234* General Sir Richard Churclii Narrative of the [March, 



I desired the colonel to proceed cautiously, gaining information as he 

 went, and I informed him that, upon his arrival at Palermo, or effecting 

 his junction with the troops there, he should have the command of a 

 brigade. Lieutenant Quandel (my aide-de-camp) was despatched with 

 the captain of the gun-boat to the health-office, to communicate with 

 the military authorities of the town ; but unfortunately the gates were 

 shut and the health-office closed, and the sentinels refused to call their 

 officers or their non-commissioned officers : after infinite labour, however, 

 an under director of the health-office made his appearance at a window, 

 and the captain of the gun-boat having informed him who he was, was 

 desired to go away instantly if he valued his life. This director even 

 refused to receive any communication whatever, or receive the letters 

 brought by the aide-de-camp, insisting that he should go out of the port 

 irnmediately with his gun-boat. All the eloquence of the captain and 

 the aide-de-camp was lost on this inflexible person, who finally assured 

 them both, that if the boat did not go out of the port immediately, he 

 would order the guard of the health-office to fire on it. He then shut 

 the window violently and retired ; but the boat, however, remained 

 another quarter of an hour in vain. This was the only place where 

 communication could be had with the town. Lieutenant Quandel and 

 the captain then rowed to several other parts of the Marina, endeavour- 

 ing to communicate with a guard, but without success — being menaced 

 every where to be fired on. They spoke hov/ever to one sentinel, and 

 endeavoured to prevail on him to call the officer or non-commissioned 

 officer of the guard, which he refused. This man informed them, that 

 on that day there had been considerable confusion in the town, owing 

 to the desertion of fifty soldiers of the garrison with arms and baggage ; 

 that as many more had been sent after the deserters ; but that, as yet, 

 no tidings had been heard of either the fugitives or the pursuers. 



Unable to effect the object of their commission, or to communicate 

 in any way with the town, the boat's crew returned to the gun-boat, and 

 related to me the impossibility of communicating with the garrison 

 before the morning. This intelligence mortified me extremely ; to 

 remain until the morning, and thus to lose much valuable time, was out 

 of the question : I therefore sent the boat and the same officers round 

 the harbour, to try if any of the people of the small vessels in the port 

 would receive the letters, but all refused. -They tried the coral fisher- 

 men (numbers of boats being at that moment in the act of fishing coral 

 near the mouth of the harbour of Trappani) : but these men said they 

 were going away from Trappani, and should not return for a week to 

 the town. They then tried a large vessel at anchor in the port, on 

 approaching which they were hailed in English. As the officers in the 

 boat did not understand English, they immediately returned to the gun- 

 boat with the jo)rful intelligence of having discovered an English vessel ; 

 on which I went myself immediately, in the small boat, to this vessel ; 

 but on arriving alongside of her she proved to be an American ! Still 

 I flattered myself that the trifling favour would be granted, of receiving 

 two Iftters on board, addressed to the governor of Trappani, and of 

 delivering them next morning, as soon as the gates were opened, at the 

 health-office. The captain of the American vessel being called by the 

 sailor on watch, immediately appeared on deck. I requested him tQ 

 receive and deliver the letters. I, of course, did not say who I wa&; 

 but that the letters were written by officers on board the Neapolitan 

 gim-boat No. 5, and addressed to the military authorities of Trappani ; 



