eavy guns on board those boats, and in the hands of the French it would
give us some trouble."

"We shall have hot work of it presently, Blagrove. The walls are
absolutely rotten, and it would be absurd to call them fortifications;
and if the French open fire at close quarters, they will make a breach
in no time. If Phelypeaux's plans had been carried out, the place would
have been in a position to make a serious defence; but I hear that he
and Captain Miller of the _Theseus_ have been trying in vain to get the
Turks to carry out their plans.

"Djezzar was always saying that what they wanted should be done, but it
went no further than that; and what little has been accomplished has
been done by the men of the _Theseus_; and I believe that the dragging
of the guns we captured to their places was the first job on which the
Turkish soldiers really worked; but, of course, Sir Sidney had a good
deal more influence than Miller had, as he is commander-in-chief of the
Turkish army, and if Djezzar did not give him the help he asked for, he
would have the power to take the matter altogether out of his hands. His
troops have no love for him, for, as his nickname shows, he is as cruel
as he is ambitious.

"There can be no doubt that he intended to throw off the authority of
the Sultan altogether. The position of the guns show that. I hear that
when the _Theseus_ arrived there was not a single gun mounted on the
face of the town on the land side, every one being planted on the walls
to seaward. However, I believe he is personally plucky, but as this
place is nothing like so strong as Jaffa was, he must see that, as a
garrison of 8000 there could not resist the enemy, the 3000 men under
him would not have a shadow of a chance were it not for our help. Even
we could do nothing if it were not that the position of the town enables
us to cover the land approaches."

The position of Acre, the ancient Ptolemais, was indeed very favourable
for its protection by a fleet. It stood on a projecting promontory
almost square in shape; three sides were entirely washed by the sea; the
north-eastern side had no natural protection, but at an angle of the
wall a tower, which was the strongest point of the defences, covered it
to some extent. Near the tower, and with its garden abutting against the
wall, stood the pasha's palace. The masonry of the greater part of the
wall was old and crumbling. From the sea to the north of the town
vessels anchore