THE BOMBARDMENT.
WHILE the riot had been going on, a considerable proportion of the
European community of Alexandria had taken refuge on board the ships in
the harbour, the men who remained behind to protect their property
sending off their wives and children. Many returned on shore as soon as
it was known that the troops had arrived, but the alarm was by no means
abated when it was seen next day by the manner of the soldiers that they
sympathized entirely with the rioters. In two or three days a large
proportion of the garrison of Cairo arrived, and Arabi himself came to
Alexandria. No steps were taken to punish those concerned in the riot,
although many were known to the Europeans who had escaped.
The khedive was evidently powerless. The remonstrances of the European
consuls were received by Arabi's council with contempt, and it was too
evident to all that the riot had been but the beginning of a very much
more serious affair. The women and children remained on board the ships;
but the Europeans reopened their shops and continued business as usual,
encouraged by the fact that not a day passed without vessels of war of
one European power or another arriving in port. These had been
despatched in all haste upon the news being received of the riot in
Alexandria, and of the threatening aspect of affairs there.
In ten days after the outbreak there were in port English, French,
Italian, Spanish, and German ships of war, and the European community
now regained confidence, believing that with so powerful a fleet close
at hand the Egyptians would not venture upon any fresh act of
aggression.
Captain Murchison had been engaged in business connected with the cargo
at the office of one of the principal merchants, when one of the clerks
ran in with the news that there was a serious riot in the native part of
the town, and it was said that the Europeans had been massacred. The
office was at once closed, and the strong shutters put up. The clerks
and employés were armed and placed in readiness to defend the place
against an attack, and then Mr. Spratt and Captain Murchison went out to
the great square to see what was going on. The greatest confusion
reigned there. Numbers of women and children, the families of the
Italian and Greek shopkeepers, were hurrying past on their way down to
the port.
The shops and offices had been hastily closed and barricaded. The clerks
of the great mercantile houses and banks were turning out rifle in hand.
The wildest rumours prevailed as to the extent of the riot, and it was
not until two hours after the commencement of the disturbance that the
consuls, finding that they could obtain no aid from the governor, took
upon themselves to summon aid from the two ships of war that happened to
be lying in the port. The appearance of two hundred sailors fully armed
and ready for action at once restored confidence among the Europeans,
and prevented the riot from extending.
Upon his return to his ship after the arrival of the Egyptian troops and
the termination of the riot, Captain Murchison was astonished and
alarmed to hear that the three boys had not returned. He at once went on
shore again, and remained for some hours making inquiries for them, but
without obtaining any information whatever. The next morning he renewed
the search. Matters had now settled down a little, and the shops were
reopened. Going to the various restaurants in the great square he
learned that three young officers had come in and eaten ices at one of
them between two and three o'clock the day before, but he could learn
nothing further.
He went to the English consul. The latter sent a dragoman with him to
the head of the police, who promised to have inquiries made. The first
and second mates also went on shore and joined in the search. They
agreed the best way would be that they should take various streets
leading from the square and inquire at every European shop if three lads
in European uniform had been noticed. For some time no success attended
them; but at last they met with a Maltese at whose shop Jack had
purchased two little filigree brooches. He said he had noticed that
after they left his shop they walked down the street which led directly
to the spot where the riot had began, and where the greater proportion
of Europeans had lost their lives. The two officers went down to the
scene of the riot, but could obtain no further information respecting
the missing lads.
The Europeans who had remained shut up in their houses while the riot
was going on had all left immediately order was restored. The whole of
the shops were wrecked and plundered, two or three houses had been
burned down, and dark stains in the roadway showed where men had fallen
and died.
"I fear there is no doubt whatever," Captain Murchison said, when the
two mates reported to him the result of their inquiries, "that the lads
must have been just at the spot where the riot broke out; the time at
which they passed exactly answered to it. But in that case what could
have become of them? Mr. Cookson has shown me the official list of the
killed as far as it is known at present. Their bodies have all been
found; but neither in that list, nor in the list of the wounded, is
there any mention of three young English lads. If they had been killed
their bodies would have been found with the others, and indeed their
uniforms would have at once attracted attention."
"What in the world can have become of them? Could they have been in one
of the houses that are burned?" Mr. Hoare suggested.
"I should hardly think that possible," the captain said. "Their remains
would have been found, and would have been returned in the list as three
persons unrecognized; but all the bodies seem to have been identified."
"Perhaps they have been carried off, and are prisoners somewhere," Mr.
Timmins suggested.
"That is more likely, Mr. Timmins. They may have been taken for
midshipmen belonging to one of the ships of war, and have been seized by
someone in the hope of getting a handsome ransom for them. Anyhow, I
cannot believe that they are dead; or, at any rate, if they have been
killed, it has not been in a fight in the street, or their bodies must
have been found. I am most anxious about them, but I cannot believe that
the worst has happened to them."
Captain Murchison had bills printed in English, French, Italian, and
Egyptian and distributed through the town, offering a reward for any
information that would lead to the discovery, either dead or alive, of
the missing lads. The bills met with no response. The Egyptians engaged
in the attack upon the shops, who alone could have furnished information
regarding the boys, were afraid to come forward, as they could not have
done so without admitting their share in the massacre. As he could do
nothing more, Captain Murchison left the matter in the hands of Mr.
Cookson, the English consul, and a week after the riot the _Wild Wave_
sailed for Smyrna, Captain Murchison saying that he should look in at
Alexandria on his way back, and that the boys if found were to await his
return there. He did not write home to announce their disappearance; his
belief that they must be still alive was strong, and he was unwilling to
plunge their friends into anxiety and grief until a further time had
been allowed to elapse.
For a long time negotiations went on between Admiral Seymour, who
commanded the British fleet now at the port of Alexandria, and the
government of the khedive. The ministers were really nothing more than
the nominees of Arabi and the army, and the demands of the English
admiral for satisfaction for the outrages, compensation to the
sufferers, and the punishment of the guilty, were met with evasive
answers. So threatening and insolent was the bearing of the Egyptian
troops, that the greater part of the European population again left
their houses and took refuge on board the ships in the harbour.
More and more peremptory became the demands of the English admiral, but
still no results were obtained. Egyptian troops now commenced throwing
up fortifications at points commanding the position of the British ships
in the harbour. The admiral sent ashore and insisted that these works
should be at once discontinued. No attention was paid to the demand. A
message was then sent through the consuls warning all Europeans in the
town to embark at once, and an ultimatum was despatched to the Egyptian
ministry, saying that unless the works were stopped and a satisfactory
answer to the demands returned before nightfall the ships would open
fire the next day; in the afternoon, as no reply had been received, the
men-of-war steamed out of the harbour and took up their position off the
town.
The warships of the other nationalities also left the harbour; but as
their governments refused to support actively the action of the English,
they either steamed away or anchored at a distance as spectators of the
approaching event. The various merchant-ships in harbour also sailed
out, all of them crowded with fugitives from the town. The English fleet
consisted of the _Invincible_, _Monarch_, _Penelope_, _Sultan_,
_Alexandria_, _Superb_, _Inflexible_, and _Temeraire_, with the
gun-boats _Signet_, _Condor_, _Bittern_, _Beacon_, and _Decoy_.
Nearly a month had passed since the lads had been taken prisoners. They
were in absolute ignorance as to what was going on in the town, except
that they had been told by one of their guards, who spoke a few words of
English, that Arabi and his troops were masters of Alexandria, and that
every European in Egypt would be destroyed.
"They may be masters of Alexandria at present," Jim Tucker said to his
comrades as they talked the matter over, "but they won't be masters
long. It is possible enough that they may cut the throats of all the
Europeans in Egypt, but they will have to pay dearly for it if they do.
I do not believe they will keep Alexandria long. Just look at all those
men-of-war in the harbour. Why, there are white ensigns flying over a
dozen of them! I suppose they are wasting time palavering at present,
but when the time for action comes you see they will astonish these
Egyptians."
"That fellow said this morning that there were twenty thousand troops in
the town," Jack said.
"If there were a hundred thousand it would make no odds, Jack."
"It would make no odds about our blowing the place up, Jim, but it would
make a lot of odds if it came to landing. I do not suppose they could
land more than a couple of thousand sailors from the fleet, if they did
as much, and though I have no doubt they could lick about five times
their own number in the field, it would be an awkward business if they
had to fight their way through the narrow streets of the town."
"Well, I suppose there will be some ships along with troops soon," Jim
said. "It would take them a fortnight or three weeks to get ready, and
another fortnight to get out here. Perhaps they waited a week or so to
see whether the Egyptians were going to cave in before they began to get
ready; but at any rate there ought to be troops here in another
fortnight."
The next morning early four of their guards came down and motioned them
to follow them. They were evidently in high glee. Among them was the one
who spoke English.
"Come along, you English boys," he said. "Big fight going to begin. You
see the forts sink all you ships in no time."
"Well, we shall see about that," Tucker muttered as they followed their
guard. "Perhaps you are crowing too early, my fine fellow."
"At any rate," Arthur Hill said, "we may thank them for giving us a view
of it."
The guards led them to a spot where six or seven other men, all like
themselves armed with muskets, were standing or sitting on a bank which
commanded a view of the port and the sea beyond it. The boys threw
themselves on the ground and looked at the panorama stretched away
before them. They could see the two great ports, known as the Old and
New Ports, with the peninsula jutting out between them, on which stood
the khedive's palace, named Ras-el-tin, and other important buildings.
Beyond stretched a long spit of land parallel with the shore, and
sheltering the two ports.
This spit was studded with forts, which formed the principal defences
of Alexandria, although there were several forts, among them Forts Mex
and Marabout, on the mainland near the mouths of the harbour. Most of
these forts had been erected under the superintendence of French
engineers, and were considered capable of defending the town against any
naval force that could be brought against it. They were armed with heavy
artillery of the best modern construction.
The ports were entirely clear of shipping, but ranged along facing the
forts lay the eight British ironclads. Four of them faced the forts at
Ras-el-tin and the mouth of the harbour, three lay off the Mex
Batteries, and one off a fort commanding what was known as the Boghaz
Channel, while the little group of gun-boats lay out beyond the line of
battleships.
Further away to the east could be seen a great number of sailing-boats
and steamers. Just at seven o'clock a great puff of white smoke broke
out from the black side of the _Invincible_, which was carrying the
admiral's flag, and even before the sound reached the ears of the little
party on the hill similar bursts of smoke spurted out from the other
vessels. Then came the deep roar of heavy artillery, mingled with the
rushing sound of their huge missiles through the air. Almost immediately
an answering fire broke out from all the batteries fringing the sea.
In a minute or two the hulls and lower masts of the men-of-war were
entirely hidden in clouds of white smoke. The very ground seemed to
shake with the thunder of heavy guns, mingled with which came the
sharper sound of some of the smaller artillery in the forts and the
long rattle of the machine-guns in the tops of the men-of-war. So
terrible was the din that the Egyptians ceased their chatter and sat in
awed silence. The shell from the Egyptian guns could be seen bursting
over the vessels, while jets of water spurting out far to seaward in all
directions marked the course of the round shot.
"It is downright awful, isn't it?" Arthur Hill said in a hushed voice.
"I've often thought I should like to see a sea-fight, but I never
thought it would be as terrible as this."
"No more did I, Arthur," Jack agreed. "I feel just as I have done when I
have been out in the bawley and a big thunder-storm has burst overhead.
If it feels like this here, what must it be on board a ship?"
"I don't believe it is half so bad there," Jim Tucker said. "They are
all hard at work there at those big guns, and haven't got much time to
think about it. I wish we could see what harm the shot are doing them.
They have got some tremendous guns in some of the forts--pretty well as
big as they are on board."
For an hour there was no change whatever in the state of things, then
the little gun-boats were seen to be in motion. Steaming away to the
west, they engaged the Marabout Fort, which had hitherto taken its part
in the fray without any return on the part of the assailants.
"I believe the fire of the forts is slackening," Jack said. "Look at
that fort at the entrance to the harbour, its outline is all ragged and
uneven. I wish the wind would freshen up a bit, to let us see a little
more of what is going on."
Another hour and it was evident to them all that the fire of the forts
was nothing like as heavy as it had been at first, while the guns of the
fleet continued to thunder as steadily as when they first commenced. At
twelve o'clock several of the forts had ceased to fire altogether. At
one, the gun-boats having silenced the Marabout Fort, joined the three
men-of-war in the bombardment of the Mex Batteries, and the _Temeraire_,
having silenced the fort at the entrance of the Boghaz Channel, joined
in the attack on the Ras-el-tin and Pharos Forts.
At three o'clock there was a tremendous explosion in the Pharos Fort,
and now only an occasional gun answered the fire of the assailants. This
soon ceased, and at four some signal flags were seen to run up to the
masthead of the _Invincible_, and instantly the fire from the British
ships ceased, and a dead silence succeeded the din of battle that had
continued almost unbroken for nine hours.