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CA iJSV V, ~4tuMMp f X Z Z Z ^ - ^ CATSKILL, (NEW -YORK:)—PUBLISHED BY MACKAY CROSWELL. '*! [VOL. II.3 M O N DAT, OBober a 8 , 1 8 0 5 . [No. 77.] G eneral E aton . have Jjeld in our possession for some time pasty a very interesting Letter from General E aton , •written at the time he •was about to enter the Lybian Desart in his operations against Tripoliy to one of his correspondents in this state. We have forehore laying it he- fore our readersy lest its publication might possibly prejudice the important efcpedition he •was engaged in :— B ut it now being ascer tained that the e^ipedition has been abandoned; and that our gallant and difappointed Coun tryman y together with the Bashaw H amet , and about ninety of their faithful foUowerSy have efcaped to Syracufe—[ w say cfcaped, for •we are told that the foldiery •which had been embodied by General E aton and the Esn- Bashaw y and who were flushed with the pros per of sharing the pillage of the Usurper's territory^ o?i flnd^ngy in the Peace •which had been c&nchidsdy the frustration of all their hopeSy became outrageous, and their vengeance had lih^ to have been fatal to both the General and the Bashaw^— we think it no longer ne cessary to withhold it from the public. At present we shall not make any other comment on the emtra^s we givCy than merely to say.^ they delineate a deep and able PolitiPiany united •with the CGoh persevering and intrepid Par- tizauy and that they will he read with great interest.'^ ----- Edit. Col. Cent. E gypt —P rovince of B ehera , i Village of Dimanhour, Jan. 25^ 1805. AFTER touching at Malta, the Argus arrived at Alexandria [Egypt] on the 26th November, 1804. We received from the Britifb Refulent at Cairo, and Conful at Alex andria, every alTidance which the nature of OUT affairs and their duty could require and admit. At Alexandria it was intimated to me, that Hamet BaOiaw, {the exiled Prince of Tripoli) was not to be had without appli cation to Eih Bey, to wmom he had attached himfclf % both of whom *were in Upper Egypr, 'zCclfff ihe Mamciake Beys sgainff the Ottoman Governrxient 5 and to whom accefs was barred by the Turkifli army. Under thcfc difcGuraging appearances, and contrary to the advice of every body on the fea-coaff, on the 30th November I left Alexandria, for Grand Cairo, with three officers, Lieutenant | O’Bannan, MciTrs. Mami and Danidfon ; and a few men from the brig 5 who, together with fomc others, recruited on the fpot, and , a|; Rofetta, made an efcort of eighteen.— This precaution was neceffary on account of the banks of the Nile being infefted by the wfild Arabs of the Defert, and by Ifraggling Arnaut deferters from the Grand Seignorh. army 5—the former fubfiff by plunder ;—the latter rob and murder indifcriminatdy every defencelefs being whofe appearance denotes property. Both move in bodies, and have rendered themidves terrible throughout Egypt. ** On the 8 th December, 1804, we arrived without accident at Grand Cairo. Plere J found the Prime Minifter, and one of the con fidential Governors of Hamst Bafhav/, who confirmed the intimation I received at Alex-! andria, that the Bafhaw was actually with the Mameluke Beys, and confidered as an enemy 10 the government of this country. I had already difpatcbed to him fecret couriers from Alexandria and Rofetta, and now fent off a third and fourth from the capital. But I had not yet had an audience of the Viceroy, and ' not knowing his acceffible point, the difficulty I apprehended of getting the Bafhaw out of the country exceeded that of accefs to him j for I found it impoflible to do it privately; and to attempt it might not only defeat our ^ main objedf, but endanger our own perfonal fafety:—Wherefore, at my firft interview, finding the Viceroy a man of much more franknefs and liberality than commonly fail %o the charadfer of-a Turk, 1 unrcfervedly opened to him the objedt of my vifit to his 1. mntry 5 and received the proffer of friendly ^^fiices. This cleared a little my profpedb, while it created new embarraffments ; for the interference, or even the amnefty of the Vi ceroy in behalf of Hamet Bafhaw, might ex cite the jealoufy of the Mameluke Beys, and have the effedl to bar his departure. But a new difficulty befet me, which I little ex pected, and iefs from the quarter it came.— The French Conful at Alexandria, (M. Dro- titte) a Piedmontefc, had infmuated that we were British spies in American masks; and that our pretext of friendfhip for Hamet Ba fhaw aimed, at nothing but an intercourfe with the Mameluke?, who are farpc<£l:ed of being in Britifli fubfidy I of courfe an infinuatlon as injurious as it was malignant. I aril yet totally at a lofs to account for this ftrange condu£i: of M. Drovitte, as I am equally i'o at the indignity offered our dag, being refufet' by that of the French throughout this coun try, thofe marks cf civility never refufed to i foreign fia?, in ordinary cafes, and v/hich w; received from every other nation reprefented here ; except that informed of our objetL and pursuing the same line of conduB •with his colleague at^ripoliy lie thought by thefe mean;* (0 defeat that object. I found means, how ever, (the means that move every thing iti this quarter of the globe) to remove this diffi culty ; and finally received the Viceroy’s let ter of amnefly and palTport of fafe condudl to Hamet Bafhaw, v/hich was difpatcbed to him the 15th, in quadruplicates j and by different conveyances. I now patiently waited the iffile of the meafurcs thus far purfued. Meantime bufied myfelf in finding out the Tripolitan emigrants in the country \ their attachment to the rival brothers j and their feelings toward the Ame ricans. Among thefe, one appeared who was only ninety days from Tripoli, an Arnaut Turk, who had been in the fervice of Juffut Bafhaw \the reigning Prince of Lripoli^ during the blockade of lalT fummer ; him I had un der particular examination. Suppofing him- feif converfing with Englifhmen, he was very unreferved in his confeffions; and being de cidedly in the intcreft of the enemy (he was enthufiaflic in his caufe, though willing to difpenfe with his honors) his flory deferves the more credit. He (aid Tripoli had lost many men in the difl'ereni attacks of the Americans last summer ; the town was much damaged, and the inhabitants under such a state of consterna- tion, that nobody slept in the city 5 and that no business was done there. He confirmed the account cf the fire-fhip. Infernal, being blcvi^n up by Captain Summers, after being hoardv i cy two row-gaifier. Smiog this f a d ;.he fellow wept f Fie obfi rveci, that this was an iinfortU/idte war for ihe poor cruisers They had Imn led to believe that the American^ were all merchantmen ; and that they should have nothing to do but to go out and bring them in ; but they found them devils ,* from whom nothing was to be gained in war ; and therefore he had quitted the service of Jussuf Bashaw, The Bashaw •was nevertheless determined not to make peace •with these infidelsy until he shall have humbled thtniy and made them pay for ihe dama ges they had done to his navy and city. He ac knowledged that Hamot Bafhaw had many friends in Tripoli ; but faid, that Juffuf Ba fhaw had taken care of him I It is afeertained, ■felf that the latter had employed and paid affaffins to poifon the former;—Thefe undoubtedly reported that they had executed their com- miilion, and hence we account for the report of Hamet Bafbaw’s death. On the infl. I received from the Ba- ffiaw an aniwer to my letter from Cairo; dated the aBth of the month Ramadany cor- refponciing v,^ith the 3d of January, 1805, ftating, that he (hould that day depart for this province, and take lodgings at the houfe of an Arab chief 5 where he fhould wait to meet me : But as my letters to him, dated after the Viceroy’^s s^mnefty, all advifed him to repair to the Engliffi Houfe at Rofetta, under the guarantee of the Viceroy’s paff- port ; and believing he might pufh his march thither, I left Cairo for that place, the 13th inft. and arrived in three days. Nothing ad ditional appearing there, I proceeded to Alex andria, the 19th, and on the 2oth received the BaOiaw’s anfwer to my letter the 28th November, of the fame tenor with that re ceived from him at Cairo. It appeared that, not confiding in the Viceroy’s difpofitions concerning him, or perhaps, r.ot receiving his letter before leaving the Mameluke Beys’ camp, the Bafhaw had determined to expe£l: an interview at the plac« he firft named near the lake Fiauime, on the border of the Dcfert, about 190 miles from the fea-coaft. ^Nothing can be more incredulous than a Turk of a Turk’s honor ; and for a good reafon, nothing can be more equivocal than tlieir plighted faith I —it is an article of barter and fale.*— Though travelling in the interior of the coun try had become unufually hazardous, on ac count of the jealoufy of the Turkifii chiefs; of the reins given to licentiournefs by the barbarity of civil war 5 and of the ftrong grounds wjld Arabs hold by reafon of ail reftraint ocing reIa^4,Q» the Turks and the Mamelukes, who are too fe- rioufly cccupied with each other ; i deter mined to att-empt a p?{Tage to Fiaume. Ac cordingly on the 22d inftl left Alexandria, with two officers from the Argus, Lieutenant Blake, •'riid Mr. ‘Mann, and an efcort\ of uvf nty-th?ee men, indifferently mciuited, and on the evening of the 23d, found myfelf ar- refted at the rurkifli lines, brfwrrn 70 and 80 miles on our rout, by the Kerchief of Di- manhour, commanding a detachment of about 500 Ottoman troops, on the frontier. No argument I could advance could at all modify the fev€!ity of his firft rcfolution not to let me pass his lines though in every thing elfe he treated us with diftindion and great hofpital- ity. However mortifying the conctffion, I cannot but applaud the corre^ military con duct of this chief \ for It was in itfslr a fuC- picious clrcum (lance, that a body of armed, unknown foreigners ftiould be found fhsping a courfe for his enemy’s rendezvous with no I have accumularcd to render our fituaiiori other pretext than to fearch for a refugee Ba shaw I '*} /' this fufpicious ckcumftance tras curiofity ; and as to wonders, can. only , jro » tice, I cannot help being, imprefied With, the wonderful ignorance ,• wonderful stupidity \ wonderful tyrannyi^ and wonderful wretchedness which fo ftrongly mark the features of a coun try once the wonder of the world for Science, Wifdom, wholefome Police, and National Happinefs. Here if matter for a volume ; I can only devote fix lines to the fiibjedt. Not a man reads here \ yet nine but thinks hiin- felf divinely taught. The Kerchief, of whom I have juft fpoken, in a little excurfion to ga ther contributionsy has cut off between fifty and fixty peafants heads, for no other crime than poverty ,* and juft without the eaftem gate of this village, a gallows is now creeling to hang a child oF twelve years, she only fon of a chief of the village Rahamania, bccaufe his father cannot pay the contributioix levied on him I ! GOD,! I thank thee that my chil dren are Americans ! « January 31, 1805, Since I began this letter, circumftaiices more awkwa^-d, and, I may well fay, ridicu^ I |ous. The next day after our entering the ftrengthtm d' and' agg.javated by t.he infinua- j houfe where we quarter, a markee was pitch- tions gone out trom the French Coniul, that | ed upon the terrace of an adjoining hbufe^ we came huo this country •with secret views hos- I and a TurkHh guard mounted there, under tile to the Turks. Our iituatmu, here Vv iS f pretence oi fresh air ; armed Turks were iomewbat perplexing, v.nd vaftly unplealant. | tent ir.to the houfe for the purpofe of accom- I do no; recolle£I ever having found mvielf O y on ground more critical:—To the riatiiral fafpicion of a Turk, this General added a fierce and favage temper 5 of ceurfe proud ^ and ar 'ogant. I foon found my point of ap proach. I pafied high compliments on the corrcdlnefs of his military vigilance and con- ’udi \ fiiid it was what I apprehended, and ■d not pec'fit me to purfue myobjedi perfonally. |r«>//Y.WW state of Egypt, the Turks ought to what I Cirtainiy would have done myfidt in fimilar circumftances : But knowi ig Lorn cha?a6l:$r the magnanimity of his fouJ, i was determined to have an interyi^v/ with hf.n, ir. full confidence that he wouM aid a nu-;.rarc fo purely humane, and fo manifeftly to the Turkiffi intereft in Egypt, in cafe he would panyiug us as a life guard in oyr walks j and a cendnd was placed at our door, in the lower court, to prevent intrusions. Though thefe I ?rrangcTaents were vastly poltUy I fficuld have been very willing to have difpenfed with them j yet, by appearing ff'ank and eafy with the TuTkilfi General, his fofpicions feeoied to have fuhiided.—-I received all thefe marks of vigilance as marks of attention \ tharikecjl him for his civilitits \ and affured him I ffiould be careiul to make fuitable mention of them to the Prefident, my mailer. By this kind of aJuLuion, yefterday, I fo much drew him from bis ^uard, that he opened his heart, and unequivocally cnofeffed, that « In the present At the lame time fecurting th ex. mple of the Viceroy^ whofe letter I had fliewn to him, and figoified, that I had it in charge'to tender him a douceur in teftimony of cur vx- afted opinion of hig name and merit. He was moved* ■faid suspi-B e-i*i.ry tspcciallf'the ETTgiish ^ hs£- tkey had peculiar reasons for suspecting us, as the French Consul had declared us British Spies r Wijiat dof§ not that favage menf fop this wanton and bafe manner of expofing ouir my confidence ihould not I lives to the infamy of a gibbet I I hope not be difappointed ; and called into his tent a chief of the A.ab tribe, a wandering hoft who have from time to time been driven or emigrated from the kingdom of Tripoli, fince the ufurpation of Juffuf Jlaihav/, to whom he ftated my bufineft, and aOwcd, if he could give any account of Kamet Bathaw ? The young chief, in an extacy exclaimed, he knew to meet him at Alexandria.” Aleseandriay February i( 5 , 1805. c£ arrived with the Baffiaw and fuite,, at the Englifii cut between Ahouklr Bay and the lake Meriotis, a week ago laft Wednef- day ; Here had new difficulties to encoun ter : The French Conful had been belore- ever^thinrl I requefted him to declare him- K,.. gaming the Aam.rai of tms ; for I had no fecret in my relation with that Bailiaw. His ftory is anticipated in the ftatementi have given of fiie Baffiaw’s actual pofition. tie added that twenty thoufand Barbary Arabs were ready to march with hhn from this border, to recover their Udiive coun try and inheritance ^ repeated, that he knew our plan j and now that he had feen me, he would plight his head to the Turkifh Ge neral he would bring me Flamet Baffiaw in port, and Governor of the city ; and they, coniequently, came to a refoiution not to permit the Bafiiaw ro enter the city, nor to embark at this port. Argument was ufelefs, for we w?ere too late in our application of it z Bat v/e felt no other inconvenience than de lay 5 for the Bafhaw had before came to a lefc/iution to march by land to Deroe and Bengali ; and he now moved round the lake ■ n dap The T u laccordfigly a.Tpabhed | .m with,* companion on this raeffage the j him with,a companion next morning. « I cojild yet perceive fome fymptoms cf tufpicion and apprehenfion on the brow of my newly acquired military friend. Where fore, without feeming to have any particular view other tban-^ folicitude to meet the man I fought, but really with a view of removing his apprehenfions, I propofed to him to re turn to his head-quarters, tins village ; fend off my efcort to Alexandria, ami to wait niy- felf with only the gentleman in company, and our fervantg, until our Arab chief fnould re turn from Fiaume with the Baffiaw. This propofal bad its defired efTe6l. 'We left him, and retired to a handfomc markee prepared for the purpofe 5 took refreOiments he had ordered to be in readinefs 5 and the next morning returned v/ith an additional efcort from his camp to this place ; Where we found lodgifigs inTurkiih' ftyle provided for us. Thus far I have Iketched an abftra£l from my journal. Do you expe£l fomething of Egypt ? Its antiquities ? Its curiofities ? Its wonders ? You muft be difappointed. I am too much occupied with modern affairs to ranfack catacombs, or ciimb pyramids for the fame reafon 1 have not time to gratify \ fent up by the enemy contempt his letter of amnefty fuffered from his fubakerns in this place 5 in confequence of which he addreffed a firman by a chaux^ to the Governor, commanding immediate compliance with the intention of his letter of amnefty 5 and jmpofi.ag a fine on him of twenty-five thoufand piafEres. This gives us final triumph in Egypt $ though, I confefs, I could have wifhed the Viceroy^s refentment had not fallen lo heavily upon his difobedient Governor. I did not think it prudent to ad- vlfe the Bafhaw to enter the city, left ven geance fhould retaliate on him the chaftife- mefit he has brought upon his Turkifh brother of th|S place. We lhall., therefore, take up our line of march through the Defert of Ly- bia towards Derne, next Wednefday.' \ Our party confifts of -five hundred men. One hundred of whom are Chriftians re» crulted on the fpot, .and empleyed in our fer vice. V/e lhal 1 make a ftand at Bomba, and wait the Tetorn of Capt. Hull, with fuppiies and reinforcements^ to feizc the provinces of Derne and Bengafi 5 for which purp^Ie he fails for the reBdezvous the day after to morrow. « Here is d la port from Tripoli, to prevent Hamet V > ■ - ...-1 4 - f 1
