t was, he greatly increased his difficulties by at last proceeding
to Greece with the miserable equipment provided for him. In his little
schooner, the _Unicorn_, he left Marseilles on the 14th of February,
1827, and proceeded to St. Tropezy, where the French corvette, the
_Sauveur_, was being fitted out under the direction of Captain Thomas,
a brave and energetic officer. Thence he set sail, with the two
vessels, on the 23rd of February. He reached Poros, and entered
upon his service in Greek waters, on the 19th of March. "He had been
wandering about the Mediterranean in a fine English yacht, purchased
for him out of the proceeds of the loan, in order to accelerate his
arrival in Greece, ever since the month of June, 1826," says the
ablest historian of the Greek Revolution.[A] The preceding paragraphs
will show how much truth is contained in that sarcastic sentence.

[Footnote A: Finlay, vol. ii., p. 137.]

CHAPTER XVI.

THE PROGRESS OF AFFAIRS IN GREECE.--THE SIEGE OF MISSOLONGHI.--ITS
FALL.--THE BAD GOVERNMENT AND MISMANAGEMENT OF THE GREEKS.--GENERAL
PONSONBY'S ACCOUNT OF THEM.--THE EFFECT OF LORD COCHRANE'S PROMISED
ASSISTANCE.--THE FEARS OF THE TURKS, AS SHOWN IN THEIR CORRESPONDENCE
WITH MR. CANNING.--THE ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN HASTINGS IN GREECE, WITH THE
"KARTERIA."--HIS OPINION OF GREEK CAPTAINS AND SAILORS.--THE FRIGATE
"HELLAS."--LETTERS TO LORD COCHRANE FROM ADMIRAL MIAOULIS AND THE
GOVERNING COMMISSION OF GREECE.

[1826-1827.]

During the one-and-twenty weary months that elapsed between Lord
Cochrane's acceptance of service in the Greek War of Independence and
his actual participation in the work, the Revolution passed through a
new and disastrous stage. In the summer of 1825, when the invitation
was sent to him, the disorganisation of the Greeks and the superior
strength of the Turks, and yet more of their Egyptian and Arabian
allies under Ibrahim Pasha, were threatening to undo all that had been
achieved in the previous years. One bold stand had begun to be made,
in which, throughout nearly a whole year, the Greeks fought with
unsurpassed heroism, and then the whole struggle for liberty fell into
the lawless and disordered condition which already had prevailed in
many districts, and which was then to become universal and to offer
obstacles too great even for Lord Cochrane's genius to overcome in
his efforts to revive genuine patriotism and to render thoroughly
successful the cause that he had e