to Perkin Magra, Esq. the British consul at Tunis, as well as to the bey
himself; and to the Bashaw of Tripoli, as well as to Simon Lucas, Esq.
Consul-General at that court Mrs. Magra, and her family, it appears,
were then residing in the hospitable mansion of Sir William Hamilton, as
well as his lordship; for he says, writing to the consul, and mentioning
his lady and family, "they will give you all the chit-chat of the place.
Lady Hamilton is so good to them, that they in truth require nothing
from me; but, whenever they think it right to go to Tunis, a ship of war
shall carry them."
On the 17th, Captain Troubridge and Captain Hood arrived with the
squadron from Egypt, where every endeavour to destroy the transports at
Alexandria proved quite ineffectual. The French had, after the departure
of Lord Nelson, very strongly fortified all the points of the harbour;
and the transports could not be destroyed by shells, as all the mortars
burst, and six fireships were lost in a gale of wind. This was a
mortifying circumstance to our hero, and it did not come unaccompanied.
Captain Troubridge was the bearer of Sir Sidney Smith's dispatches;
which, with their usual fatality, again offended his lordship in one of
the nicest points. The cause, and the effect, will at once be seen in
the following most peremptory epistle.
"Vanguard, Palermo,
18th March 1799.
"SIR,
Captain Troubridge arrived here last evening: and, as he has
delivered to me all the papers he received from you, amongst which
I see a form of a passport; and Captain Troubridge tells me, that
it was your intention to send into Alexandria, that all French
ships might pass to France--now, as this is _in direct opposition
to my opinion_; which is, _never to suffer any one individual
Frenchman to quit Egypt_; I must, therefore, _strictly charge and
command you_, never to give any French ship, or man, leave to quit
Egypt. And I must also desire, that you will oppose, by every means
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