complied with.

Before he took any steps in fulfilment of his instructions he made the
arrangements necessary for an attack, which was to be the alternative if
negotiations failed; a result much to be expected at Algiers, which had
hitherto withstood so many formidable armaments. He ordered Captain
Warde, of the _Banterer_, to proceed to Algiers, where he was carefully
to observe the town and the nature of its defences. Lord Exmouth's
instructions on this occasion, and which were written with his own hand,
afford an admirable illustration of the forethought with which he
provided for every contingency, and which was the chief secret of his
constant success.

It were injustice to Captain Warde to state how he performed this
difficult and important service in any language but that of the Admiral.
In his despatch which accompanied the treaty made with Tripoli, and
which he sent to the Admiralty when proceeding on his second visit to
Algiers, he writes:--"Previous to my leaving Leghorn, I despatched
Captain Warde in the _Banterer_ to Algiers, to make his observations on
the anchorage and sea-defences, which service he performed with entire
secresy and judgment, and highly to my satisfaction. The accompanying
plan of the works, with his remarks after visiting all the forts and
arsenal, I found correct in every respect; and when it is considered
that he had not the means of taking angles, but was compelled to pace
the distances, and trust much to his recollection, to avoid being
suspected, I think him deserving of the highest commendation. The
soundings round the mole, and the bay to the N.W. of the lighthouse,
were all made by him personally in the night without discovery; nor did
even the consul suspect the purport of his visit."

Indeed, Captain Warde played the careless idler to perfection. He
escorted the ladies of the consul's family everywhere by day, and danced
with them in the evenings, covering a keen and constant observation with
the appearance of frivolity; while at night he was silently moving
outside the port in a boat, taking the soundings with a pole.

It adds to the merit of this officer, that all the previous plans of
Algiers were so incorrect, that he was obliged to begin his own from the
outlines, as if the place were a new discovery. Lord Exmouth afterwards
declared that if he had proceeded to hostilities at his first visit,
without having been furnished with Captain Warde's plan and
observations, he