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462  till the Autumn of 1790, when he was appointed to the Savage sloop, on the Greenock station, where he continued till the latter end of 1792. The Savage was then ordered to the River to assist in carrying to the Nore the newly impressed men; from thence she was sent to join Admiral M‘Bride, in the Downs.

At the breaking out of the war with France, Captain Fraser captured la Custine a privateer, and several Danish ships laden with corn bound to that country. In April, 1793, he was directed to take the Ferret sloop and several cutters under his command, and proceed off Ostend; here he received a requisition from the Baron de Mylius, to land and take possession of the town and garrison; with which he complied, and ran the Savage into the harbour, landing about 500 men, partly marines and partly seamen. On the 5th, he received from the Court of Brussels the intelligence, that General Dumourier had arrested Buernonville and the other Commissioners of the National Convention, and sent them to the Count de Clayrfait. This intelligence, of infinite consequence to the war, he instantly transmitted to the Admiralty; and it was received in so very short a time, that Lord Chatham could scarcely believe the officer who brought the despatch. In four days afterwards, the French army refusing to march to Paris with Dumourier, he was himself obliged to fly, which of course put an end to the armistice between the Prince of Cobourg and him. This intelligence Captain Fraser received through the same channel, and was equally fortunate in the speedy transmission of it to the Admiralty. As he necessarily lived on shore, H.R.H. the Duke of York was pleased to order the Commissary-General to pay him one pound sterling per day for his table, which was continued all the time he remained on the station. Sir Charles Ross, with the 37th regiment, relieved him in the command on shore on the 20th April; but he still continued as Commander of the naval department, until the events which succeeded required a greater force, and officers of superior rank, among whom were Admiral M‘Bride, Captain (afterwards Sir George) Murray, &c.; previous to which, he was, on the 1st July, 1793, promoted to post rank in the Redoubt, of 20 guns, the Savage’s crew turned over into her, and sent to the same station; where he materially