Colonel Napier’s Account of his Missions to Egypt—Seizure of the Maronite and Druse Emirs and Sheikhs—Their Condition in Egypt—Their Return to Syria—False Assertions of the French—Mission for the Liberation of the Syrian Soldiers—Difficulty of ascertaining their Number—Bad Faith of the Pacha—Infamous Proposal of a Turkish Officer—Sudden termination of the Negotiation—Suspicious conduct of the Egyptians—Liberation of the Syrians. I have already mentioned that on my way down the river from Cairo, in February, 1841, I met Colonel Napier. He had been dispatched from Syria by Colonel Bridgeman, with orders to bring back the Scheiks and Emirs for whose restoration to liberty I had stipulated in my correspondence with Boghos Bey[123]. The Colonel’s own account of this mission, and of a subsequent one in which he was employed by the Foreign Office to procure the release of the Syrian troops carried into Egypt, is as follows:— “Shortly before the allied forces landed in Syria, several of the most influential Maronite and Druse chieftains[124] of Mount Lebanon being seized by Ibrahim Pacha, were, together with a great number of their servants and dependants, embarked on board an Egyptian vessel at Acre. On arriving at Alexandria, these unfortunate people, after being loaded with chains, and subjected to every species of indignity, were sent up the Nile to the remote regions of Sennaar, there to work at the Pacha’s recently discovered gold mines. “One of Commodore Napier’s stipulations with Boghos Bey being the emancipation of these mountain chiefs[125], after the evacuation of Syria by the Egyptians I was sent by Colonel Bridgeman, then in command of the British troops, to accompany these Emirs and Scheiks back to their own country. “On my arrival in Egypt, in February, 1841, I immediately proceeded on the purport of my mission, and ascended the Nile in quest of my charge. Mehemet Ali, I learnt, had already sent orders for their liberation, and I met them all at Cairo on their way to Alexandria. Finding them here in the most complete state of destitution, clothed in rags, without money, and in want of the common necessaries of life, I made several representations on the subject to the authorities, which were, however, disregarded; and it was only through the active mediation of that gallant old soldier Souliman Pacha (who had just returned across the Desert) and on his and my repeated applications, that daily rations were at last served out to these unfortunate people. “After numerous vexatious delays, the order for them to proceed to Alexandria at length arrived; a fine Egyptian corvette was placed at my disposal for their conveyance, and about the middle of March, 1841, I had the satisfaction of landing them, (with one exception[126],) in safety at Beyrout, where they were received with the greatest enthusiasm.