the rapidity with which this service was executed, that notwithstanding the formidable position of these desperate men, we have been fortunate in not sustaining any loss; but from the confusion which ensued I should imagine they must have suffered greatly, as only one of her crew was afterwards forthcoming.
“I had upon a former occasion to report to you the gallantry with which Lieutenant Gordon captured the three Greek schooners at Napoli de Romania, and his subsequent conduct enables me to repeat all I then said of him: the judgement he shewed, and the celerity with which he boarded and carried this vessel, were such as to excite universal admiration: he speaks in the highest terms of the support he received from Mr. James Inglis, Admiralty Mate, in the launch (who has served nearly 16 years), as well as of all the officers and men under his command.
“The capture of this vessel is a source of infinite gratification to me, as she had hitherto eluded all our endeavours to catch her, belonging chiefly to persons upon the coast, who having in these times no means of subsisting, club together for the equipment of vessels of this description, and live by the plunder they obtain, always ready to afford each other protection; and as the coast is so difficult of access, particularly the entrance of rivers in which these vessels are harboured, it is quite impossible to get at them without landing an armed force in the midst of a hostile population, united in their mutual defence. I have given up the Ionian vessel, her prize, to the civil authorities at Zante, and have sent the mistico to Corfu.”
“I have the honor to inform you, that I proceeded to Alexandria, in pursuance of your directions, where I learnt from Mr. Salt, H.M. consul general, that a most atrocious piracy had been committed off the island of Gozo di Candia, upon two brigs bound to Alexandria, one a Maltese, the other a Sardinian, the cargoes of which belonged to British merchants: there were also circumstances attending this piracy of such enormity, that I conceived no time should be lost in proceeding to that place, although the sloop you intended to send had not joined me.
“I arrived off Gozo on the 17th inst., and ascertained that the misticoes were no longer there, or any armed vessel, but we saw two or three caicques hauled up on the beach, which I thought should be destroyed, as there was too much reason to believe the inhabitants had largely participated in the piracy. The boats were sent from the ship under the command of Lieutenant Gordon with orders to burn them; but the wind became so strong as to prevent the possibility of their pulling to windward, and I did not consider the destruction of those unarmed vessels of sufficient consequence to risk the safety of the ship, as a very extensive reef runs off the N.W. point upon which they were hauled up: I therefore recalled the boats.
“It however occured to me that as Gozo possessed no harbour capable of concealing the pirates, it was probable they had availed themselves of some
