importance at Grand Cairo, and which was of such a nature that it must
ever remain a secret.
I went there in great state by land; where, having completed the
business, I dismissed almost all my attendants, and returned like a
private gentleman; the weather was delightful, and that famous river the
Nile was beautiful beyond all description; in short, I was tempted to
hire a barge to descend by water to Alexandria. On the third day of my
voyage the river began to rise most amazingly (you have all heard, I
presume, of the annual overflowing of the Nile), and on the next day it
spread the whole country for many leagues on each side! On the fifth, at
sunrise, my barge became entangled with what I at first took for shrubs,
but as the light became stronger I found myself surrounded by almonds,
which were perfectly ripe, and in the highest perfection. Upon plumbing
with a line my people found we were at least sixty feet from the ground,
and unable to advance or retreat. At about eight or nine o’clock,
as near as I could judge by the altitude of the sun, the wind rose
suddenly, and canted our barge on one side: here she filled, and I saw
no more of her for some time. Fortunately we all saved ourselves (six
men and two boys) by clinging to the tree, the boughs of which were
equal to our weight, though not to that of the barge: in this situation
we continued six weeks and three days, living upon the almonds; I need
not inform you we had plenty of water. On the forty-second day of
our distress the water fell as rapidly as it had risen, and on the
forty-sixth we were able to venture down upon _terra firma_. Our barge
was the first pleasing object we saw, about two hundred yards from the
spot where she sunk. After drying everything that was useful by the heat
of the sun, and loading ourselves with necessaries from the stores on
board, we set out to recover our lost ground, and found, by the nearest
calculation, we had been carried over garden-walls, and a variety of
enclosures, above one hundred and fifty miles. In four days, after a
very tiresome journey on foot, with thin shoes, we reached the river,
which was now confined to its banks, related our adventures to a boy,
who kindly accommodated all our wants, and sent us forward in a barge
of his own. In six days more we arrived at Alexandria, where we
took shipping for Constantinople. I was received kindly by the Grand
Seignior, and had the honour of seeing the Seraglio, to which his
highness introduced me himself.
CHAPTER X
_Pays a visit during the siege of Gibraltar to his old friend General
Elliot – Sinks a Spanish man-of-war – Wakes an old woman on the African
coast – Destroys all the enemy’s cannon; frightens the Count d’Artois,
and sends him to Paris – Saves the lives of two English spies with the
identical sling that killed Goliath; and raises the siege._
During the late siege of Gibraltar I went with a provision-fleet, under
Lord Rodney’s command, to see my old friend General Elliot, who has, by
his distinguished defence of that place, acquired laurels that can never
fade. After the usual joy which generally attends the meeting of old
friends had subsided, I went to examine the state of the garrison,
and view the operations of the enemy, for which purpose the General
accompanied me. I had brought a most excellent refracting telescope with
me from London, purchased of Dollond, by the help of which I found the
enemy were going to discharge a thirty-six pounder at the spot where we
stood. I told the General what they were about; he looked through
the glass also, and found my conjectures right. I immediately, by
his permission, ordered a forty-eight pounder to be brought from a
neighbouring battery, which I placed with so much exactness (having long
studied the art of gunnery) that I was sure of my mark.
I continued watching the enemy till I saw the match placed at the
touch-hole of their piece; at that very instant I gave the signal for
our gun to be fired also.
About midway between the two pieces of cannon the balls struck each
other with amazing force, and the effect was astonishing! The enemy’s
ball recoiled back with such violence as to kill the man who had
discharged it, by carrying his head fairly off, with sixteen others
which it met with in its progress to the Barbary coast, where its force,
after passing through three masts of vessels that then lay in a line
behind each other in the harbour, was so much spent, that it only broke
its way through the roof of a poor labourer’s hut, about two hundred
yards inland, and destroyed a few teeth an old woman had left, who lay
asleep upon her back with her mouth open. The ball lodged in her throat.
Her husband soon after came home, and endeavoured to extract it; but
finding that impracticable, by the assistance of a rammer he forced
it into her stomach. Our ball did excellent service; for it not only
repelled the other in the manner just described, but, proceeding as I
intended it should, it dismounted the very piece of cannon that had just
been employed against us, and forced it into the hold of the ship, where
it fell with so much force as to break its way through the bottom. The
ship immediately filled and sank, with above a thousand Spanish sailors
on board, besides a considerable number of soldiers. This, to be sure,
was a most extraordinary exploit; I will not, however, take the whole
merit to myself; my judgment was the principal engine, but chance
assisted me a little; for I afterwards found, that the man who charged
our forty-eight pounder put in, by mistake, a double quantity of powder,
else we could never have succeeded so much beyond all expectation,
especially in repelling the enemy’s ball.
General Elliot would have given me a commission for this singular
piece of service; but I declined everything, except his thanks, which I
received at a crowded table of officers at supper on the evening of that
very day.
As I am very partial to the English, who are beyond all doubt a brave
people, I determined not to take my leave of the garrison till I had
rendered them another piece of service, and in about three weeks an
opportunity presented itself. I dressed myself in the habit of a _Popish
priest_, and at about one o’clock in the morning stole out of the
garrison, passed the enemy’s lines, and arrived in the middle of their
camp, where I entered the tent in which the Prince d’Artois was, with
the commander-in-chief, and several other officers, in deep council,
concerting a plan to storm the garrison next morning. My disguise was my
protection; they suffered me to continue there, hearing everything that
passed, till they went to their several beds. When I found the whole
camp, and even the sentinels, were wrapped up in the arms of Morpheus,
I began my work, which was that of dismounting all their cannon (above
three hundred pieces), from forty-eight to twenty-four pounders, and
throwing them three leagues into the sea. Having no assistance, I found
this the hardest task I ever undertook, except swimming to the opposite
shore with the famous Turkish piece of ordnance, described by Baron de
Tott in his Memoirs, which I shall hereafter mention. I then piled all
the carriages together in the centre of the camp, which, to prevent the
noise of the wheels being heard, I carried in pairs under my arms; and a
noble appearance they made, as high at least as the rock of Gibraltar.
I then lighted a match by striking a flint stone, situated twenty feet
from the ground (in an old wall built by the Moors when they invaded
Spain), with the breech of an iron eight-and-forty pounder, and so set