t to come aft. Had he done so, I should have drawn my
sword. After the men had had their dinner, one or two boats were got
ready to convey seamen on board another vessel; and this fellow, seeing
that his intentions were discovered, took advantage of the opportunity
and got into one of the boats. I looked over the side of the _Hellas_,
and saw him depart." Thus Lord Cochrane's life was saved.

Navarino was passed on the 11th of September. Lord Cochrane made no
halt, as he saw that a British squadron, under Sir Edward Codrington,
was there watching the Ottoman fleet and forbidding its egress. He
accordingly at once proceeded northwards, and entered the Gulf of Patras
on the 17th of September. On that day, in anticipation of the visit
which he proposed to pay them, he forwarded proclamations to the
inhabitants of the western coast. "People of Albania!" he wrote in one
of them, "although you have so long suffered under the Mussulman yoke;
although your love of liberty has been so long kept down by a dark and
cruel despotism, the hour of your deliverance is not distant, and if you
will you can hasten it. Europe takes a lively interest in your destiny;
your fellow-countrymen are hastening to aid you. But all depends on the
energy which you yourselves display: the support which we offer you, to
be efficacious, requires on your part redoubled zeal and patriotism in
the actual and decisive moment. Brave Albanians! your happy future, the
security of your families, and the honour of your religion, are in your
hands; your bold and steady co-operation will ensure your own salvation
and our success!"

The intended expedition was prevented. It had been arranged that Lord
Cochrane should wait near Cape Papas for the arrival of General Church's
army and convey it to Western Greece, in the hope of putting it to
better service in that region. But the land force was long in coming,
and before its arrival Lord Cochrane had to write to the Government,
explaining his recent movement and the reasons which compelled him to
abandon the project of fighting in Albania. "Having proceeded to the
Gulf of Patras," he said, "in order to co-operate with General Church in
his intended expedition to Western Greece, I thought it would be
conducive to the public service to invest the fort of Vasiladi, until,
by the arrival of the forces of the general, more important operations
could be undertaken; and accordingly that island was immediately
blockaded by t