Colonel Napier’s Account of his Missions to Egypt—Seizure of the
Maronite and Druse Emirs and Sheikhs—Their Condition in Egypt—Their
Return to Syria—False Assertions of the French—Mission for the
Liberation of the Syrian Soldiers—Difficulty of ascertaining their
Number—Bad Faith of the Pacha—Infamous Proposal of a Turkish
Officer—Sudden termination of the Negotiation—Suspicious conduct of
the Egyptians—Liberation of the Syrians.
I have already mentioned that on my way down the river from Cairo, in
February, 1841, I met Colonel Napier. He had been dispatched from Syria
by Colonel Bridgeman, with orders to bring back the Scheiks and Emirs
for whose restoration to liberty I had stipulated in my correspondence
with Boghos Bey[123]. The Colonel’s own account of this mission, and of
a subsequent one in which he was employed by the Foreign Office to
procure the release of the Syrian troops carried into Egypt, is as
follows:—
“Shortly before the allied forces landed in Syria, several of the most
influential Maronite and Druse chieftains[124] of Mount Lebanon being
seized by Ibrahim Pacha, were, together with a great number of their
servants and dependants, embarked on board an Egyptian vessel at Acre.
On arriving at Alexandria, these unfortunate people, after being loaded
with chains, and subjected to every species of indignity, were sent up
the Nile to the remote regions of Sennaar, there to work at the Pacha’s
recently discovered gold mines.
“One of Commodore Napier’s stipulations with Boghos Bey being the
emancipation of these mountain chiefs[125], after the evacuation of
Syria by the Egyptians I was sent by Colonel Bridgeman, then in command
of the British troops, to accompany these Emirs and Scheiks back to
their own country.
“On my arrival in Egypt, in February, 1841, I immediately proceeded on
the purport of my mission, and ascended the Nile in quest of my charge.
Mehemet Ali, I learnt, had already sent orders for their liberation, and
I met them all at Cairo on their way to Alexandria. Finding them here in
the most complete state of destitution, clothed in rags, without money,
and in want of the common necessaries of life, I made several
representations on the subject to the authorities, which were, however,
disregarded; and it was only through the active mediation of that
gallant old soldier Souliman Pacha (who had just returned across the
Desert) and on his and my repeated applications, that daily rations were
at last served out to these unfortunate people.
“After numerous vexatious delays, the order for them to proceed to
Alexandria at length arrived; a fine Egyptian corvette was placed at my
disposal for their conveyance, and about the middle of March, 1841, I
had the satisfaction of landing them, (with one exception[126],) in
safety at Beyrout, where they were received with the greatest
enthusiasm.
“Although the return of these Emirs and Scheiks may entirely be
attributed to Commodore Napier, the French merchants and priests in
Beyrout and Lebanon had the assurance to arrogate to themselves the
merit of the act, and widely spread this report in the mountains, which
assertion, however, I as flatly contradicted, and completely succeeded
in disproving this false and barefaced assertion. Shortly after this I
rejoined my regiment at Gibraltar.
“The Commodore, in thinking of his mountain friends, had not neglected
the interests of the unfortunate Syrian soldiers, who, having been
pressed into the Egyptian service, were, on the evacuation of Syria,
unwillingly dragged after Ibrahim Pacha to the ‘Land of Bondage.’ The
Commodore’s stipulation with Boghos Bey on the subject was, ‘that as
soon as the evacuation of Syria should be effected, the whole of these
men should be immediately sent back to their country.’ However, time
wore on, and as Mehemet Ali showed no symptoms of fulfilling his
promise, the writer was again sent to Egypt by the Foreign Office, with
directions to exact from the Pacha the accomplishment of his engagement
to Sir Charles Napier as to the Syrian soldiers, and to accompany those
soldiers back to their country. Armed with ‘full powers[127],’ I left
the Rock on the 26th of May, and arriving at Alexandria about a month
later, at once set about the performance of my task, and this I very
soon discovered would be no easy one.
“In the first place, it was difficult to ascertain the exact number of
surviving Syrians of Ibrahim’s army who had arrived in Egypt,
particularly as every obstacle was industriously thrown in the way of
obtaining such information. The Egyptian authorities estimated the
number of survivors at so low a figure as 3000; however, from all the
information I was able to collect, I concluded the sum total to amount
to about 10,000 or 12,000; nor was I much out in this calculation,
though the extremes of heat and cold, the griping hand of hunger and
thirst during the winter retreat over the plains of the Haouran, and
across the sands of the Desert, to say nothing of the plague which had
been raging in Egypt since their return to the latter country;—all these
circumstances combined,—had made sad havoc amongst their devoted bands.
“The Pacha at first sheltered himself under the plea of not being able
to take any steps in the matter until he had received the sanction of
the Sultan, and thus gained a month or six weeks, until a communication
was sent and answer returned from Constantinople. The reply of the Porte
arrived in the shape of a Turkish officer of the rank of ‘Meeralaï,’
(Colonel), who, whatever might be his secret instructions, came with
professed orders for the immediate liberation of the Syrians. Still no
great alacrity was manifested to comply with these injunctions. Time
passed away; the month of August arrived, and with it Colonel Barnett,
the British Consul-General, who joined me in urging the fulfilment of an
engagement which the Pacha continued as perseveringly, to evade.
Mustapha Bey, the Turkish Commissioner, _apparently_ united with us in
our request; but it may not be here irrelevant to remark, as an instance
of what reliance may be placed on Turkish faith and honour, that this
person had the audacity to propose to me the _enlèvement_ of Mehemet Ali
on the occasion of a proposed visit of the latter to Her Majesty’s
steamer Medea; adding, that taking the old gentleman captive to
Stamboul, would ensure the fortune of us both! I was strongly inclined
to turn the tables on the fellow, by letting the Pacha into the secret;
but the consequence would probably have been fatal to the offender, who,
after all, was perhaps no worse than the majority of Oriental
diplomatists.
“How long the negotiation might otherwise have been protracted is hard
to say; but, luckily about this time, my representations received great
additional weight from the unexpected appearance of a couple of British
line-of-battle ships at Alexandria, the Rodney and Calcutta having
received orders to station themselves off that port. Accordingly, on the
7th of September, I received a communication from Boghos Bey, stating
that the first detachment of Syrian soldiers, to the amount of 1100,
would embark in two of the Pacha’s vessels on the following, and sail
the succeeding day, offering me, at the same time, accommodation on
board; which offer, however, was politely declined.
“Fully relying on the accuracy of this statement, I was, on the
following day (the 8th), not a little surprised to find that the
vessels, with these troops on board, had gone out of port early on
_that_ morning. I immediately communicated the circumstance to the
Consul-General, and as suspicions were entertained at the time that the
Pacha had,—with the concurrence of the Porte,—some design of sending
troops to Candia, we concluded that the destination of the people, who
were thus clandestinely smuggled off, might not be for Syria. Under this
impression, Captain Maunsell, of the Rodney, was immediately
communicated with, and he ordered the Egyptian vessels to be watched by
the Calcutta and Medea, in which latter vessel I embarked.
“But whatever their originally proposed destination might have been,
under this goodly escort, the first batch of Syrians arrived in safety
at Beyrout on the 14th of September, and being duly handed over by me to
the British and Turkish authorities,—Col. Rose and Selim Pasha,—were
shortly afterwards followed by the remainder of their unfortunate fellow
exiles, to the amount of 10,000, who returned to their native shores in
the most miserable plight, without pay, many in rags, and the greater
part with several months’ arrears due to them, some even to the extent
of from twenty to twenty-four months!
“So much for the faith, justice, and honour of His Highness Mehemet Ali
Pacha!”
Footnote 123:
See Vol. I., pp. 254-278.
Footnote 124:
“_Maronite Emirs or Princes._—1. Emir Hyder of Solymah. 2. Emir Faoul
Shehab. 3. Emir Faris Shehab. 4. Emir Youssouf Shehab. 5. Emir Mahmoud
Shehab. 6. Emir Abdallah Umrad. 7. Emir Ali Kaid Bey. 8. Emir Ali
Faris.
“_Druse Scheiks or Chieftains._—9. Scheik Hamoud Naked. 10. Scheik
Kassim. 11. Scheik Abbas. 12. Scheik Nickul el Cassim (a Christian).
“And about sixty followers.”
Footnote 125:
See the correspondence on this subject in Vol. I., pp. 254,
258, _et seq._
Footnote 126:
“The Emir Youssouf, the son of the Emir Solyman Shehab, of El Haded,
who died of fever in Upper Egypt.”
Footnote 127:
_Viscount Palmerston to Lieutenant-Colonel Napier._
(Extract.) Foreign Office, May 14, 1841.
I have to instruct you, immediately on the receipt of this despatch,
to proceed to Alexandria to demand from Mehemet Ali the release of the
Syrian soldiers, whom he promised Sir Charles Napier to dismiss; and
you will accompany those soldiers back to Syria.
I have applied to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to provide
you with a passage on board the steam-vessel which conveys the mail
from Gibraltar to Malta; and the Admiral at Malta will be instructed
to send you on to Alexandria, and also to make arrangements for
conveying the Syrian soldiers, when released by Mehemet Ali, from
Egypt to the coast of Syria.
You will report your proceedings in execution of this instruction
directly to me, and also to Colonel Bridgeman, or the officer
commanding the British detachments on shore in Syria, to whose orders
you will be subject while employed on this service; and who will be
instructed to direct you to return to your regiment when the service
is completed.
I inclose a despatch to Colonel Hodges, directing him to join you in
demanding from Mehemet Ali the release of these Syrians; and you will
deliver the same to Colonel Hodges, if he should be at Alexandria,
when you arrive there. But you will not delay making the demand, if
Colonel Hodges should not have arrived.