Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N. — a MemoirBiddulph, Elizabeth Philippa, Baroness
History
Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N. — a Memoir
Biddulph, Elizabeth Philippa, Baroness
Hardwicke, Charles Philip Yorke, Earl of, 1799-1873
'I rode out one evening with Capt. Dundas to the Consul's, the roads
infamous and my horse stumbling exceedingly I did not quite enjoy the
beauties of Asia, and the romance of the ride thro' the burying-place
of the Turk, studded with the Turban [Footnote: The Turks at the top of
the tombstone have the turban of their rank] or stone and Cypress, as
much as I ought.
'On the 4th of July, I sailed from Voorla, a watering place on the
south side of the Gulf of Smyrna, for Psara and arrived there on the
5th. The Turks having attacked the place on the 3rd, which they carried
in about twelve hours, excepting a strong work on the west end of the
Island which did not fall till the following day. I thought at first
that this had been a decided and bloody blow struck at the root of the
Greek revolution, but the Turk has gone to sleep since, or nearly. I
have myself little doubt that the French had much to do with the
capture of this island, for I learnt from many that a Frigate had been
at Psara on the 22nd of June, and for four successive days had sounded
round and round the Island and then sailed for Mytilene where the Capt.
Pacha was. Moreover when I was on board the Pacha's ship he show'd me a
Chart or plan of the Island, which the moment I saw it, I exclaimed
"This is done by a Frank," and he said, yes that it had been done for
him. The attack was made on the north side, the only place in this
Island that Turkish troops could land on with safety, and even here the
pass was so narrow up the mountain that only one man could pass at a
time. To shew the difficulty of gaining ground, and how easily this
place might have been defended, one Greek who was near the spot asleep
on hearing a noise jumped up, and with his single arm killed seven
Turks, one after the other as they came up; and then fled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account