eople pressed round us as we embarked, offering
prayers and good wishes for our safe return to England.

On the 9th November we landed at Smyrna, where Sir Moses left Greek
translations of the firman, as well as many charitable gifts for
distribution. Six days later we arrived at Malta, where we learned
that St Jean d'Acre had been taken, after three hours' fight, but with
very little loss.

This, Sir Moses thought, would settle the affair of Syria, and he had
some hope that Egypt itself would soon return to the Sultan. The
officer of the Lazaretto came, and advised us to remain on board that
day and the next. He told us we should have excellent apartments in
Fort Manoel, as the Emir Besheer and his attendants, about 120
persons, would then leave the Lazaretto. Sir Moses agreed to this, and
the next day the commandant, Monsieur Le Goff, took us in his boat to
Fort-Manoel. The Emir Besheer and his suite only left at nine o'clock.
We saw them going in two boats on their way to St Antonio. The Emir
Besheer was in the Governor's boat with some of the attendants; the
ladies, about twelve of them, were in another boat. The Emir was a
noble-looking old man, with a long white beard; the ladies were all
dressed in white, and had their faces veiled. I once had the
opportunity of seeing the Emir in his mountains at Ebtedeen. His
proper name was Emir Sa'ad ed-deen Esh-shehabi. His political
movements, as well as his general course of life, from a religious
point of view, could not stand the test of a strict investigation. He
spoke on one occasion, in the presence of French officers,
disrespectfully of the Queen, and also of the Sultan. The British
Consul at Damascus, now Sir Richard Wood, escorted him to
Constantinople, where he received a serious reprimand from the English
Ambassador and the Turkish authorities.

We found that our apartments were not ready for immediate occupation,
and we therefore had to remain a long time in the open air, until they
had undergone a process of fumigation and ventilation.

_November 19th._--A French war steamer arrived in the morning from
Alexandria, reporting the recall of Ibrahim Pasha from Syria, and the
countermanding of troops under orders for Syria, and of the levy of
Bedawees. We also learned that the Pasha had given up the Turkish
fleet, and contented himself, with the vice-regal power in Egypt; and
that all this had been approved by a council. Sir Moses remarked,
"that all this might