mishes, in which the Greek
troops excelled, were usually brought on by accident.

In such an army, it is evident that the services of many an able
officer would be useless. A Greek general could only acquire and
maintain a due influence over his troops by taking a rifle in his
hand, and bounding over the rocks in advance of his soldiers. The best
general, therefore, in the estimation of the soldiers, was the officer
who could run fastest, see furthest, and fire with truest aim from
behind the smallest possible projection of a rock. In cases where it
became absolutely necessary to enforce obedience to an order, the
captain required to be both able and willing to knock down the first
man who dared to show any signs of dissatisfaction with the butt of
his pistol. Many excellent European generals were not competent to
emulate the fame to be gained in such a service.

Matters were very little better in the fleet. The sailors were always
paid in advance, or they refused to embark; if on a cruise, when the
term for which they had been paid expired, they always returned home,
unless prevented by an additional payment. While at sea, they
frequently held councils to discuss the movements of their ships, and
repeatedly compelled their captains to alter the plans adopted by the
admiral; and sometimes they have been known to carry their ships home
in defiance of their officers. Even the brilliant exploits of the
fire-ships which destroyed the Turkish three-deckers, were entirely
performed by volunteers, and are rather due to the daring courage of
Kanaris, and a few other individuals, than to the naval skill of the
Greek fleet. In the latter years of the war, when the Turks and
Egyptians had, by the exertions of Sultan Mahmoud and Mohammed Ali,
made some small progress in naval affairs, the fire-ships of the
Greeks failed to produce any important results.

Captain Hastings, observing the total difference between Greek and
European warfare, avoided the error into which foreigners generally
fell, of allowing their authority to be mixed up with that of others,
over whose actions they could not exercise any efficient control.
Instead of seeking a command, the imposing title of which might
flatter his vanity, and impose on the rest of Europe, Hastings
steadily refused to accept any rank, or place himself in any command,
where he would have been unable to enforce obedience to his orders. By
this means, and by the sacrifice of very large