to take away the prisoners. The Turk, who
considered this was only a polite way of letting him know that he was
to be drowned or suffocated in the mud, showed, nevertheless, no signs
of fear or anger. He thanked Captain Hastings for the soldier-like
manner in which he had been treated, and said that, as a prisoner, it
was his duty to meet death in any way his conqueror might determine.
The scene at last began to assume a comic character;--for Hastings was
the last person on board to perceive that his prisoner supposed that
he was about to be murdered by his orders; and the Turkish commandant
was the only one who did not understand that it was really Hastings'
intention to send him to Missolonghi in perfect safety. When the Turk
was conducted to the monoxylon, in which one of his own men was
seated, in order to paddle the boat through the lagoon, he was
convinced of his error, and his expressions of gratitude to Hastings
were warm, though as dignified as his previous conduct.

The flat-bottomed boats arrived next day, and took away the prisoners.
They brought a sheep and a sabre as a present to Captain Hastings from
the Turkish commandant, accompanied by a letter expressing his regret
that the commander-in-chief in Missolonghi would not allow him to come
himself to visit his benefactor.

The conquest of Vasiladhi did not diminish the difficulties with which
Hastings was surrounded, nor remove any of the disagreeable
circumstances attendant on the neglect with which he was treated by
Lord Cochrane and the Greek government. On the 7th of January 1828, he
wrote to a friend in the following desponding terms:--"I am full of
misery. I have not a dollar. I owe my people three months' pay, and
five dollars a man gratuity for Vasiladhi. I have no provisions. I
have lost an anchor and chain. If I can get out of my present
difficulties, I may perhaps go into the gulf."

On the 16th of January he wrote to the Greek government, stating all
the difficulties of his position, and complaining of the manner in
which the Karteria had been left entirely dependent on his private
resources. He wrote: "It has become an established maxim to leave
this vessel without any supplies. Dr Goss has just been at Zante, and
has left three hundred dollars for the Helvetia, now serving under my
orders--but not one farthing, no provisions, and not even a single
word, for me. Five months ago, I was eight thousand dollars in advance
for the pay of my crew