IN ALEXANDRIA

It was the number of Englishmen there not large, two or three hundred at most; but there was a' much larger number of the lower class of Europeans—poi^hi^- labourers, fishermen, petty shopkeepers, and others,—who had^’ preferred taking their chance to the certainty of losing all their little possessions if they left them. Anxiously the glasses of those on board the ships were directed towards the shore in hopes of seeing the white flag hoisted, or a boat come out with it flying ; but there were no signs of the inten- tions of the defenders, and the fleet prepared to resume the action in the morning. Fort Marabout and several of the batteries on the shore were still unsilenced, and two heavy guns mounted on the Moncrieff system (by which the gun rose to a level of the parapet, fired, and instantly sank again) had continued to fire all day in spite of the efforts of the fleet to silence them. Next morning, however, there was a long heavy swell, and the iron-clads were rolling too heavily for anything like accuracy of aim; but as parties of men could be seen at work in the Moncrieff battery, fire was opened upon them and they speedily evacuated it.

All night the Palace of Eas-el-Teen burned fiercely, an- other great fire was raging in the heart of the town, and anxiety for those on shore for the time overpowered the feel- ing of exultation at the victory that had been gained. At

half-past ten a white flag was hoisted at the Pharos battery, and all on board watched with deep anxiety what was to fol-

low. Lieutenant Lambton at once steamed into the fort in the Bittern to enquire if the government were ready to

surrender. It was three o’clock before he steamed out again with the news that his mission was fruitless, and that the

white flag had only been hoisted by the officer in command of

the fort to enable himself and his men to get away unmo-

lested. Lieutenant Lambton had obtained an interview with

the military governor on behalf of the government, and told him that we were not at war with Egypt, and had simply

destroyed the forts because they threatened the fleet, that we