by land and
sea. For the latter he could with difficulty find ships; for the
former he could obtain no men to aid the islanders, who, half
starving, dependent for food chiefly upon Sicily, were sustained in
their resistance mainly by hatred of the invaders, and by the tactful
appeals and encouragement of Captain Ball, who lived ashore among
them. The Barbary pirates, by virtue of their war with Naples,
captured many of the vessels laden with supplies, despite Nelson's
passports; while the Sicilian Court, though well disposed, lacked the
energy and the propelling force necessary to compel the collection and
despatch of the needed grain. On one occasion Troubridge or Ball,
desperate at the sight of the famine around them, sent a ship of war
into Girgenti, a Sicilian port, seized, and brought away two
corn-laden vessels. "The measure was strong," said Nelson, but he
refrained from censuring; and, while apologizing to the Government,
added he hoped it "would not again force officers to so unpleasant an
alternative." He feared that in their misery the Maltese would abandon
the struggle, particularly if they got wind of the purpose of Great
Britain to restore the hated Order of Knights, in deference to the
wishes of the Czar. "The moment the French flag is struck," he had
been obliged to write to Ball, "the colours of the Order must be
hoisted and no other; when it was settled otherwise, the orders from
England were not so strong."

About this time came information that several ships were fitting out
at Toulon, with supplies for the besieged. This increased Nelson's
anxieties, and at the same time emphasized the necessity which he had
always urged of using speedier and surer means to reduce the place,
while the undisputed mastery of the sea gave the opportunity. "What
might not Bruix have done, had he done his duty?" was his own comment
upon that recent incursion; and who could tell how soon as great a
force might appear again under an abler man? He turned in every
direction, and was instant in his appeals for aid. He wrote to Acton
that he had positive information that seven ships were loaded in
Toulon. "I therefore beg leave to propose to your Excellency, whether
under our present circumstances, it would not be right for his
Sicilian Majesty to desire that the English garrison at Messina should
instantly go to Malta, for I am clear, that if Malta is relieved, that
our forces got together could not take it, and the commenc