e Duke of Wellington," vol. iii., pp.
357, 358.]

While that correspondence was going on, Lord Cochrane, as we have
seen, was battling with a long series of delays, as irksome to himself
as they were unfortunate to the Greeks. It was not till the 14th of
September, about eight months after the time fixed for the arrival of
his whole fleet, that the first instalment of it, the _Perseverance_,
which he had sent on as soon as it was completed, with Captain Abney
Hastings as its commander, entered the harbour of Nauplia. On the 26th
of October, Captain Hastings wrote a letter, giving curious evidence
of the estimate formed by him of the Greek character. It was left
at Nauplia and addressed to "the commander of the first American
or English vessel that arrives in Greece to join the Greeks." "An
apprenticeship in Greece tolerably long," he wrote, "has taught me the
risks to which anybody newly arrived, and possessed of some place and
power, is exposed. They know me, and they also know that I know them;
yet they have not ceased, and never will cease, intriguing to get this
vessel out of my hands and into their own, which would be
tantamount to ruining her. Knowing all this, I take the liberty
of leaving this letter, to be delivered to the first officer
that arrives in Greece in the command of a vessel, to caution
him not to receive on board his vessel any Greek captain. They
will endeavour, under various pretences, to introduce themselves on
board, and when once they have got a footing, they will gradually
encroach until they feel themselves strong enough to turn out the
original commander. The presence of such men can only be attended with
inconvenience, for, if you are obliged to take a certain number of
Greek sailors, these captains will render subordination among them
impossible by their own irregularity and bad example. If you want
seamen, take some from Hydra, Spetzas, Kranidi, or Poros. The Psarians
may be trusted in very small numbers. Take a few men from one, a few
from another island, and thus you will be best enabled to establish
some kind of discipline. Take a good number of marines. Choose them
from the peasantry and foreign Greeks, and you may make something of
them. You must see, sir, that, in this my advice to the first officer
arriving in command of a vessel, I can have no interest any further
than inasmuch as I wish well to the Greek cause, and therefore do not
wish to see a force that can be of great servic