our barricades; but for the poor Cretans there was no change,--the
Turks were so fully persuaded that England was with them that the
severities towards the Christians underwent no amelioration, unless
it be that the ostentatious brutality ceased, as the chiefs knew that
they must keep up appearances. We attended service on Sunday on board
the Arethusa and stayed to luncheon, in the midst of which an orderly
came down and whispered to Captain MacDonald, on which he turned
to me, saying, "If you would like to see something pleasant, Mr.
Stillman, you may go on deck." I reached the deck just in time to see
the Ticonderoga round the point of the Suda island, entering Suda Bay.
Commodore Steedman, her commander, was an old friend, and, hearing at
Trieste of the insurrection, came on his own initiative to give me the
support my government had not thought worth its while to accord me.
He stayed a few days and sailed direct for Constantinople, which so
impressed the authorities that I was no longer annoyed. The Arethusa
was followed a few days later by the Wizard,--a small gunboat which
could lie in Canea harbor,--where, for the next few months, its
commander, Murray, was our sole and sufficient protector. In him and
his successors I learned to honor the British navy as a force in
civilization whose efficiency few not situated as we were can
understand. I have ever since been ready to take off my hat to an
English sailor.

Meanwhile the dissension between Schahin and Ismael intensified. The
Egyptian wanted a show of force with effective conciliation, hoping
still to effect his object of bringing the Cretans to him, and he
looked to the consular body for support, while Ismael was urging on
the collision, hoping to defeat the Egyptian plan. We were constantly
doing all in our power to lead the Cretans to conciliation and
submission, though the hotheads among them were indignant with us.