r Charles Smith
had assumed the command of the land forces, and whether from
ill-humour at finding half the work done during his absence by the
amphibious commodore, or from some other cause, his reception of the
author was, at first, far from cordial. Instead of being useful, as he
had hoped, he found the sturdy old general blind to the value of his
accession; and when the Powerful sailed he found himself without
quarters appointed him, or even an invitation to join the officers'
mess. But with the usual good-luck of people who bear disappointments
well, all turned out for the best, as will be seen by the following
extract:

"I had, on board the Powerful, a few days before, formed
the acquaintance of a young Syrian of the name of
Assaade el Khyat, who, brought up at one of our
universities, was at heart a true Englishman, spoke
fluently our own and several other European and Eastern
languages, and whom I found, on the whole, a sensible,
well-informed young man, and a most agreeable companion.
As I was sitting alone, after a solitary dinner, (in the
miserable hotel at Beyrout,) musing in a brown study
over a bottle of red Cyprus wine, my new acquaintance
was ushered into the apartment; I made no secret to him
of my extremely uncomfortable position, when he, with
great kindness and liberality, overcoming the usual
prejudices of his country, offered me an asylum in his
own family, which offer I most gladly accepted, and was
accordingly the next morning comfortably installed in my
new quarters, whereof I will endeavour to give the
reader a slight description.

"The house of which I had just so unexpectedly become an
inmate, was situated in one of the most retired and out
of the way parts of the town, (and it was not before
considerable time had elapsed, and then with difficulty,
that I became acquainted with the labyrinth of narrow
lanes, alleys, and dark passages which it was requisite
to thread in order to arrive at this desired haven,) the
property of a young man of the name of Giorgio Habbit
Jummal--brother-in-law of my friend Assaade, to whom one
of his sisters was married, and whom, as he spoke
Italian with fluency and ease, I at once engaged as my
dragoman or interpreter.

"By a strange coincidence, I, under the roof of Giorgio,
for the first time became acquainted with Mr Hunter, t