son to retrace its march.

The despatches from Calcutta being voluminous, and embracing minute
unofficial reports, Lord Fitzgerald has extracted and copied those
parts which relate to the military operations in Afghanistan, and most
humbly submits them to your Majesty.

He at the same time solicits permission to annex a _precis_ of some
of the most important of the private letters which have been forwarded
from India; and, as your Majesty was graciously pleased to peruse
with interest some passages from the first journal of Lady Sale, Lord
Fitzgerald ventures to add the further extracts, transmitted by Lord
Auckland, in which Lady Sale describes successive actions with the
enemy, and paints the state of the sufferings of the army, as late as
the 9th of December.

Nothing contained in any of these communications encourages the
hope of Sir Alexander Burnes's safety. In one letter the death of
an individual is mentioned, who is described as the assassin of that
lamented officer.

All of which is most humbly submitted to your Majesty by your
Majesty's most dutiful Subject and Servant,

FITZGERALD AND VESCI.

[Footnote 16: _See_ Introductory Note, _ante_, pp. 254, 370.
(Intro Note to Ch. X; Intro Note to Ch. XI)]

[Pageheading: A MARINE EXCURSION]

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Melbourne._

PAVILION, _4th March 1842._

The Queen thanks Lord Melbourne for his kind letter, received the day
before yesterday, by which she is glad to see he is well, and Fanny
got safe to Dublin.

Our excursion was most successful and gratifying. It rained very much
all Monday evening at Portsmouth, but, nevertheless, we visited the
_St Vincent_ and the _Royal George_ yacht, and the Prince went all
over the Dockyards.

It stormed and rained all night, and rained when we set off on bord
the _Black Eagle_ (the _Firebrand_ that was) for Spithead on Tuesday
morning; it, however, got quite fine when we got there, and we went on
board the _Queen_, and a glorious sight it was; she is a magnificent
ship, so wide and roomy, and though only just commissioned, in the
best order. With marines, etc., her crew is near upon a thousand men!
We saw the men at dinner, and tasted the grog and soup, which pleased
them very much. Old Sir Edward Owen is very proud of her.

It was a great pleasure for the Queen to be at sea again, and not a
creature _thought_ even of being sick. The saluting of all those
great ships in the harbour at onc