tols in his girdle, rarely stirred abroad without gun and sword. And yet, in spite of this state of feeling, in spite of the great disproportion in number between the two classes, the Turks forced the Greeks to drag up new ordnance from the sea-shore, and such is the force of habit, absolutely to plant it in the very fortress which was shortly to be attacked by them.

'As soon as an open rupture had taken place, the mode of warfare between these two semi-barbarian people was strikingly characteristic. I offer a few anecdotes as an illustration.

'The Greeks at first had no cannon, but at length they procured some four and six pounders from an Ionian vessel that was lying off Patrass, and transported them to a house, which was within one hundred and twenty feet of the wall of the Castle. They then erected a battery within the house itself, and when they were prepared, they unmasked it by suddenly pulling down the wall which intervened between them and the Castle, and instantly commenced a vigorous fire. Had these little guns been directed even to the most tottering part of the fortress, they would scarcely have moved a stone; but here, unfortunately, their battery was directly opposed to a portion of wall which the Turks had just repaired from the damage done to it by lightning. The consequence, as may easily be conceived, was, that their time, trouble, and shot were absolutely thrown away. However, they persevered, and several Greeks were killed. At last a Turk, seeing one man very busily employed at the guns, took deliberate aim from the embrasures, and shot him in the head as he was in the act of stooping to load. This poor fellow happened to be an Italian, and probably therefore was more expert at gunnery than the Greeks. The latter no sooner found their loss than they quitted their battery in despair.

'The Turks, on the other hand, were not a whit more skilled than their enemies. In the first place, being merely the inhabitants of a town, and having no soldiers to instruct them, for there was only a nominal garrison at Patrass, not a soul knew the management of a gun; and in the second, had they possessed the requisite knowledge, the whole of the ordnance, with the exception of the new guns just received, was in such a miserable state, that nothing effectual could have been done. Many of the cannon were without carriages, and being of enormous weight, could only be moved with the greatest difficulty. The Turks might be seen hoisting and propping them up with levers of wood, and then firing in any, or rather in no direction. The Greeks in the meanwhile occupied houses close to the castle, and kept up a brisk fire of musquetry; others, however, who were not quite so brave, used to make a noise at a ridiculous distance, and expend their courage and powder most vigorously. Those within the houses usually tried to pick off the Turks employed at the cannon; and this they might do with perfect safety to themselves, for it was quite clear that there was no gunner among them who ever hit a

house by aiming at it. The Turks, therefore, were obliged to screen themselves, when loading their guns, by stopping up the embrasures with mattrasses and boards, and, when they were ready to fire, these were withdrawn,

'Clusters of Greeks, who were chattering away in the vineyards, would be on the look-out, and as soon as they marked the spot where the ball fell, they ran towards it and picked it up, carrying it to their magazine. If, as it often happened, a six-pound shot had been discharged by the consummate skill of the Turks out of a twenty-four pounder, the Greeks used to load their small cannon with it, and send it back again...

'Thus there was a constant noise, with little execution. In spite of all their practice, there was nobody among the Turks that acquired any skill in gunnery, with the exception, however, of one man, a barber. His skill, nevertheless, was limited, for he could only fire from his own cannon, but that, to be sure, happened to be mounted. Among the earliest and the most memorable of his feats was the following: When Patrass was attacked, the Greeks used to come from the neighbourhood to assist their brethren in the town. }; One fine day, a reinforcement of these, coming from Gastouni, were observed from the castle, just appearing on the brow of a hill. In the midst of the troop was an unfortunate fellow mounted on a white horse, and he, by way of greater eclat, was carrying and flourishing about a white flag. The Turkish grandees who were besieged were in the habit of offering money to their gunners if they hit any object pointed out to them; and one of these told the barber, that he would give him a machmoudié if he would bring the inan on the white horse down. The barber pointed his gun, and neither flag, horse, nor man, were ever after heard of. The next feat which this redoubtable barber accomplished was this: The houses in Patrass are built of mud and straw, made into a sort of brick. This is done for the sake of economy, as the soil thrown up in digging the foundation not only serves as material for the walls, but, as earthquakes are frequent, damages are thus easily and speedily repaired. One of these houses, situated just under the walls of the fortress, was occupied by the Greeks, and became, from its proximity, a source of great annoyance to the besieged. Whenever a Turk appeared, half a dozen bullets whizzed about his head, while the Greeks remained in perfect security. This went on for a long time; the guns of the fortress had been directed in vain upon it, and each man had tried his luck in hitting it, but all to no purpose. At last the barber was desired to essay his skill. Here, as in the last instance, the first shot he fired took effect, and in a moment a score of Greeks were seen issuing from a cloud of dust, some scampering, others crawling off most nimbly on their bellies among the vines, and no one, I believe, ever ventured there again."

The pillage of Patrass, at which Mr. Green resided, soon followed, and on this occasion he says;

"Numbers of Greeks, chiefly old men, women, and children, took refuge in the Consulates; the French Consulate, from its extent, accommodated the largest number: I received as many as I possibly could. The Greeks in their flight abandoned the wounded in the hospital; those that were able, got on mules or horses, and escaped; three that were unable to move would have inevitably fallen into the hands of the Turks, had I not ordered them to be brought into the Consulate the poor creatures were in a dying state; their wounds did not appear to have been dressed. I have persuaded a Zantiot, practising as a surgeon, to remain here and attend the wounded: I have superintended the dressing of their wounds, but fear no skill can save them. de

:

'The Turks are now going about in parties, breaking open and pillaging houses. They have decapitated two or three Greeks found in or near the town, and have thrown their bodies into the streets.

'The Turks of Patrass have been shut up in the fortress eleven days, and must have suffered some privations, as water began to fail: the Greeks had also nearly completed a mine, with which they intended to blow up the place.'

The note on this letter, adverting to the means by which intelligence was first conveyed into the Turkish fort, and descriptive of the intrepidity of the messengers, is highly interesting:

This action was probably as daring as well could be conceived, and deserves, therefore, to be related at length. Two men escaped from the fort, under favour of night, and crawling through the vineyards, reached the Morea Castle in safety. They informed Isouf Pasha that their garrison was most critically situated; that they were suffering under great privations; that their enemies were about to spring a mine; and that, unless relieved, they must all inevitably perish. Isouf was most willing to afford all the assistance he could; but the difficulty was to find any body who would go to the fort and tell the garrison so. Patrass at this time, it must be remembered, was filled with Greeks, and probably there could not have been less than five thousand men armed to the teeth. To cut their way through these, and escape death, therefore, would be a miracle. However, five hundred piastres were offered as a reward to any one who would undertake to bear Isouf's message to the fort. Two men, at length, were found, who agreed to run the risk. One of these, a fine fellow, whom I knew well, and who related the story to me over and over again, was named Delhi Achmet, or Mad Achmet. He and his companion, well mounted, set out at daylight; they avoided the most frequented paths, and at length reached Patrass. There are two roads, both leading to the town: one of these passes through it; the other merely traverses a portion, and then strikes off in a zig-zag way up the hill to the fort. When they came to the suburbs, Delhi Achmet's companion was loth to

proceed, but it was too late; Delhi soon persuaded him to follow him; and goading their horses with their shovel-stirrups, they shouted their war-cry of “Allah il Allah," and galloped furiously up the streets. The Greeks, for one moment, were taken by surprise; but the next they fired upon them from every house and corner. The Turks, on the other hand, were cheering them from the castle, as they rode. They made every preparation to facilitate their entrance, by letting down the draw-bridge. In the hurry of the thing, Achmet not only lost his turban, but was separated from his companion, who lagged behind. He, however, waited for him, in the midst of the fire, and then again they scampered up the hill, and gained the bridge in safety. At this moment a ball struck Achmet's horse, and both beast and rider were seen precipitated into the ditch, and every body believed he was killed; but here again fortune favoured him, for he was drawn up into the fort, unhurt. At the moment of his entering, there happened to be a Papa within the castle, and, as Delhi had no mind to lose his turban, he obliged him to go out and fetch it, knowing that the Greeks would not fire upon their own priest,-and this he actually recovered.'

On the 16th of April, the Turkish Pasha at Patrass gave orders for setting fire to the houses of the Greek Primates, whom he believed to be the leaders of the Revolution; and the wind being high, the conflagration spread rapidly, and threatened destruction to the whole town. It was next completely sacked, and the most frightful scenes exhibited. Forty Greeks were beheaded, and their bodies thrown into the streets, and their women and children made slaves to the Turks.

Events thicken with the progress of time; most of these described in the intermediate letters are, however, more generally known than those we have detailed. We pass on, therefore, to that dated the 24th of June 1821, in which a description is given of an act which shows that the Turks can be as cruel as it is possible to imagine human beings to be. It was intended to send a fire-ship of the Greeks into a squadron of five Turkish vessels then lying in port under blockade :

'A native of Paxo volunteered to conduct the brulot; and it was agreed upon, that when he should have steered his vessel to the corvette, he should be picked up by boats sent from his own squadron. The Turks, on the other hand, were on the watch, and no sooner saw the fire-ship approach, than they manned their boats, and rowed direct for her. The Paxiote, seeing them coming, set fire to his ship when it could not possibly be of any avail, and immediately jumped overboard, no doubt hoping to be picked up by his countrymen, as agreed on; but the Turks were too quick, and he fell into their hands. They seized the poor wretch, daubed his body with tar and combustibles, then set him on fire, and thus roasted him alive.'

This, however, is equalled, if not surpassed, in cruelty by the Greeks themselves shortly after. In a letter of the Vice Consul, dated August 31, 1821, and written from Zante, is the following description of the proceedings at Navarino, (the late scene of the naval victory of Sir Edward Codrington,) the close of which excites a feeling of indescribable horror:

'I now proceed to describe the events that took place at Navarin : the particulars have been given me by an Ionian, with whom I have been long acquainted, and who was present at the time. I fear the narrative is too circumstantial to admit a doubt of its correctness, indeed the principal facts are corroborated by other accounts. In April last the Turkish population shut themselves up in the fortress of New Navarin, which was not in a good state of repair, and, as usual, nearly destitute of cannon, ammunition, or provisions. The number who retired within the walls has been estimated at 2,500, including some of the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages; of these about two-thirds were women and children. The place was closely invested by the Greek peasantry, assisted by some Ionians, under the command of Count Mercati, of Zante: all supplies or communication were cut off, and the scanty stock of provisions that had been hastily carried into the fortress soon began to fail. The water also was turned from the aqueducts, and none was obtained within the walls. This dreadful privation was more felt than want of bread, the more so, as, during the hot season in Greece, in general, not a shower of rain falls between May and the beginning of September. Disease made dreadful ravages; and the besieged, seeing no chance of succour, entered into a negociation with the Greeks, when a capitulation was agreed upon, stipulating that the Turks should be transported in Greek vessels to the coast of Barbary. The Greek Bishop of Modon and Arcadia, who commanded, ratified this treaty by the most solemn professions sworn on the cross; but no sooner was the fortress taken possession of, than he advised, and, indeed, insisted, on all the Turks being put to death, as the best means of getting rid of them. In consequence of this decision, after a massacre of one day, between 300 and 400 men, women, and children, were put upon the small island in the middle of the harbour, opposite the town, were stripped naked, and left to die of hunger. Their remains are to be seen to this day. Some Hydriote vessels took on board several of the chief families, under pretence of conveying them to Tunis; instead of doing so, they were drowned or killed in the night in the harbour, which was for some time red with the blood of the victims. Of the whole Turkish population which capitulated, only 160 escaped death, and these were sold as slaves.

As

The sailor who informed me of the massacre on board the Hydriote vessels, was an eye-witness to the scenes he related. soon as it was dark, he said, the boats were lowered and filled with the Turks. They were rowed out a little distance, but still we could