A few days after this we received information that the Egyptian force at Tripoli, consisting of 4000 men, had evacuated the town and blown up the magazine in the castle, without, however, damaging the city. It was soon after taken possession of by the mountaineers, and the Egyptians retired by the road of Balbeck, destroying the villages in their retreat. About the same time, Latakia and the passes of Adana were abandoned, the garrisons retiring on Aleppo. Had a little more energy been used by us, the greater part of these troops must have fallen into our hands.
I believe history does not record such unexampled successes gained in so short a time by so small a force. We landed on the 10th of September, at D’Jounie, with 5300 Turks, 1500 marines, and about 100 Austrians; by the 10th of October we had managed to storm and take Sidon, defeat the Egyptians at Ornagacuan, Ibrahim Pacha at Boharsof, and what between prisoners and deserters, get possession of 10,000 men, had freed all Lebanon, and forced Ibrahim to withdraw his troops from Tripoli and Latakia, abandon the passes of the Taurus, and concentrate the whole of his army at Zachle and Damascus.
Seeing no further prospect of active operations, I turned my attention, in common with my brother officers, to the propriety of an immediate attack on Acre, which I had thoroughly reconnoitred, and felt satisfied that the ships, in a very short time, would drive the Egyptians from the guns, if there was a possibility of approaching within a moderate distance of the walls. The subject was frequently raised on board the Princess Charlotte and discussed; but whether the Commander-in-Chief was restricted by orders from home, or was afraid of the lateness of the season, I am not aware, but certainly much valuable time was lost. The weather is generally, throughout the Mediterranean, good during the month of October; and after the little breeze we had, there is what is called on the coast of Syria, an autumnal summer for six weeks. On the 24th, Admiral Walker was despatched off Acre with several Turkish ships-of-war to make a demonstration, and I believe to summon the place; he was there joined by the Revenge, Thunderer, and Pique; they refused to receive the flag of truce, and Admiral Walker stood in and fired a few broadsides; but whether the Egyptians either did not think it worth while to return the fire, or had still some respect for the Sultan’s flag, they took no hostile notice whatever of this movement. Admiral Bandeira, who commanded the Austrian squadron, I believe was also anxious to attack Acre, and thinking it possible that the Egyptians might surrender to Admiral Walker, very wisely followed him with his small squadron. I had obtained leave to pay a visit to the Emir Bechir at Ammanah, and set out at daylight of the 25th, quite convinced that all hope of attacking Acre was at an end; but when I got half way up the mountain, to my utter astonishment I observed the Princess Charlotte, and all the squadron under weigh, with the exception of the Powerful. This sudden movement, I presume, was occasioned by the Austrian Admiral starting without orders; and, I suppose, the same reasons that induced Bandeira to follow Admiral Walker, induced the Commander-in-Chief to follow Bandeira; but feeling convinced that nothing serious was intended, I pursued my ride through the beautiful mountains of Lebanon to the Grand Prince’s head-quarters.
I have travelled in Switzerland and in the Tyrol, and admired the romantic scenery that you meet with in these fine countries; but still I give the preference to Mount Lebanon. The whole country is one mass of rocks heaped one on the other; and every spot of land, capable of cultivation, is supported by terraces, and irrigated by streams of water from springs, which are abundant in the mountain. On these terraces the mulberry-tree is cultivated with great care, and grows with much luxuriance. Fruit and vegetables of every description are grown in great abundance. The mountains produce only a sufficient quantity of grain for three months’ consumption; the other nine months are supplied either from the plains of the Bekaa, or by importation. The roads throughout the mountain are purposely bad, to render the passage of artillery impracticable. This assists the mountaineers in the defence of their country. The mountain passes are strong, and if bravely defended by peasants alone, no army, ever so well-disciplined, could obtain possession of them without immense loss. On approaching Ammanah, we descried armed peasantry stationed on the various heights to prevent surprise; and on our arrival at the court-yard of the château[château] in which the Grand Prince was lodged, some hundreds of men were lounging about in the gay attire of the mountains, armed at all points. Many horsemen were also in the court-yard, ready to be despatched to any point whence an attack might be apprehended.
On entering the château, which certainly had not much the appearance of the residence of a Prince, I was immediately ushered into his presence. The old man was sitting cross-legged smoking his pipe, but immediately rose and embraced me with much warmth, calling me his friend, his protector and master; praising, with much apparent warmth, the English, who had come to release the mountaineers from the oppression of Mehemet Ali. Pipes and coffee were then produced, and after puffing away for a few minutes, the room was cleared, and an interpreter sent for. The Prince informed me that he had with him 3500 men; that he was ill-supplied with provisions and ammunition; that he had constantly written to the Pacha, but received neither answer or supplies; that the mountains were too poor to victual his men; and that they would shortly be obliged to go to their homes, and leave the country exposed. Ibrahim Pacha, had collected 15,000 men, including 3000 cavalry, at Zachle and Malaka, the former above the plain, the latter in it, and he could again enter the mountains when he pleased. He wished to be reinforced by three Turkish battalions, and he would then answer for preventing Ibrahim coming again into Lebanon; or if he were supplied with 5000 stand of arms, he could arm the Druses, and would require no more troops.
As I was anxious to see Ibrahim’s position, the Prince supplied me with fresh horses and an escort, some of whom had just come over from the enemy; and we proceeded over the mountain, which was well guarded by men, both on horseback and foot, perched in different positions, to give notice of Ibrahim’s movements. An hour brought us in sight of Zachle, which is on the edge of the hill. There appeared a few intrenchments thrown up, but I did not think it prudent to descend, not being provided with the best horses, and having reason to believe that Ibrahim’s cavalry would have no difficulty in cutting us off, should we approach too near his den; besides, I was not sure of my escort, who could very easily have delivered me up to Ibrahim, and as many of them had only been a few days in the service of the Prince, I did not feel myself particularly comfortable. After a pleasant ride of a couple of hours we returned to the Emir’s quarters, where there was a very tolerable repast prepared for us; we found a good appetite, far preferable to the best sauces supplied by Gunter in London, or the gourmand at Paris. We retired at an early hour, but neither to sleep nor rest; our bedfellows were troublesome, and seemed to think they had a good right to a share of the dinner furnished us by the Prince.
At daylight we started on our return, and taking the road of Corneille, passed the coal-mines at which Mehemet Ali obliged the poor Syrians to work, almost without pay, and proceeded to Salima, a town situated in a rich valley, the capital of the province of Mitten; we then ascended the mountain to Brumanah, and got back to Beyrout before sunset.
I was still anxious about the movements of the Commander-in-Chief, and I desired the Medea to get her steam up, and wrote to him the following letter:—
“My dear Admiral,
“Powerful, Beyrout,