The English Fleet winters at Smyrna—Summer Cruise—Insurrection in Lebanon—Opinion on the proper course of the English Fleet—The Powerful and Edinburgh sent to Beyrout—Murder of a Frank; conduct of the French Consul—Insignificance of the Insurrection—Mission of Mr. Wood—Grievances of the Mountaineers—Author’s Letter to the Egyptian Admiral—Letter from Souliman Pacha—Suppression of the Insurrection—Ignorance of the Allied Consuls—Visit to Tripoli—Excursion into the Mountains—Appearance of the Country—Ships ordered to Vourla Bay—Author’s Report to the Admiral.

The squadron now consisted of six sail of the line^[11], which, by degrees, were moved up to Smyrna, a much more agreeable anchorage than Vourla.

I had been confined to my cabin for six weeks with a severe cough, and I took up my quarters at Boujar, a small village a few miles from Smyrna, which very soon re-established my health; there was very good English society at both places, and the time passed agreeably enough.

While the squadron lay at Vourla the sulphur dispute with Naples commenced; their ports were blockaded, and the Admiral proceeded to the Bay with three or four sail of the line; this decided measure brought the King to his senses, and the question was settled through the mediation of France. On the 4th of June the squadron left Smyrna for a summer cruise; the French preceded us by a few days. We visited the beautiful island of Mitylene, which possesses one of the finest harbours in the world, completely land-locked, and capable of containing any number of ships; from thence we proceeded to Scio, which had not recovered from the ravages of the Turks during the Greek insurrection. The town was still in ruins, and there appeared little probability of it ever recovering its former splendour. From Scio we returned to Mitylene, from thence to Mosconisi, and, after visiting the ruins of Assos, passed between Mitylene and the Main, and anchored in Besika Bay on the 24th. Here the Gorgon joined, with the intelligence of an insurrection having broke out in Lebanon; of Mehemet Ali having offered to give up the Turkish fleet, and of his preparing an expedition to put the insurrection down. This expedition was chiefly composed of Turkish frigates, manned with mixed crews, and carrying an army of from 12,000 to 15,000 men, of which 4000 were Turks; thus employing the Sultan’s ships and troops to put down the Sultan’s subjects, who were anxious to shake off the yoke of Mehemet Ali. Hosrew Pacha was disgraced about this time, and a daughter was born to the Sultan; like an expert politician, Mehemet Ali sent Sami Bey to Constantinople, to compliment his master on the birth of a daughter, and to express his readiness, now the Grand Vizier was disgraced, to enter into negociations, and give up the fleet. This was evidently a blind; and it so far succeeded that a part of the squadron had actually sailed before his intentions were known; so secretly and so actively had he carried on the embarkation of the troops at the arsenal.

Colonel Hodges, the British Consul-General at Alexandria, had given every facility to the Turkish soldiers and sailors to desert, and when his conduct was brought before Parliament, Lord Palmerston declared that though he had no instructions to that effect, he perfectly approved of his assisting, by every means in his power, the Sultan’s subjects to return to their allegiance. On that declaration of Lord Palmerston I founded my opinion that the squadron ought immediately to proceed to the coast of Syria, seize the Sultan’s ships and troops, and carry them to Rhodes, till further orders, or allow them to act on the coast of Syria in assisting the insurrection, as circumstances might point out. Sir John Louis had no orders on the subject, and did not think proper to take the responsibility on himself. He, however, sent the Castor and Cyclops to Beyrout, for the protection of British subjects and property, and the Gorgon to Malta for instructions; the squadron returned next day to Vourla, and the Powerful to Smyrna.

In a few days orders arrived from Sir Robert Stopford for the Powerful and Edinburgh to proceed to Beyrout, but on no account to interfere in any way with the Egyptian squadron; the Commander-in-chief having taken the same view of the question as Sir John Louis. The French admiral was, however, not so certain of our intentions, and he despatched a steamer, with directions, it is generally supposed, to advise the immediate return of the Turkish ships to Alexandria. On the 1st of July we sailed from Vourla, and arrived at Beyrout on the 7th. The Turco-Egyptian squadron, with the exception of two frigates and several corvettes, had sailed two days before, on their return to Alexandria, after landing their troops. The Castor, which was cruising off the port, had seen them the day before my arrival.

It would have been easy to have come up with this fleet before they reached their destination, but as my orders were positive not to interfere, I anchored at Beyrout. Had we sailed from Besika Bay the day the Castor did, we should have found them at anchor, and it would not have been difficult to have caused a movement amongst the Turks, which would have furnished me with an excuse for carrying out my own views, and I may add, the policy of the Government; but at sea it could not have been done without a direct interference, from which I was interdicted; and here I may remark, an officer’s taking responsibility on himself, and acting without orders, is very different to acting in direct disobedience of orders, even when satisfied they are erroneous, and it must be a strong case to justify such a breach of discipline.

On my arrival at Beyrout, I was visited by Mr. Moore, the British Consul, who gave a most alarming account of the state of the country, and of the want of discipline and insubordination of the Albanian troops, who formed part of the Egyptian army under the immediate command of Souliman Pacha.

The servant of a French nobleman had been murdered, and the Consul of that nation had rather hastily struck his flag because the murderer was not immediately executed. He had been tried and condemned, but nothing would satisfy the Consuls short of his immediate execution, however contrary to the military law of Egypt, which required the sanction of the Viceroy. A deputation was sent to Alexandria to demand his execution, which took place on board the flag-ship there; and on the return of the deputation the French Consul rehoisted his flag, under a salute. The French Government disapproved of his conduct, and he was recalled.

On making inquiry, I found there had been one or two persons murdered by the Albanian troops, an occurrence not very extraordinary in Eastern countries, and not to be wondered at when we consider an army of nearly 15,000 men was collected in the neighbourhood of the town. I ascertained that the French Consul on striking his flag had put his countrymen under the protection of the Sardinian Consul, except this nobleman, whom Mr. Moore took charge of, and as it did not appear to me the British Consul had any authority to make a selection and give protection to this gentleman, I declined interfering; and a little more experience showed me that the outrages of the Albanians were as much exaggerated as the strength and respectability of the insurrection undoubtedly was. Mr. Wood, one of Lord Ponsonby’s dragomen, had been sent by the ambassador into the mountains of Lebanon, to ascertain the real strength of the mountaineers, and at his instigation a petition was signed and sent to the British Ambassador by five chiefs, one of whom, a sheik of inferior note, was styled the Seraskier^[12]. In fact the insurrection was never of any consequence. The mountaineers were justly dissatisfied at being obliged to work in the coal mine of Corneille, and on being required to deliver up the arms which had been supplied them to assist in putting down another sect. An attempt was also made to introduce the conscription, which is quite at variance with their ideas, and is viewed throughout the whole district of Lebanon with horror and detestation; moreover, they were oppressed with heavy taxes, the greater part of which went into the coffers of their own prince, the Emir Bechir; the odium, however, was thrown on Mehemet Ali, who only received 30,000 dollars annually from the mountains. They were unprovided with either arms or ammunition, were headed by no chief of note, and never could assemble, even for a few days, a force of a thousand men; nevertheless with that number they showed a considerable degree of boldness, and occasionally advanced to the walls of Beyrout, and fired a few shot into the town. Mehemet Ali, seeing the danger of a rising in Syria, should the mountaineers succeed, with his usual promptitude and decision, at once sent a powerful army to Beyrout; on their arrival, pacific proposals were sent to the mountaineers, who submitted. The following morning the greater part of the Egyptian camp was struck, and they marched to the neighbourhood of Deir el Kammar, the capital of the mountains; a little resistance was shown by small parties on the first advance, and the Albanians were sent to disperse them; in accomplishing this, several villages were destroyed, and they penetrated to the heights of Brumanah, and burnt the village and convent of Betmarie. Observing this from the Powerful, I sent the following letter to the Egyptian Admiral, to which Souliman Pacha replied.