On his return to England in 1746, Mr Byron was ap pointed to the Siren frio-ate which he continued to com nfand (luring the remainder of the war. Ill fortune, however, seemed still to attend him. Every cruize was unfruitful. " His courage and conduct were undoubted," says Lis biographer, " but he was ever a day too soon or a day- too late ;—or he sprung a mast in chase, or lost his prize in a fog ; or fell in with a wane of wind, which his enemy had passed, or some disaster or other." So in variable, indeed, was his ill luck, and so frequent his misadventures, that he was emphatically called, by his nautical brethren, " Foulweather Jack!' At the peace in 1750, Captain Byron went with Com modore Buckle to the coast of Guinea ; and in 1757 he commanded the America of 60 guns, in the luckless ex pedition against Rochfo•t, under Sir Edward I fawke. In 1760, however, w hen stationed off the coast of America with the Hi itish fleet under Lord Colville, his fortunft began to brighten, and he here found an opportunity of being of some fit rvice to his country. The Admiral, having received intelligence that a French squadron, with troops and stores on board, had put into Chaleur Bay, in the Gulf of St Lawrence, dispatched Captain Byron in quest of them, with the Fame a 74, which he then commanded, together with the Repulse and Scar borough. After experiencing some difficulty in approach ing them, on account of their being so high in the bay, he completely accomplished his object, by destroying the whole squadron, consisting of three frigates, besides 20 schooners, sloops, and small privateers.
Captain 13yron was equally fortunate in a voyage of discovery, which was undertaken at the desire of his ma jesty, in order to ascertain whether there were any islands lying in the Pacific Ocean, between the southern tropic and the equator. lie sailed in the Dolphin of 24 guns, which was completely fitted up for the occasion, in the beginning of July 1764, having in company the Tamer sloop of war, commanded by Captain Mouatt ; and it was the discoveries which he accomplished in this voy age, which led to the dispatch of Captains Wallis and Carteret shortly afterwards to the same hemisphere. In the account of this expedition, the existence of a race of men, of a stature very superior to the common standard, on the coast of Patagonia, is stated with great confi dence ; and has given rise to much doubt and discussion.
" One of them," says the Commodore, " who afterwards appeared to be a chief, was of a gigantic stature, and seemed to realize the talcs of monsters in a human shape : he had the skin of some wild beast thrown over his shoulders, as a Scotch Highlander wears his plaid, and was painted so as to make the most hideous appear ance I ever beheld : round one eye was a large circle of white, a circle of black surrounded the other, and the rest of his face was streaked with paint of different colours : I did not measure him ; but if I may judge of his height by the proportion of his stature to my own, it could not be much less than seven feet." But we must defer en tering upon this controversy at present, and must t cfer for a particular account of this people to the article PATAGONIA. Commodore Byron returned to England in 1766, and in 1769 was appointed to the government of Newfoundland, which he held till 1775. In that ycar, having risen through the successive ranks of admiral of the blue, the white, and the red, he was dispatched with a squadron to America, to oppose the French fleet under Count d'Estaign. Here, however, his evil genius attend ed him. Ills fleet was dispersed in a storm ; and even after he had reached the object of his destination, he was unable to effect any thing decisive, owing to his being encumbered with a fleet of transports. and the superior sailing of the enemy. Disgusted with his ill fortune, he resigned his station, leaving the command with Rear admiral Parker ; and, retiring from the service, he never would accept of any other appointment. He was, how ever, raised to the rank of vice-admiral of the white in 1779, and died, at the age of 73, on the 10th of April 1786.
Admiral Byron was an officer of the first talents and respectability ; and though his exertions often failed of their merited success, their failure was never attributed either to his want of skill, bravery, or perseverance. He served his country with undaunted courage in every quarter of the world for 45 years ; and, during that time, was much beloved and esteemed for the inestimable qualities of his heart, and his kindness and humanity to those whom he commanded. See Ballantyne's edition of Byron's Narrative, containing a well written life of the author, to which we have been indebted for the principal facts in this article. (n)