On his way thither he had
fallen in with the _Enterprise_, the first of the steamers built in
England, and which, with others that never were completed at all, ought
to have been completed nearly two years before. The _Enterprise_ had
been so badly constructed, that now that she arrived, she was of very
little use. Lord Cochrane was now trying to improve her sailing powers,
and at the same time attempting to collect a really manageable crew for
the _Hellas_, and to bring together other vessels fit for naval work. In
these labours there was no less difficulty than had befallen him on
former occasions. The _Hellas_ was in want of water; but the inhabitants
of Poros refused to supply it, on the plea that they had no more than
was needed for their lemon-gardens. Some carpentering was urgently
needed by the _Enterprise_; but, as it had to be done on Sunday, the
workmen declined to touch a hammer, notwithstanding the exhortations of
a priest who promised them absolution, and even threatened to
excommunicate them if they failed in their duty to the country in this
pressing time of its necessity. Of those sorts were the obstacles that
occurred each day, and rendered futile all the efforts of Lord Cochrane
and his officers.

On the 27th of October, Lord Cochrane again set sail from Poros in the
_Hellas_, accompanied by the _Sauveur_, and the corvette which he had
lately taken from the Turks, to which the name of _Hydra_ was now given,
and proceeded to Chios. That island, the scene of previous disasters,
had since 1822 been left in the hands of the Turks. Colonel Fabvier was
now attempting to recover it for Greece, and Lord Cochrane entered
heartily into the work. He arrived on the 30th, and spent two days in
vigorous co-operation with the land force that had reached the island a
day before. His share in this enterprise, however, was brief. He was
visited on the 2nd of November first by Captain Le Blanc, bearing a
message from Admiral de Rigny, and afterwards by Captain Hamilton, who
produced a copy of a letter addressed on the 24th of October to the
Legislative Assembly by the Admirals of the three allied powers. "We
will not suffer Greece," they there said, "to send any expedition to
cruise or blockade, except between Lepanto and Volo, comprehending
Salamis, Egina, Hydra, and Spetzas. We will not suffer the Greeks to
carry insurrection into either Chios or Albania, and, by so doing, to
expose the inhabitants to the cruel repri