Commandant of Marines John Macarthur RM

 In 1836, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty ordered the compilation of Statistical Reports of the Health of the Royal Navy (SRHN). Disease data was to be collected by medical officers on board Her Majesty’s naval ships and relayed back to London, where it would be compiled into reports on an annual basis. Thus, the SRHNs provided an overview of the state of health throughout the Royal Navy. The first SRHN was published in 1840 and annual editions continued almost uninterrupted into the 20th century.

​The flight from Macau ensured that by the end of August over 60 British ships and over 2000 people were idling off of the Chinese coast, fast running out of provisions. On 30 August HMS Volage arrived to defend the fleet from a potential Chinese attack, and Elliot warned Qing authorities in Kowloon that the embargo on food and water must be ended soon.