1827	The Battle of Navarin	489

letter from Captain Hamilton, descriptive of the proceedings of Ibrahim Pacha, and the misery of the country which he has devastated ; a protocol of the conference which I had with my colleagues, and the plan and order for entering the port, which I gave out in consequence.

" I have, &c.,

"(Signed)   EDWARD CODRINGTON, Vice-admiral.

" No. I. - (Translation.)

" The admirals commanding the squadrons of the three powers which signed the treaty of London, having met before Navarin, for the purpose of concerting the means of effecting the object specified in the said treaty, viz., an armistice de facto between the Turks and the Greeks, have set forth in the present protocol the result of their conference.

" Considering that after the provisional suspension of hostilities, to which Ibrahim Pacha consented in his conference of the 25th of September last with the English and French admirals, acting likewise in the name of the Russian admiral, the said Pacha did, the very next day, violate his engagement, by causing his fleet to come out, with a view to its proceeding to another point in the Morea :-

" Considering that since the return of that fleet to Navarin, in consequence of a second requisition addressed to Ibrahim by Codrington, who had met him near Patras, the troops of this Pacha have not ceased carrying on a species of warfare more destructive and exterminating than before, putting women and children to the sword, burning the habitations, and tearing up trees by the roots, in order to complete the devastation of the country :-

" Considering that, with a view of putting a stop to atrocities, which exceed all that have hitherto taken place, the means of persuasion and conciliation, the representations made to the Turkish chiefs, and the advice given to Mehemet Ali and his son, have been treated as mockeries, whilst they might, with one word, have suspended the course of so many barbarities :-

" Considering that there only remains to the commanders of the allied squadrons the choice between three modes of fulfilling the intentions of their respective courts, namely :

" 1. The continuing, throughout the whole of the winter, a blockade, difficult, expensive, and perhaps useless, since a storm may disperse the squadron, and afford to Ibrahim the facility of conveying his destroying army to different points of the Morea and the islands.

" 2. The uniting the allied squadrons in Navarin itself, and securing, by this permanent presence, the inaction of the Ottoman fleets; but which mode alone leads to no termination, since the Porte persists in not changing its system.

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