"Sir,
"In bringing back the troops that have been embarked on board the Prometheus and landed at Malageah, and who, whilst afloat, have been under my command, I beg to bear testimony to their quiet, orderly, and zealous conduct, both afloat and ashore, where, had it not been for the above good qualities, collision would have been inevitable.
"To Captains Rookes, Mockler, and Fletcher, and the officers of the force, I beg to return my sincere thanks for their zealous and active co-operation; further comment on my part would be presumptuous.
"A. Heseltine,
"Commander and Senior Naval Officer.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Foster,
"Commanding troops."
On the 14th of December, the Gambia contingent sailed for the Gambia in the Colonial steamer Dover, and the garrison of Sierra Leone remained at its ordinary strength of three companies.
In May, 1855, as the King of Malageah had not observed the stipulations of the treaty that had been forced upon him, and had not paid the fine of one thousand dollars, the Acting Governor of Sierra Leone, a gentleman of colour, determined to take steps for his punishment. On the 21st of May, accordingly, he sent for Captain R. D'Oyley Fletcher, 1st West India Regiment, who was then in command of the troops, and informed him that it was his intention to send a force of 150 men, that very day, to burn the town of Malageah, and, if possible, capture the king. He added that the troops would proceed in H.M.S. Teazer, then lying in the harbour.
Captain Fletcher, in reply, said that he could not approve of the proposed arrangements; that since a force of 400 men had been deemed necessary to extract a promise from the king, it was, to say the least, injudicious to endeavour to force him to fulfil that promise with only 150 men. He stated that at the last expedition more than 2000 armed natives had been seen, and he considered it inadvisable to proceed to actual hostilities without a force proportionate to the duty to be performed. He further suggested that the expedition should be delayed for two or three days, so that the detachments of the 2nd West India Regiment might be brought in from Waterloo and the Banana Islands, and the whole garrison employed on the duty. The Acting Governor overruled these objections, insinuated that Captain Fletcher was actuated by fears for his personal safety, and finally peremptorily ordered the force he had mentioned to embark.
In consequence, on the evening of May 21st, Captain Fletcher, Lieutenant Strachan, Lieutenant Wylie, and 69 men of the 1st West India Regiment, with Lieutenants Keir and Beazley and 79 men of the 3rd West India Regiment, embarked on board the Teazer. Lieutenant Vincent, 2nd West India Regiment, was attached to the 1st for duty, and Deputy-Assistant-Commissary-General Frith and Surgeons Marchant and Bradshaw accompanied the troops.
The Teazer arrived off Benty Point, at the mouth of the Mellicourie River, on the morning of May 22nd, and, after a delay of a few hours, in consequence of the difficulty in crossing the bar, the expedition arrived off Malageah.