The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Archer, 1849-?
According to this private letter, the Archer was a British Gov[ernment] Steamer upon which Cadell had requested, from Lytton, free transport from England to Vancouver
Island. In the same despatch and included documents Merivale expresses that Cadell
was a restless man and that free passage on the Archer was out of the question.
Archer was a screw-propulsion sloop of 14 guns, and it had a dramatic career: it was involved
in a variety of naval actions, captured slaver ships, endured several cases of mass-sickness,
and spent most of its time on the politically volatile west coast of Africa.1
1. Archer, 1849,Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels.