with a prodigious quantity of purslain, and a new kind of fern, Lonchites Adscensionis, which supplies food to several flocks of wild goats. This mountain is divided in its extremities by various clefts into several bodies; the whole appears to consist of a gritty tophaceous lime stone, which has never been attacked by the volcano, but probably existed prior to its eruption; its sides are covered with a kind of grass peculiar to the island, which Linnæus has named Aristida Adscensionis. There is a spring of water on one part of this mountain, which falls down a great precipice, and is afterwards absorbed in the sand. Mr. Forster was persuaded that with a little trouble Ascension might shortly be made habitable. The introduction of furze, Ulex Europaus, and a few other plants, that thrive best in a parched soil, would, he thinks, soon have the same effect as at St. Helena, and be the means of forming a stratum of mould. This island has a safe harbour, at which the East India ships often touch, to furnish themselves with turtles, which are here plentiful and large. Ascension lies about 6co miles N. W. of St. Helena. under the same Commander, and, thank God! I have never once experienced disgrace " The Medusa, in coming up Channel, September 1792, passed the frigate in which his Majesty was making a marine excursion, during his residence at Weymouth. Having saluted the standard, the Medusa followed into Weymouth Road, and the following morning Captain Inglefield, and Mr. Buckoll, then officer of the boat, were honoured with a long conference by his Majesty on the Esplanade. When the Medusa came round to Chatham, she was ordered to be laid up in ordinary. Captain Inglefield, being thus out of employ, was doubly anxious to serve Mr. Buckoll, whose interest he had always warmly patronised, and of whose merit he had long been sensible. Nothing better offering at the time, he sent him on board the Childers brig, then under orders to act against the French gun-boats: fearful, however, that this might not turn out sufficiently to his advantage, Captain Inglefield soon procured his appointment to the Alfred, 74 guns; and prompted by the same friendly zeal, without loss of time wrote to a person of high rank in his behalf, expressing himself in the warmest terms respecting the conduct, and professional skill, of our young officer. On the 7th of February (1793) Mr. Buckoll passed the regular ordeal of examination, previous to his attaining the rank of lieutenant. Captain Inglefield, being soon afterwards appointed to L'Aigle, 38 guns, again received Mr. Buckoll on board his own ship. By the 23d of March, L'Aigle was under sailing orders at Sheerness; and narrowly escaped being lost in an heavy gale of wind off Land Fort. She by no means proved what the seamen term a lucky ship, but soon afterwards missed the famous St. Jago register ship, then a prize to the Dumourier French privateer, by the distance of merely a few leagues: being then in company with only one frigate, the St. Jago would have proved a most valuable capture; the fear of falling in with This ship was afterwards lost on the coast of Barbary, crew saved, when commanded by Captain C. Tyler, 1798. . the enemy's fleet, induced them to steer in a different direction. To increase their chagrin, they were afterwards detained for more than two months at Smyrna, before they could procure a convoy to England. About the commencement of the year (1794) Mr. Buckoll was appointed by Lord Hood to the Victory: during the time that the combined forces remained at Toulon, this officer particularly distinguished himself, and shewed an active, and daring, spirit whilst executing the various service of peril that fell to his lot during this memorable period. When the French, more by intrigue than by any skilful manœuvre, had regained possession of that place, Mr. Buckoll was so unfortunate as to lose the whole of his clothes, and every thing of value which he possessed. In the subsequent gallant achievements of Lord Hood, this young officer had his share of glory, and of praise; acting with his usual intrepidity at the siege of Bastia, and during the whole of the operations which were carried on by the British admiral in subduing the island of Corsica. In the month of January (1795) Mr. Buckoll was made by Lord Hood lieutenant of the St. Fiorenzo frigate. This ship being soon ordered home, he was appointed first lieutenant of the Dido frigate, Captain George Henry Towry; nor was Mr. Buckoll long without enjoying that opportunity of distinguishing himself for which he had anxiously panted. In recording the particulars of the spirited action, between the English frigates Dido and Lowestoffe, and the French frigates La Minerve, 42, and L'Artemise*, 36 guns, we shall first give our readers the following letter from an officer on board the Lowestoffe, written with all the plain phrase of a British Tar:-" After having cruised off this port (Mahon) a tedious time, in expectation of our reinforcement from England, Admiral Mann and squadron at length joined us. A few days afterwards the Dido, and Lowestoffe, were sent to look into Toulon, and on their passage thither fell in with two French frigates; the Dido, a • This frigate was burnt in the action off the Nile. |