Porcher, Edwin Augustus, 1824-1878, 20. Attack on a piratical fleet in Byas’s Bay on June 25th 1851, 1851 June 25
- Call Number:
- MSS 38
- Creator:
- Porcher, Edwin Augustus, 1824-1878
- Title(s):
- 20. Attack on a piratical fleet in Byas’s Bay on June 25th 1851.
- Date:
- 1851 June 25
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Series:
- Series I: Drawings
- Part of Collection:
- Oversize 1
- Provenance:
- E.A. Porcher donated 16 drawings related to his Cyrene expedition to the British Museum in 1865. He left his remaining papers and watercolor works to Lieut. Col. Cecil Du Pre Penton Powney (b. 1862), his sister’s surviving son, who donated views, plans and elevations from the Cyrene expedition to the British Museum in 1894. The remaining manuscripts and drawings were inherited by Powney’s daughter, Beryl Wyndham Powney (c. 1896 -1976). Several components of the Porcher collection were sold by private dealers beginning in the 1970s (see 'Related Archival Materials Note' for Porcher holdings in other institutional collections).
- Conditions Governing Access:
- The materials are open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
- Scope and Content:
- Porcher’s image (or another version of it) was adapted for publication in the <title render="italic">Illustrated London News</title>, October 4, 1851, which reported an “Attack on Chinese Pirates by the Boats of Her majesty’s Ship ‘Cleopatra,’” (402). On June 24th, the Superintendent of the police received news that fishermen at Mir’s Bay had been attacked by a fleet of junks led by “Shap-‘ng-tchi” (Shap-ng-tsai, the infamous pirate). Captain Massie of the Cleopatra ordered the barge, cutter, and pinnace (manned by Porcher and Hon. C. Crofton) armed and deployed. When the pirate junks were sighted near Bias Bay, a five hour chase ensued. Three junks were run up to the head of the bay and driven on shore, while their escaping crews ran into the hills. “Weichow and Tamshuy” were taken as prisoners to the Victoria Gaol. <title render="italic">The Friend of India</title> (quoted in the <title render="italic">Illustrated London News</title>) praises Lieutenants Price and Porcher: “Starting with only one day’s provisions and water, they pulled and sailed, with a midsummer sun over them, for a good part of twenty-four hours before they came up with the enemy; and then, almost sick from exhaustion… they commenced a cannonade and fusillade upon three vessels, mounting eighteen guns apiece, and otherwise armed to the teeth, sufficient to have blown them out of the water with a single broadside – they continued that attack until nearly all the powder was expended… Throughout this encounter there was only one casualty; Lieutenant Price being slightly wounded with a spent shot. The sails of the boats have suffered the most, and bear sufficiently honourable testimony to the severity of the encounter” (<title render="italic">Illustrated London News</title> 402). The scale of the Cleopatra’s ships are enhanced in the published version, and positioned on either side of the junk for dramatic effect. The Royal Navy’s destruction of pirate fleets was controversial, as the monetary rewards (“head money”) distributed to officers was seen as a questionable private motivation. Concern was raised over the deaths of innocent people on board (captives of pirates).
- Additional Notes:
- B1977.14.22222
- Physical Description:
- 1 drawing : watercolor, body color, heightened with white, on medium-thick beige paper, affixed to card mount ; sheet 26 x 36 cm, mount 36.5 x 52 cm
- Genre:
- Watercolors (paintings), Pictorial works, Diaries, Letters, and Ships' logs
- Subject Terms:
- Anglo-Burmese War, 2nd, 1852AntiquitiesAntiquities, RomanChronColoniesDescription and travelExcavations (Archaeology)FortificationHarborsHistory, NavalJunksNaval battlesNavigationPagodasPiracyPiratesPunic antiquitiesShipsTemplesVoyages and travels
- Subject Period:
- 1849-18611850-1900
- Associated Places:
- AsiaBurmaCarthage (Extinct city)ChinaChina SeaCyrene (Extinct city)Daya Bay (China)East AsiaGozo Island (Malta)Grand Harbour (Malta)Great BritainGuangzhou (China)Hong Kong (China)MaltaMellieh̳a (Malta)Pulau Pinang (Malaysia : State)Qrendi (Malta)SingaporeTrincomalee (Sri Lanka)Tunis (Tunisia)TunisiaUtica (Extinct city)Valletta (Malta)
- Associated People/Groups:
- Boxer (Ship : 1855-1865)Cleopatra (Ship : 1843)Davis, N. (Nathan), 1812-1882Great Britain. Royal NavyHarpy (Ship : 1845-1909)Hibernia (Ship : 1804-1902)Kertch (Ship)Melville, Harden Sidney, active 1837-1882Porcher, Edwin A., 1824-1878Porcher, Madelina
- Finding Aid Title:
- Edwin Augustus Porcher Collection
- Collection PDF:
- https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/19.pdf
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/2816
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/2816?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1