# Royal Naval Biography/Beaufort, Francis

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FRANCIS BEAUFORT, Esq. Fellow of the Royal Society; Vice President of the Astronomical Society, &c. &c. [Post-Captain of 1810.]
This officer is a son of the late venerable Dr. Daniel Augustus Beaufort, Rector of Navan, co. Meath, and Vicar of Collon, co. Louth, whose name “is well known to the British public as the author of our best map of Ireland, and most valuable memoir on the Topography, and Civil and Ecclesiastical State of that country; an excellent clergyman, of a liberal spirit and conciliating manners, and a man of taste and literature.”
“Dr. Beaufort, in his latter years, rebuilt the churches in both his parishes, which edifices remain monuments of his zeal and of his architectural taste. The church of Collon is built on the model of King’s College, Cambridge. It surprises and delights the English traveller, and may well gratify, as it does, the national pride of the sister country. Dr. Beaufort was one of those who first proposed the Royal Irish Academy, and actively assisted in the formation, and in the regulation of that institution, of which he was one of the earliest members. To the establishment and improvement of the Sunday Schools in Dublin he contributed essentially by his personal exertions and constant attendance; and he was one of the original founders of the admirable “Association for the encouragement of Virtue.” He possessed an extraordinary variety of information, which has never suffered to be idle, nor produced for parade: it was circulated in the most liberal and agreeable manner by his conversation, and ever ready and ever useful to his friends and country on all public or private occasions. During the course of his long life he did little for himself, much for others; nothing for money, scarcely any thing for fame; much for hiscountry, more for virtue and religion. Many have said, and more have felt, ​that they never spent an hour in Dr. Beaufort’s company without leaving it wiser and better, more disposed to do their duty to God and to their neighbour. In disturbed times, and in a country where political and religious dissensions have unhappily prevailed, he was eminently serviceable, combining, as he did, judicious loyalty with the virtues of a Christian, of a Protestant clergyman, and the talents and manners of an accomplished gentleman. Dr. Beaufort’s peculiarly conciliating politeness increased the power and effect of his benevolence, not oidy upon the highest, but upon the lowest class of his friends, acquaintance, and parishioners. He lived to be an example of uncommon intellectual vigour in advanced age. When he was nearly 83, in the last year of his life, he was occupied in preparing, from a large mass of materials, an improved edition of the memoir accompanying his map. His sight was so acute, that he could at that tige superintend the most delicate revisions of the map. His grateful parishioners propose to erect a monument to his memory. The general and deep regret felt for his loss does honor to virtue, and to the generous character of the Irish people.” Dr. Beaufort died at Collon, in the year 1821.
Mr. Francis Beaufort entered the navy during the Spanish armament, in 1790, as a midshipman on board the Latona 38, Captain Albemarle Bertie; and we subsequently find him serving under the Hon. Robert Stopford, in the Aquilon 32; which latter frigate was one of Lord Howe’s repeaters, on the memorable first of June, 1794.
In the autumn of the same year, he removed with Captain Stopford to the Phaeton 38, which ship formed part of the squadron under Vice-Admiral Cornwallis when that officer made his celebrated retreat from a powerful French fleet, June 17, 1795. Mr. Beaufort subsequently assisted at the capture of la Flore, a 36-gun frigate; la Daphne, mounting 30 guns; la Bonne Citoyenne, corvette; nine privateers, two other armed vessels, and many merchantmen; likewise at the ​destruction of l’Echoué 28. His promotion to the rank of Lieutenant took place about May 1796; and he appears to have continued in the Phaeton, under Captain Stopford and the present Sir James Nicoll Morris, until he was made a Commander, at the close of 1800. The manner in which he obtained that step will be seen by the following official letter:
“Phäeton, off Malaga, Oct. 28, 1800.
“My Lord,– I have the honor to acquaint your lordship, that on the 25th instant, H.M. ship under my command chased a polacre, which showed Spanish colours, ensign and pendant, to an anchor under the fortress of Frangerola, where a French privateer brig also took refuge. As the wind was on the shore, and they were close into the surf, and directly under a battery of five heavy guns, there was no prospect of bringing them off then. The following night, the brig escaped to the westward, and the ship made two attempts for Malaga, but was driven back. Last night, the hard breeze appearing favourable, I sent the boats under the command of Lieutenant Francis Beaufort” (first of the Phäeton) “who, at five o’clock this morning, in opposition to a very obstinate resistance on first boarding, at the hatchways, with musketry, and on reaching the quarter-deck, with sabres, got possession, and brought her out; she proves to be his Most Catholic Majesty’s armed ship the San Josef, alias l’Aglies, mounting two 24-pounders, iron ordnance, in the bow; two brass eighteens for stern-chasers; four brass twelves, and six 4-pounders; most completely found in small arms of all kinds; commanded by an auxiliary officer of the navy; manned by 49 seamen (of whom 15 were absent in her boat), and 22 soldiers as marines; employed as a packet, and carrying provisions between Malaga and Velilla. From the force of the ship, her state of preparation, and situation with respect to the fort, also the unfortunate circumstance of the launch (from whose carronade much was expected in the plan for the attack), having not been able to keep up with the other boats, and being distant when they were discovered and fired on by a French privateer schooner, that had come in unseen by us in the night, and was so placed as to flank the ship, and give the alarm; on which the barge and two cutters immediately pulled to the ship and boarded. I am convinced more determined bravery could not have been displayed than has been showed by Lieutenants Beaufort and Huish, Lieutenant Duncan Campbell, of the marines, Messrs. Hamilton and Staunton, midshipmen, Mr. Deagon the gunner, and the boats’ crews employed upon this service. It is with extreme concern I add, that one seaman was killed on coming alongside, and that their very gallant leader, in whom I have ever found a most capable and zealous assistant, was first wounded in the head, and ​afterwards received several slugs through his left arm and body. Lieutenant Campbell received several slight sabre wounds, and Mr. Augustus Barrington Hamilton was shot, while in the boat, through the thigh, notwithstanding which he boarded, and his conduct is highly spoken of; John Wells, a seaman, was also shot through the thigh. The loss of the enemy appears to have been 13 wounded, 6 badly; and some are supposed to have been wounded and driven overboard.
“I give your lordship the detail of this service, feeling it incumbent on me to do justice to the parties employed upon it, and humbly hoping that Mr. Beaufort’s conduct and wounds will entitle him to the protection given in the present war to officers of distinguished merit. I regret exceedingly that Mr. Hamilton wants some considerable part of his servitude, as he is of age, and, in all other respects, well qualified for a Lieutenant * * * * *. I have the honor to be, &c. &c.
(Signed)“James N. Morris.”
“To Vice-Admiral Lord Keith, K.B.”
The commander-in-chief, when transmitting the above letter to the Admiralty, reported to their lordships that the San Josef had been captured “under circumstanccs very highly creditable to Lieutenant Beaufort” and added, “I anticipate with satisfaction, the approbation with which I am sure their Lordships will regard the gallantry that has been evinced in the execution of the enterprise.”
In Nov. 1801, a paltry pension of 15l. 12s. 6d. per annum was granted to Captain Beaufort, in consideration of his severe sufferings. The following mention of him is made by Mr. Edge worth’s daughter at p. 207 et seq. of the volume quoted at the commencement of this memoir:–
“When Lord Hardwicke was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, government at length desired the establishment of a telegraph in this country, and my father was employed to form a line of communication from Dublin to Galway. Captain Beaufort of the navy, (his friend and brother-in-law) not being at that time in active service, engaged to assist in this undertaking, both from private friendship, and from a belief, that it would be beneficial to the country. He would not accept of any pecuniary remuneration, and devoted to this object two years of his life in unremitting zealous exertion.
“A line of telegraphs from Dublin to Galway was completed, temporary guard-houses were built at the recquisite stations, and a telegraphic corps was formed from those of my father’s yeomanry corps, and others of his tenantry, whom he had judged fit for the purpose. They had some additional pay, and their expences of living at different stations were ​defrayed by government. They conducted themselves invariably well, during the whole time they were employed, and shewed all the steadiness and intelligence that could he desired. Telegraphic messages and answers from Dublin to Galway were transmitted in the course of eight minutes, in a public experiment for the Lord Lieutenant; and his Excellency’s approbation was graciously expressed. Every one seemed perfectly convinced of the utility, and satisfied of the efficiency and success of he establishment. The Telegraphs being portable, they could be erected or taken down in a few minutes, and the whole line might thus be removed into any direction that the will of the commander-in-chief, or the exigency of the moment, should require. Two men could, with ease, carry the whole paraphernalia of each station upon their shoulders.
* * * * * The alarm of invasion gradually subsided, and the telegraphs were consigned to the care of the ordinary military established in the country. My father and his friend being diplomatically thanked for their exertions, the latter returned to the more active pursuits of his profession."
This was in the summer of 1805, at which period Captain Beaufort received a commission appointing him to the Woolwich 44, armed en flûte and then fitting for the conveyance of stores to our arsenals abroad. In that ship we find him proceeding first to the East Indies, and then to Rio de la Plata; of which river he made a very accurate survey, during the campaign of 1807. He was afterwards sent to the Cape of Good Hope, and lastly to the Mediterranean.
Captain Beaufort’s next appointment appears to have been, about June 1808, to the Blossom sloop, in which vessel he was employed on the north coast of Spain, at Quebec, and in affording protection to various fleets of merchantmen, until his promotion to post rank. May 30, 1810. At this period he was appointed to the Frederikssteen frigate; but previous to his joining that ship he escorted the outward bound trade to Portugal, Cadiz, and Gibraltar; accompanied two Spanish line-of-battle ships from the latter place to Minorca; and acted for some time as Captain of the Ville de Paris, a first rate, employed off Toulon. An highly interesting account of the manner in which the Frederikssteen was employed during the years 1811 and 1812, will be found in an elegantly written volume, entitled “Karamania,” containing “A brief description of the south coast of ​Asia'Minor, and of the remains of antiquity;” with 20 plans, views, &c., published by Captain Beaufort, in 1817. The following extracts will shew the nature of the service which he had been selected to perform, as also the style of his work:–
“The name of Karamania is commonly applied, by Europeans, to that mountainous tract of country which forms the southern shore of Asia-Minor; but, however convenient such a gencral appellation may be, as a geographical distinction, it is neither used by the present inhabitants, uor is it recognized at the seat of government. A kingdom of that name, or rather Karamun-ily, did indeed once exist; it comprised the ancient provinces of Lycia, Pamphylia, and the two Cilicias, with parts of Caria and Phrygia; and was so called from Karaman, the chieftain by whom it was founded. But, after various struggles with the growing power of the Turks during the course of two centuries, it was finally subverted by Bajazet the Second; and tiic inland town of Karaman affords, at this day, the only remaining vestige of the name.
“The names and boundaries of the ancient provinces above-mentioned are also entirely obliterated; and the limits, even of the present states, cannot be ascertained with any precision. Sheltered from all effectual control of the Porte by the great barrier of Mount Taurus, the half-independent and turbulent Pashas, amongst whom they are parcelled, are engaged in constant petty hostilities with each other, so that their respective frontiers change with the issue of every skirmish.
“Groaning under that worst kind of despotism, this unfortunate country has been a continued scene of anarchy, rapine, and contention; her former cities are deserted, – her fertile valleys untilled, – and her rivers and harbours idle. Perhaps nothing can present a more striking picture of the pervading sloth and misery, than the hardly credible fact, that, on this extensive line of coast, which stretches along a sea abounding ia fish, the inhabitants do not possess a single boat.
“The allurements to visit a country in such a state of civil degradation are certainly small, when contrasted with the risk of venturing among those jealous and discordant tribes. Nevertheless, it does appear somewhat strange, that, while the modern spirit of discovery had explored the moat remote extremities of the globe, and while the political convulsions of Europe had forced the enterprising traveller into other continents, this portion of the Mediterranean shores should have remained undescribed, and almost unknown. For, beside its tempting proximity to the borders of Europe, and its easiness of access, this once flourishing region seems to possess eminent claims to attention:– it was colonized by that redundant population of antient Greece, which had gradually spread over the rest of Asia-Minor, and which had every where introduced the same splendid conceptions, the same superiority in the arts, that had immortalized the parent country:– it was once the seat of learning and riches, and the theatre of ​some of the most celebrated events that history unfolds:– it was signalized by the exploits of Cyrus and Alexander; and was dignified by the birth and the labours of the illustrious apostle of the Gentiles.
“At a few of the western ports, it is true, some recent travellers had touched in their voyage to Egypt; Le Brun also landed at Adalia, on his way to the interior; and as the road from Constantinople to Syria crosses the eastern extremity, some casual notices were to be found of the principal places in that quarter; but of the remainder of this great range of country, the only accounts extant were those of the antient geographers; and of the coast, there were no charts whatever by which the mariner could steer.”
This serious chasm in geography determined the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, when Mr. Yorke presided at the board, to employ a frigate on a survey of the coast; and H.M.S. Frederikssteen, of 32 guns, being then stationed in the Archipelago, was selected for that service.
“To settle the hydrography and to ascertain the naval resources, was the main design of the expedition; and the multiplied labours attendant on a survey of such magnitude, added to an excusable impatience for the final accomplishment of the task, in order to resume the more natural pursuits of a cruising frigate, allowed but little time for indulging in the examination of other objects. Yet the venerable remains of former opulence and grandeur, which every where forced themselves into notice, were too numerous and too interesting not to have found some admission among the more strictly professional remarks; and indeed they were often necessarily combined with the operations of the survey.”
From such materials. Captain Beaufort compiled his valuable work, in the hope of exciting further inquiry. What facts could be collected he has faithfully and skilfully reported: they throw much light on ancient history, and add greatly to modern science. We have no doubt, that in more settled times than the present, they will rouse other Englishmen of talent and research to visit those interesting Turkish provinces; and we cannot but hope that the growing energy, which must one day free this hitherto neglected country ​from political slavery, will also emancipate it from its moral effects.
On his arrival in the Archipelago, Captain Beaufort found that a regularly organized system of absolute and general piracy existed in the district of Maina, the southern province of the Morea. The number of their vessels, or armed rowboats, fluctuated between 20 and 30; they lurked behind the different head-lands and innumerable rocks of the Archipelago. All flags were equally their prey, and the life or death of the captured crew was merely a question of convenience. A Turkish prize was the only exception to this rule; for, as they expected no mercy if taken by the Turks, they rarely gave them quarter. The following instance of their barbarity is related by Captain Beaufort:
“We found one of these pirates concealed in a small creek of Hermonissi, a barren island to the westward of Stampalis: as our boats approached, they fired into them from the cliffs, and rolled down large stones which wounded two of our men. We destroyed the vessel, and compelled most of the crew to submit: the rest retreated to the craggy heights, and we made sail in quest of their comrade, who we learned was skulking among the neighbouring islands; but the darkness of the night, and the warning fires from the top of the islaud, enabled him to escape. On returning to Hermonissi, we found that a couple of nights’ starvation had rendered the remaining rogues more tractable, for they eagerly came down to the boat and surrendered themselves. Nothing could be more contemptible than the appearance of this vessel; yet she rowed fast, possessed a swivel and twenty muskets, and with the forty ferocious looking villains who manned her, might have carried the largest merchant ship in the Mediterranean. Nay, two of these vessels had lately secured themselves under a rock, and had actively frustrated the repeated attacks of a Turkish frigate. Having occasion to anchor at Stampalia, the Primati, or magistrates, came off to express their gratitude for our having delivered them from one at least of that fraternity which had so often laid their island under contribution; and they pointed out a rock near the ship, where, three days before, two Mainot pirates had adjourned to divide the plunder of a Turkish boat; whose crew, consisting of five men, they had massacred there, sparing only one passenger; and him they had deprived of an ear. The truth of this story was confirmed by the poor fellow himself, who afterwards came on board to have his wound dressed; and an officer, who was despatched to the rock, reported that the five bodies were still lying there, a prey to innumerable birds.”
​Having obtained the necessary passport from the Turkish government, Captain Beaufort sailed from Smyrna, in July, 1811, and shortly after reached the coast of Karamania. His operations began at Yedy-Boo-roon, or the Seven-Capes, a knot of high and rugged mountains, which appears to have been the ancient Mount Cragus of Lycia, the abode of the fabulous Chimaera. From thence he proceeded along the coast until he arrived off Cape Avova, in the Guiph of Adalia, where he met with an adventure which afforded him a very happy opportunity of displaying great prudence and humanity. He thus describes it:–
“While tranquilly employed there, surveying, wooding, and watering, we were astonished by the report of some heavy guns. No ships were in sight, there was no appearance of forts or castles on this almost uninhabited coast, and we began to think that the angel of Takhtalu was anticipating his autumnal summons.”
“A small vessel, which soon after anchored in a neighbouring creek, put an end to our conjectures. She brought intelligence that the city of Adalia had been lately surprised by a rival Bey, and that the firing which had been heard was occasioned by an attempt of the former governor to retake it.
“An approaching occultation of a star, and a lunar eclipse, were shortly to take place; and the island of Rashat, which is but a few miles from Adalia, seemed to be a desirable place for our little observatory. It would have been satisfactory to have obtained these observations near the principal city of the whole coast, but it was of more importance to our pursuits to avoid being entangled in the feuds of those turbulent chieftains. This news, therefore, determined me to remain where we then were, off Cape Avova. The distance of Adalia, from thence, is eighteen miles; and though we had distinctly heard the guns, we flattered ourselves that we might continue there, unperceived and undisturbed.
​“But vain were our hopes. The city was recaptured by the former Pasha, and the unsuccessful party were flying in all directions. The following day, a large body of them came down to the beach abreast the ship, and begged of our watering party to protect them from the fury of their pursuers. This was of course refused: we had no right to interfere in their disputes; and I determined neither to involve his Majesty’s flag, nor to expose our operations to interruption or failure, through the resentment of a Pasha, whose government extends along so large a portion of the coast. Exhausted, however, as the fugitives were by fatigue, hunger, and wounds, I could not resist their importunity for a little bread, and for surgical assistance. But the refreshments that we sent were accompanied with advice, to escape while there was yet time, into the woods, where cavalry could not pursue them; and in that case, with an offer of sufficient bread to carry them out of the province. They replied, that to escape would be impossible; there were no roads open to their retreat; a price was set upon their heads; the want of success had now rendered all the inferior Aghas hostile; and that their religion taught them to rely upon God for their deliverance, or to submit without repining to their fate.
“Some hours after, a large sailing launch was seen drifting out to sea, without any person on board: our boats towed her alongside, and as the horse-patroles of the victorious party were already descending; into the plain, I proposed to these poor wretches to victual that vessel, to repur the oars and sails, and to embark there in her, ready for the land-breeze at night.
“This also they declined – none of them were seamen; they knew not how or where to steer; and if their hour was come, they preferred dying like men, with arms in their hands on shore, to being murdered by the cannon of the Pasha’s cruisers, by whom they must ultimately be overtaken.
“Things remained in this state till the next morning, when one of the Pasha’s armed ships was seen rounding the cape; and the party of cavalry, which had, till then, been checked by the appearance of our frigate, now crossed the river, and surrounding at some distance that part of the beach which was occupied by the fugitives, seemed only to wait the approach of the above vessel to close upon their victims. This was the crisis of their fate. That fate depended upon me. Cold and calculating prudence forbade ne to interfere; but, I could not stand by, and see them butchered in cold blood!
"My decision once made, there was not a moment to be lost. Our boats were despatched, and in a few minutes I had the satisfaction of rescuing sixty fellow-creatures from immediate slaughter.”
“Arrived within a few leagues of the confines of Syria, we were now entering on a part of the coast which surpassed in interest all that we had already explored. In the celebrated plains ot Issus, Alexander and Severus had each decided the empire of the world; and to have been able to elucidate the various accounts of those victories by an accurate survey of the field of battle, would have been highly gratifying. The altars erected by the conqueror of Darius might probably have eluded our search; but the course of the Pinarus, and the disposition of the country, must have been still obvious. Nor would it have been a less important service to historical geography, could we have determined the position of Myriandrus, and the contested situation of the famous Pylae Amanicae, where the Persians and Macedonians had unknowingly passed each other. But all these flattering hopes were disappointed.
“On the 20th June, while embarking the instruments from a little cove to the westward of Ayas, we perceived a number of armed Turks advancing towards the boat. Turks always carry arms; and there was no reason to suppose that this party had any other object than curiosity, for several of the officers were at that time dispersed in the neighbourhood, and accompanied by the villagers; some of whom, about an hour before, had shewn the most good humoured assiduity in pointing out to me the inscriptions on the tower and other places: neither had their conduct to the watering boats, the preceding evening, led to any kind of distrust.
“As they approached, however, an old dervish was observed haranguing them; and his frantic gestures, with their reiterated shouts of ‘Begone,’ ‘Infidel,’ and other offensive expressions, left the hostility of their intentions no longer doubtful. The interpreter was absent with the officers, and all my little store of friendly words and signs seemed to irritate rather than to appease them. To quit the place seemed, therefore, the most probable means of preventing a fray; and as the boat was ready, we quietly shoved off. The mob now rushed forward; their voices assumed a shriller tone; and spurred on by the old fanatic, they began to level their muskets: the boat was not yet clear of the cove; and if they had succeeded in reaching the outer points, our retreat would have been cut off. It was, therefore, full time to check their progress, and the unexpected sight of my fowling-piece had for a moment that effect; but as they again endeavoured to close, I fired over their heads. That expedient saved us. They immediately halted; most of them fell on the ground; the dastardly Dervish ran away; and we had gained sufficient time to get the boat’s head round, and almost disentangled from the rocks, when one ruffian, more resolute than the rest, sprang forward to a rock on the shore, which covering his person allowed him to take deliberate aim. His ball entered near ​my groin, and taking an oblique course broke the trochanter of the hip joint. Had his example been followed, all the boat’s crew must have been destroyed: but fortunately, they had been so intimidated by my fire, that we were beyond the reach of theirs, by the time they rose from the ground. The pinnace was luckily within signal distance; she was called down, and before I fainted from the loss of blood, I had the satisfaction of sending her round to rescue the scattered officers, and to protect the small boat, which waited for them to the eastward of the castle. Before the pinnace, however, could reach that place, Mr. Olphert, a remarkably fine young man, who was midshipman of the former boat, had fallen a sacrifice to the same party of assassins.”
P. 308.– “The wound I had received was dangerous in the extreme, and the sultry climate of the Levant was highly unfavorable. My constitution had already suffered from many former wounds; and for some time there appeared but little hope of its weathering the present struggle: but assisted by the skill of the surgeon, Dr. Hugh Stewart, of whose unwearied attention I shall always preserve the most grateful remembrance, it ultimately triumphed; though not till after many months of tedious confinement and painful ex-foliation.
“While at Malta, however, it was still uncertain. At all events there was no probability of my being able to resume the thread of the survey, which had been so untowardly broken; and the ship being also in a bad state, we were ordered to proceed with a convoy to England, where we arrived before the close of the year.”
After the Frederikssteen’s return home, Captain Beaufort was fully occupied for several years in laying down the result of his labours on the coast of Asia-Minor, and in constructing a set of charts, which have since been engraved, for the use of the British navy. From the weighty responsibility attached to such a work, he considered it necessary that the whole should be executed by his own hand; and we have reason to believe, although he has never favored us with any communication on the subject, that previous to his doing so, no maritime surveyor ever lodged at the Admiralty, MSS, so. drawn and arranged as to be fit for immediately placing on the copper, without first deriving aid either from the Hydrographer or some of his assistants.
​There is another circumstance that we cannot avoid noticing, previous to our closing this memoir.
As all the materials of which “Beaufort’s Karamania” was composed, were acquired in his Majesty’s service, and in the execution of a public duty, the able Author refused to accept of any remuneration from the publisher for the copyright of the MS., thereby setting an example calculated to excite future officers to that independent and disinterested feeling which should ever characterise the British Navy!
Captain Beaufort now enjoys a pension of 250l. per annum, for his numerous wounds. He married, Dec. 3, 1812, Alicia Magdalena, eldest daughter of Lestock Wilson, of Harley Street, London, Esq.
Agent.– Sir F. M. Ommanney.
* ↑ See “Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Esq.” M.P. for St. John’s Town, co. Longford (who married Dr. Beaufort’s daughter), Vol. II. p. 193.
* ↑ See Vol. I. p. 75 et seq.
* ↑ See Id. note at p. 354 et seq.
* ↑ See Vol. I. p. 354, et seq.
* ↑ The ancient Olbia, stated by Strabo to have been the first town of Pamphylia, and described by him at a great fortress. See Beaufort’s Karamania, 2d edit. p. 137.
* ↑ Karamania, preface, i–ix.
* ↑ Karamania, p. 228.
* ↑ Id. p. 1.
* ↑ Pamphylium Mare.
* ↑ Takhtalu is the ancient Mount Solyma, from whence, according to Strabo, the wrathful Neptune descries Ulysses approaching Phaecia. See Odys. E. v. 282. Its bald summit rises in an insulated peak 7,800 feet above the sea. The Agha of Deliktash (the ancient Olympus, or Olympos) assured Captain Beaufort, that every autumn a mighty groan is heard to issue from the summit of the mountain, louder than the report of any cannon, but unaccompanied by fire or smoke. He professed his ignorance of the cause; but on being pressed for his opinion, he gravely replied, that he believed it was an annual summons to the Elect to make the best of their way to Paradise. See Karamania, p. 68, and note at ditto; also pp. 46 and 58.
* ↑ Karamania, pp. 70–75.
addendum.
FRANCIS BEAUFORT, Esq. (Suppl. Part II. p. 94.)
Was appointed Hydrographer to the Admiralty in May 1829.