etermination to remain where I was; for
which, as will be seen, they paid me off in course of time. Luckily, I
could afford by the arrangement I had made with the Turkish Government
to be in the Admiralty's bad books, and even the frowns of the English
Ambassador did not affect me a bit. I believe they called me
'adventurer,' 'artful dodger,' &c., but it must be remembered that I was
in every way as much entitled to this position as the Admiralty 'pet,'
whoever he may have been.

From the day of signing my contract (which has been constantly renewed)
to the time I write, some sixteen years, I never have had cause to
regret the step I took.

Shortly after my installation as vice-admiral in the Turkish navy, it
was decided that I should be sent to Crete to put a stop to the
blockade-running. 'Set a thief to catch a thief,' as one of my, what may
be called, unfriendly critics has written about me, and the remark was
_ben trovato_ at all events, for I certainly did know something about
blockade-running.

I accordingly hoisted my flag in a fine fifty-gun wooden frigate, and
arrived at Suda Bay, the principal port of Crete, where six or seven
Turkish men-of-war were stationed, of which I took command. Here I heard
all the naval officers had to say about the blockade, the impunity with
which it was carried on, &c. I found, as I before mentioned, that the
Turkish naval officers' hands were tied by all sorts of imaginary
difficulties. They had most zealously done their duty while trying to
stop the blockade-running. They had shown great pluck and endurance, but
they always feared to break the law and so get the ever-bullied Turkish
Government into trouble. Here I also heard of the triumphant manner in
which the blockade-runners left the ports of Greece. How the Mayors of
Syra, Poros, and other Greek towns, conducted, with flags flying, bands
playing, and the hurrahs of the entire population, the hitherto
triumphant blockade-running captains and crews to their ships, on the
way to feed the flame of revolt against a nation with whom the Greeks
professed to be on most friendly terms.

I heard all this, and was moreover told that if the blockade-running was
stopped, the insurgents in Crete would at once lay down their arms for
want of food and warlike stores.

I determined to stop it at all risks.

Picking out of my squadron a couple of fast despatch boats and a quick
steaming corvette to accompany my flag-ship, I started on