It is needless to observe that nothing was saved from the wreck, and many had found it difficult to preserve even the clothes they happened to have on at the time; the motley and forlorn appearance the corps presented on its landing, was never equalled,--at any rate, in the British army. The kind exertions of the gentry and residents generally in Falmouth, to soften the sufferings of the women and children, must ever be remembered with gratitude by the regiment; the officers are more particularly indebted to this calamity for the brotherly attention and friendship it procured for them from the officers who then belonged to the Division of Royal Marines at Chatham, where on the 26th of March it arrived, having sailed on the 16th of that month in the “Diadem” transport from Falmouth. The following letter from the Military Secretary, Major-General Sir Herbert Taylor, conveying the sentiments of his Royal Highness the Duke of York of the conduct of the officers and men of the regiment, will show that the discipline received approbation from the quarter from which it was most valuable:-- “Horse-Guards, March 9, 1825. “SIR, “The Court of Directors of the East India Company having transmitted to the Commander-in-Chief the report made to them by Captain Cobb of the circumstances attending the destruction of the ship ‘Kent’ by fire, on the 1st instant, I have received his Royal Highness’s commands to assure you of the high sense his Royal Highness entertains of the admirable conduct of the detachment of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked in that ship under your command, and, more particularly, of the steadiness and coolness which you evinced, under circumstances so critical and trying. His Royal Highness is well aware that no occasion could offer in which the effects of a well-established system of discipline and subordination would be more apparent, or in which they would in a more important degree tend to assist the efforts of those who so nobly afforded their aid towards preserving the lives of all concerned;--and he desires that you will convey his thanks to the officers and soldiers forming the detachment embarked, under your orders, in the ship ‘Kent,’ and assure them that he gives them due credit for their orderly and meritorious conduct. He considers his thanks to be due more especially to yourself, for the example which you set them, and for the persevering and gallant exertions which contributed so essentially to lessen the sad result of the catastrophe. “His Royal Highness orders me to add, that he shall deem it his duty to report to his Majesty a conduct, on your part and that of the officers and men committed to your charge, which so well deserves his Majesty’s approbation. “I have, &c. (Signed) “H. TAYLOR. “Lieut.-Colonel Fearon, 31st Regt.”