It was not until July 8 that the true facts were generally known in Constantinople, and, on the evening of that day, Lord Ponsonby was informed by the French ambassador of a fresh disaster. Admiral Lalande, who with a small French squadron was lying at the entrance to the Dardanelles, reported that the _Capudan Pasha_ had sailed away with, he believed, the intention of delivering up his fleet to Mehemet Ali. Osman Bey, the second in command of the Turkish squadron, had had an interview with the French admiral,[485] and had declared that the Sultan had been murdered by Halil and Hosrew Pasha, both of whom were in league with the Russians. Under these circumstances the _Capudan Pasha_ determined to place his ships in safety. On this pretext he proceeded with all speed to Alexandria, where he delivered up to the Pasha his whole fleet, consisting of twenty-one sail, of which eight were of the line. The indifference with which Admiral Lalande had heard of the treacherous intentions of the _Capudan Pasha_, and the apathy which had characterized his proceedings, could not fail to attract attention. Marshal Boult himself, in discussing the surrender of the Turkish fleet with Lord Granville, was forced to admit that Lalande's conduct appeared to him inexplicable.[486] In the course of the next few months, however, further light was thrown upon the matter. An Armenian, a certain Avedick, the confidential _dragoman_ of the _Capudan Pasha_, was smuggled out of Alexandria on board a British ship. This man, when he arrived at Constantinople, agreed to disclose all he knew to Reshid Pasha. According to his statement, Admiral Lalande, accompanied by the Prince de Joinville, came on board the Turkish flagship, and held a consultation with Osman, the _Reala Bey_,[487] who seems to have been the evil genius of the _Capudan Pasha_. On learning of his intention to proceed to Alexandria, the French officers, far from attempting to detain him, applauded his resolution, bidding him only to be careful to avoid H.M.S. _Vanguard_, which was in Besika Bay. Ponsonby, in forwarding the papers connected with this affair, emitted the opinion that, although many circumstances appeared to confirm the truth of the _dragoman's_ story, "he could not feel it to be true of an honourable man like Admiral Lalande."[488] Palmerston either adopted this view, or more probably, deemed it impossible to base a formal representation to the French government upon Avedick's unsupported statement. But after the abdication and death of his father, the Prince de Joinville saw fit to publish, under an assumed name in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_;[489] an account of these transactions which confirmed the _dragoman's_ allegations in every particular. Throughout the French fleet there was, says His Royal Highness, a bitter hatred of England and an intense desire to avenge former defeats. The Pasha of Egypt was regarded as the ally of France in a struggle, which every man