the way in triumph, greatly elated at having nearly two hundred European officers in his train, and not at all in the mind to kill himself. The commander introduced all the Europeans to the prince, who, having heard of their ill treatment and sufferings from hunger, reproved the commander, and told him he had given orders that the vessel should be provisioned. Mr. Paraschiva replied, that nothing could be done without money; that the primates of Calamata had refused to furnish any, in spite of his orders; that the Greek chieftains were quite willing that the Turks should return, for that nothing was so disagreeable to them as the establishment of any thing like order; that they were extremely hostile to the Franks, and declared that they were quite able to liberate their country without assistance. I was delighted to hear Paraschiva answer the prince so frankly. The prince hearing this in the presence of all of us, rose and said, " Friends and lovers of liberty, you must not mind what is said by three or four primates, who oppose and obstruct our plans. At Napoli we shall find treasure and glory. I beg of you, therefore, to bear all this with patience, and to prepare to distinguish yourselves at the assault." The sound of the word glory makes a true soldier forget any sufferings, and meet any dangers or privations that can be endured. We all promised, therefore, to shed our blood in the noble cause of freedom, and to hold ourselves in readiness to march at his orders. The prince assigned us Turkish houses. We remained here nearly two months doing nothing. Captain Doria had presented his plan to the prince, but as the captains would not agree to it, and insisted on having every thing their own way, no resolution could be taken. At first rations were distributed to us Europeans, but in a few days they grew so scanty, that those who had not money were obliged to sell their baggage for a subsistence. We began to complain both of the want of provisions and of the loss of time; at length Colocotroni and the other captains appeared to agree on the manner in which the assault was to be made. The prince immediately sent to the islands of Hydra and Spezia for scaling ladders to be constructed, and twelve vessels and four gun-boats to be armed and manned with a thousand men. At the time all these preparations were making, Bobbolina's ships were stationed before Napoli, to prevent the vessels of any other nation whatever bringing supplies to the Turks. Notwithstanding a very vigorous blockade, a Maltese brig, sailing under English colours, entered the gulf one stormy night, laden with provisions, which it landed at Napoli. As she was leaving the gulf, however, she was captured by some Greek vessels. The captain was taken before the prince, and being interrogated why he threw provisions into Napoli, when he knew it was in a state of blockade, replied, that he was ordered to do so by the English commercial house at Constantinople to which he belonged, and that other vessels were following for the same purpose; that, as he sailed under a free flag, he thought he should not be taken, and that he had hoped an English king's ship would have appeared, which would have compelled them to give him up. Although the prince was well aware that he should ultimately be obliged to liberate this man, he was compelled by the chiefs to detain him for the present. He very frequently invited him to dinner, that he might obtain information from him as to the state of Napoli. The

captain said there were a great many troops in the town, and a number of European artillery-men.

Captain Hamilton, who commanded the Cambrian frigate, cruising in the Archipelago, soon heard that a brig, sailing under English colours, had been taken by the Greeks. He immediately sailed to the gulf of Napoli, and dispatched a lieutenant, second lieutenant, and an interpreter, to Prince Ypsilanti, to demand the restitution of the brig, and to represent to him that he had no right to detain a vessel under any European flag, as the blockade was not recognized by any nation. The prince was, therefore, obliged to give immediate orders for the restitution of the brig.

For some days past Colocotroni and several other chiefs had begun again to cavil at the plan for the assault. As we saw that we had nothing to hope, four of us agreed to go on board the English frigate, which we heard was going direct to Malta, and to entreat the captain to give us a passage; we hoped that when we told him the manner in which we had been treated, and the confusion which reigned in Greece, he would be moved with compassion, and convey us from the misery into which we must inevitably be plunged, in common with those who had preceded us. We accordingly went down to the shore, and took a boat to go on board the frigate. As soon as we got alongside, we sent a message that four officers, one of whom was a colonel, begged to speak with the commander. We were immediately received and introduced to Captain Hamilton, who had just dined. He made us sit down, and asked us to take wine with him, and begged to know what we wanted. We replied that our situation was an exceedingly critical one; that we had been very ill-treated, and that we begged him to give us a passage to Malta, whither we understood the frigate was bound. The captain, who an hour before had sent word to the prince, that he did not recognize the revolutionary government, and that he did not know by what right the Greeks had taken a brig under the English flag, now replied, that he would most willingly have done us that service; that he was stationed in these seas to assist all who requested or needed assistance, but that, as he was a friend to Prince Ypsilanti, he should not like to give him reason to complain that he had taken away four officers, one of them of high rank, and of whose services at this moment he probably stood peculiarly in need. "Nevertheless," said he, "I do not sail till to-morrow, and if you can bring me a certificate from the prince that you are at liberty to quit his service, I will take you with pleasure, and to-morrow we will dine together." Seeing that this was only a plausible excuse, and that he availed himself of the pretext of the prince's friendship to avoid refusing flatly, I answered, "We are not bound by any engagement, Sir; we are free to go or to stay. It is now late; by the time we arrive in Argos it will be two in the morning, and the prince will be asleep. I must therefore beg to remind you that it is physically impossible to go and return, and to speak to the prince in the time. It would have been better therefore if you had at once said that you did not wish to be troubled with us on board." The captain smiled politely, and said that it would give him great pleasure to be of service to us, but that as he was perfectly neutral in this revolution, he wished to do nothing disagreeable to either party. As we saw that nothing could be done, we thanked

him for the polite reception he had given us, and returned to Argos at three o'clock in the morning. At five the frigate sailed. On the arrival of the ships and gun-boats with the scaling ladders, the prince sent for Colocotroni and all the other captains, and having pointed out to them the necessity of taking some town, they promised unanimously to use their utmost exertions, and to shed the last drop of their blood for their country, not one word of which they either meant or adhered to. The attack was fixed for the 16th of December. Colonel Balestra wished to complete his battalion, but how was this possible, when his men were daily dying of hunger? Nevertheless, as he had good Italian officers, he encouraged them to endure their privations with fortitude, with the assurance that in Napoli di Romania they would be rewarded for them all. Before the troops set out on their march for Napoli, the prince wished to review them all in the vast plains of Argos. As we were about two hundred officers unattached, we were spectators of this review. The poor Frankish battalion was the first to take up a position. The colonel had taken great pains with them, and they manoeuvred tolerably well; and as he had made them understand the force of the bayonet, and its utility in an engagement, they showed great satisfaction at having muskets with bayonets. After them came three thousand Greeks with a number of banners. It was a work of great labour and difficulty to get them to fall into line, and place themselves two by two. The review consisted in the prince and Colocotroni riding past the troops at a full gallop, for fear some soldier should call out that he had nothing to eat. The day after the review Colonel Tarella received orders to form a sacred company of all the European officers, and to take the command of it himself. We organized provisionally for the attack. Having received the necessary orders, we set out for Napoli on the 13th of December, a distance of six miles. After we had marched five miles, we halted in a little village which had been burnt by the Turks. The battalion halted in another position, not very distant from the one we took up, and the Greeks posted themselves in the surrounding plains. Colonel Doria had used every possible endeavour to ensure the success of this assault, but how was it possible to succeed when the Greeks would not obey one of his orders, lest it should be said that the Franks had cooperated in the taking of the town. The city of Napoli is built on a tongue of land; the fortress of Palamides stands on a very high rock; the city is very well fortified; nevertheless, if the plan had been executed, we should have entered the place the next morning. It had been determined to make a simultaneous attack by sea. and land. Colocotroni was to make a feigned attack on the side of the fortress of Palamides, and while he drew the Turks to defend it, the ships were to commence the attack by sea; we, without firing a gun, were to scale the wall: the Greeks, who were on one side, concealed by a hill, were not to fire, in order that they might not attract the Turks in that direction. The Frankish battalion was the most exposed, being within musket-shot of the walls of the town. The prince, with a suite of eighty Greeks, all of whom had come from Europe in the expectation of being well employed without pain or danger, took up their station behind some rocks, a mile and a half distant from Napoli, on a hill called Mount Elia, for fear the smell of powder should make them

ill. The prince was to give the signal for the attack by throwing up a rocket. Two hours before day-break all the corps took their respective positions. Our corps, under cover of the darkness, got close under the walls with our scaling ladders, and expected every moment the order to mount the walls. As our number was very small to enter the town, Captain Nikitas posted a number of his men behind the rocks, with orders not to fire, but to follow us in scaling. When the prince thought that every thing was in order, without inquiring whether the wind was fair for the ships to get near enough to the city to make the attack, without taking any of the necessary precautions, he let off his rocket. Colocotroni opened his fire; but, contrary to the orders I have specified, all the troops began to fire at the same moment. We were close under the walls, and exactly at the gate of the city, and at the very moment we were placing the ladders, a shower of artillery and musketry fell upon us. The Turks had perceived that there was a dead calm, and that they had consequently nothing to apprehend on the sea side. (I have since been told by some of the Greek captains that they never remembered seeing the sea so perfectly unruffled as on that day.) They therefore all rushed to the side on which we were posted. The Greeks stationed behind us began to fire, without regarding either our situation between the two fires or the total uselessness of their fire. The battalion was ordered to fire when it saw any Turks opposing our entrance; but nothing that had been concerted was attended to or accomplished. The battalion perceiving that all the others had begun to fire, did not choose to remain idle, and opened a brisk fire which was perfectly useless, as the Turks were behind the walls, and could easily fire upon the Greeks from the loopholes. Colonel Tarella seeing that if we maintained our post we must inevitably be all cut off without the slightest advantage to the Greeks, (thirty of us being already killed or wounded,) determined to retreat, and to abandon all idea of scaling the walls. In the midst of a storm of shot and musketry we effected our retreat.

The battalion was on the other side of the gate of Napoli, on the rocks, and to make good its retreat it was obliged to pass under the Turkish batteries. In this position it was impossible for them to remain, for the moment one of these unfortunate soldiers of the battalion showed himself he was sure to fall. We saw that the report of the captain of the Maltese brig, that the Turks had a number of European gunners, was true, for we knew the Turks were incapable of managing their artillery so dexterously. As soon as we had gained a place of safety, Colonel Tarella dispatched me to the prince to inform him of our retreat, of the number of killed and wounded, and of the critical situation of the battalion. He told me the prince was on Mount Elia, but I had no idea it was so far off; after a good hours' walk, and after repeatedly asking where this mount was, I discovered it and climbed to the top, where I found the prince and all his suite. It was an almost inaccessible rock, so that I was obliged to crawl up on my hands and feet. I presented myself to the prince, whom I found sitting on the ground, his whole suite consisting, as I have said above, of Greeks, who left Europe declaring that they were going to sacrifice themselves for their country. In this affair, however, although they were out of the range of the cannon shot, they had got behind the

rocks, for fear the flashes from the guns should be inju. sight. I related to the prince all that had happened, and that if the Greeks had obeyed their orders, they would probab. this have been in possession of the town; whereas now they were of being massacred, as the Turks were all on the side on whic attack had been made. The prince, who saw that it was his own fe sighed repeatedly, and expressed the greatest regret for the loss my comrades, and for the hazardous situation of the battalion; and told me to send word to Colonel Balestra to draw off his men one by one, as the Turkish batteries would not fire on single men.

Any body would have thought from the appearance of the prince's suite that they were all warriors; they were remarkably well armed. I really grieved over these weapons in the hands of men who had the courage of so many hares. Undoubtedly, if we had succeeded in taking Napoli, they would have entered it with glittering arms, and would have written to their European friends that they had taken Napoli by storm. They would have boasted of their valorous exploits, although during the whole action they were buried among the rocks. Colonel Balestra, without waiting for orders, drew off his men by degrees, but in spite of all his precaution, a great number were killed and wounded. Among others, Captain Gubernatis, a brave officer, whom I shall have occasion to mention again at the battle of Peta, was wounded in the leg. I never saw a man so exasperated as Colonel Balestra; he struck every man belonging to Captain Nikitas whom he met, and thumped them on the head with his carbine; he called them by all sorts of names, and abused them for their stupidity in firing contrary to orders. After a brisk fire had been kept up for about three hours, it began to slacken; the ships now commenced their fire, but the shot fell into the sea. The commanders did their utmost to get nearer, by manoeuvring their vessels; but what could they do without a breath of wind? The firing having at length entirely ceased, we went back to our posts. The following day we returned, without any orders, to Argos, with the regret and mortification of having lost many of our comrades, and of having thrown away their lives and our toils, through the want of discipline and subordination of the Greeks. We returned to the lodging we had left. On inquiry, we found that the loss in killed and wounded among the Greeks did not exceed ten, their whole number being four thousand. This may give some idea of their bravery, and of their skill in choosing the safest posts, and availing themselves of the labours and risks of others. There is not the smallest question that if we had entered the city we should have been sacrificed, and the reputation and rewards of the victory would have been appropriated by the Greek chiefs.

The Turks having taken courage, began to show themselves boldly, as they always do after any success, though in a defeat they observe no orders, and think of nothing but how to fly fastest. They began to make sorties to seize provisions, of which they had but a very small supply. Captain Nikitas received orders from the prince to remain and blockade Napoli, in order that he might be more secure in Argos, whither he returned not very well pleased with the success of his expedition, and conscious that he had sacrificed a number of brave officers. Our company was disbanded, but as an especial favour