“This is a final arrangement, upon which I request no further controversy.
“I have heard from Captains Collier and Stewart, who have succeeded in doing all they could towards giving arms to the Syrians. Commander Robinson gave many to a parcel of men, who began robbing the moment they got them, though delivered under the authority of a Scheik. You will see, by the orders which I have given to Captain Berkeley, the nature and object of this expedition, on which success is certain under your management.
“I wish you, however, to observe some attention to the family of Souliman Pacha, and if you can get communication with them, to offer protection on board our ships, to be conveyed subsequently to where they wish to go.
“Yours, &c.,
“Robert Stopford.”
I now thought everything finally settled, and I requested the Wasp might be sent off Sidon. The Admiral, however, fearing a heavy loss, was unwilling the town should be attacked, and he again wrote to me on the subject.
“My dear Commodore,
“September 23, 1840.
“I am at a loss to know the advantage of making a regular attack by troops on Sidon.
“Our only object is to land arms for the mountaineers, and if this cannot be accomplished without considerable loss, it is not worth the expense, and does not come within the scope of my instructions. “Sidon, I am told, is a very solidly built town, as are the works about it.