It will be seen that he had to go round visiting the chief islands, Corfu, Cephalonia and Zante, and ascertain from the governors if they had any grievances to be remedied. He had no positive orders for his guidance, but only 'act as you think most fit.' Often he found himself in difficulties without even an interpreter, and so obliged to make himself understood, if he could, in French. His short but graphic description of Lord Byron at Missolonghi and his rencontre with Colonel Leicester Stanhope will interest many readers. From a journal kept by Commander Yorke during this service, which he heads 'A few Miscellaneous Remarks. H.M. Sloop _Alacrity_,' beginning in 1823, and now with the Hardwicke MSS. at the British Museum, I find a few facts which supplement those of the letters. He records receiving much civility from Lord Chatham at Gibraltar, and sailed from that port on December 2 in company with the _Sybella_ for Malta, a passage which occupied about fourteen days. After ten days at Malta refitting, he was ordered to proceed to the Ionian station. He describes with great admiration the beauty of the scene at sunrise on New Year's Day of 1824 as the _Alacrity_ made the coast of Epirus, the snow-covered mountains of Albania contrasting with the green and fertile shore of Corfu with its olive gardens reaching down to the water's edge. At Corfu he dined with commissioners, generals, and at messes; and records meeting Lord Byron's 'Maid of Athens,' 'who is now rather _passée_, but certainly has remains of a fine face and a bad figure; large feet, of course, that all the Greeks have,' he writes. There are accounts of other diversions, including a week's shooting with a Mr. P. Steven and the officers of the 90th Regiment, which he describes as 'a marvellous slaughter of woodcocks,' after which he sailed to Missolonghi, where he arrived on January 23. The letters describe his further experiences. * * * * * H.M.S. 'Alacrity,' Gibraltar: Nov. 29, 1823. 'My dearest Father,