entertained a design of landing in Sicily. In this project the king was
thwarted by the chief of his staff, the French general, Grenier, a
nominee of Napoleon's, who, with three French generals of division,
strongly opposed the invasion of Sicily, acting, as General Pépé
believes, on private instructions from the emperor. "The great aim of
Napoleon was, so to divert the attention of the English, as to cause
them to withdraw part of their forces from Spain and the Ionian islands,
whilst that of Joachim was, simply to get possession of Sicily." In
pursuance of this design, the king established himself, with 22,000 men,
in and around the town of Scylla. His own head-quarters were upon the
summit of a hill, in a magnificent tent, containing one large saloon and
six small chambers. "The tricolor banners, streaming on its summit,
seemed to defy the English batteries on the opposite shore, which
discharged bombs and shot that not only could reach the king's tent, but
even fell beyond it. One day, three balls descended into the tent, where
I was dining with the other officers of the king's household, although
it was situated farther back than that of Joachim." From this exposed
position Murat gazed at Sicily through a telescope, and tried to
persuade himself that it was his. But English ships and men continued to
arrive at Messina, rendering his enjoyment of his nominal possession
each day less probable. So sharp a look-out was kept by the British
fleet, that it was impossible to obtain intelligence from Sicily. The
vessels could be counted; but the amount of land forces was unknown, and
this Murat was most anxious to ascertain. He ordered Pépé to take two of
the boats called _scorridore_, to land in Sicily during the night, and
bring off a peasant, a soldier, or even a woman; any thing, in short,
that could speak. The expedition was so dangerous, that Pépé expected
never to return, and made all arrangements respecting the disposal of
his property, as if condemned to certain death. The two naval officers
whom he warned for the duty, looked at him with horror and astonishment,