h preserved the
_Guardian_ afloat until she got into the track of ships, and was
finally towed by Dutch whalers into Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope.

The master's boat, in which were also the purser and chaplain, had by
a miracle been picked up, and those officers, on their return to
England, reported to the Admiralty "the total loss of the _Guardian_".
They also at the same time spoke of Riou's noble conduct in terms of
such enthusiasm as to awaken general admiration, and occasion the
greatest regret at his loss. Accordingly, when the Admiralty received
from his own hand the unexpected intelligence of his safety, his
widowed mother and only sister had the affectionate sympathy of all
England. Lord Hood himself, before unknown to the family, hastened to
their house with the news, calling to the servants as he ran up the
stairs to "throw off their mourning!" The following was Riou's brief
letter to his mother, which he found time to scrawl and send off by a
ship just leaving Table Bay for England as the poor helpless
_Guardian_ was being towed in:--

"Cape of Good Hope,
"_February, 22, 1790_.

"DEAREST,--God has been merciful. I hope you have no fatal
accounts of the _Guardian_. I am safe; I am well, notwithstanding
you may hear otherwise. Join with me in prayer to that blessed
Saviour who hath hung over my ship for two months, and kept thy
dear son safe, to be, I hope, thankful for almost a miracle. I
can say no more because I am hurried, and the ship sails for
England this afternoon.

"Yours ever and ever,
"EDWARD RIOU."

Riou remained many months at the Cape trying to patch up the
_Guardian_, and repair it so as to bring it back to port; but all his
exertions were fruitless, and in October the Admiralty despatched the
_Sphinx_ ship-of-war to bring him and the survivors of his crew to
England, where they landed shortly after. There was, of course, the
usual court-martial held upon him for the loss of his ship, but it was
merely a matter of form. At its conclusion he was complimented by the
Court in the warmest terms; and "as a mark of the high consideration
in which the magnanimity of his conduct was held, in remaining by his
ship from an exalted sense of duty when all reasonable prospects of
saving her were at an end," he received the special thanks of the
Admi