and Pym at the same time informed me that he intended to go, with Dickson’s order if possible, but in any case to go.  Meanwhile he ran down to Candia to watch events there and protect the Christians.  Dickson in the end obtained the consent of Mustapha to the deportation of the families, and sent the order to Candia, on which the Assurance went to Selinos and took on board three hundred and fifteen women and children and twenty-five wounded men, menaced by the approach of Mustapha’s army, and carried them to Peiraeus.  Mustapha Pasha had given his permission for the ship to take the refugees, and Dickson had given the order, so that Pym’s action was regularized; but he was, nevertheless, punished by his government, being ordered to the coast of Africa, and shortly after retired.  I saw him on his return from the trip, and there was not a man or officer who would not have given a month’s pay to repeat the expedition, but it was peremptorily disapproved by the English government.

There were at Suda at the time two Italian corvettes, an Austrian frigate and gunboat; the Russian General Admiral, and a French gunboat; all of which, with the exception of the Frenchman, were anxious to follow the example of Pym.  But the prompt disapproval of Pym’s expedition by the English government, and the withdrawal of the permission given by Mustapha, prevented any of them from repeating the feat.  Ignatieff had, on hearing of Pym’s exploit, obtained from the grand vizier the permission that other ships might follow him, and dispatched at once the embassy dispatch boat with orders to Boutakoff to follow.  But a violent storm coming on, the boat had taken refuge at Milos, where she lay four days, and by the time she arrived another post was due from Constantinople.  Both Boutakoff and Dendrinos hesitated to execute the order, having learned of the disapproval of Pym and the revocation of his permission.  Dendrinos was a timid, irresolute man, always afraid of assuming responsibility, and Boutakoff’s orders were to go only on the requisition of the consul.  I was very much afraid that under the circumstances the order would be revoked, and had in vain urged the two Russian officials to move.

At this moment came another act of the Turkish brutality, which carried me through.  A Turkish man-of-war ran in to the shore where Pym had taken his refugees, flying the English flag, and, when the refugees poured out from their rocky shelter, opened its broadsides on them.  One of my runners came in with the news of this atrocity, in the morning of the day the post should arrive, and I went at once to Dendrinos and insisted on his sending the order to Boutakoff to go to the relief of the Cretan families at Selinos.  The frigate lay at Suda, and I dictated the letter to Boutakoff, saw it consigned to the messenger, and never left Dendrinos alone till time had elapsed sufficient for the delivery of the message on the frigate, being certain that if I left the timid man to himself he would send a counter order.  Boutakoff, nothing loath, got up his anchor, and came round to the roadstead of Canea to await the post and the last advices, but I hurried him off without delay, apprehensive of the counter order from Ignatieff.  This did in fact arrive by the post, but three hours too late.  The General Admiral carried 1200 women and children to the Greek ports, but the repetition was forbidden.