Statement Of The Services Of Sir Stamford Raffles

In a voyage to Calcutta, which all but ended in shipwreck, he employed his wide knowledge of Eastern affairs and his powers of persuasion to convince Lord Hastings, then governor-general of India, that immediate and forceful action was essential to safeguard British trade with the Far East. On Dec. 7, 1818, he sailed from Calcutta, bearing qualified authority to establish a fortified post eastward of the Straits of Malacca and so placed as to wedge open the gateway to the China seas .Sir Stamford Raffles wrote this document to place on record the extent and nature of his public services and the losses he suffered by the destruction of the ship called Fame.

Oxford University Press. 1978. Hardback with dustjacket