The Sun.
London, England, 1807-05-30 00:00:00

MUTINY AT ..31.4 LTA.

. xfia4 of. a Letter from Mr. T. G. merchant at
Malta, to a friend in London :--
" MALTA, Aillll. I 3.—Lasfiiight, another inaga-
.zine of 560 barrels of gunpowder was blown up ;
but,: thank God, with the loss of only three lives Of
anyvalue. It originated from a most disgraceful
and determined .Mutiny which broke out in Fort
Recazoli, among a new raised regiment called .Fro.
berg's, Consi-sting of thirty-two different nations, at
least. tongues. This Mutiny made its appearance on
Saturday, the 4th instant, when they overpowered
their Officers, murdered three, and wounded many
others. The Garrison was immediately put under
arms, and it was hoped the Mutineers would be im-
'..mediately subdued ; however, the General conceiv-
' ing lenient measures, from the vicinity of the Fort
to Valette, to be best, only planted a sufficient:body
of troops to prevent their escape. This' measure had
no effeet on them ; the next morning they loaded
all the guns and mortars in the Fort, and pointed.
them on the City ; at the' same" time sent out a
message to the General, that if he-did not immedi-
ately send them provisions, orant them a free pardon,
,and provide suffiCient itessels to carry them to; their
own countries, they 'would murder the whole. of
their Officers, and all the English -Inen, women, and
children, they bad in their power. It was now
deemed necessary. to man all the batteries ; and
about 150 pieces of cannon, besides mortars, were
brought to bear on the, Fort, and ordeis were given
at each battery that, should the rebels fire, they ‘frere.
immediately to be fired on from all quarters. These
preparations appeared, in some .measure;:to damp
their spirits : they. thought proper not to fire on the,
town, though they put many to death- who at-
tempted to escape from them. This was the situa-;
• lion of affairs from'Stnidav to Thursday, they daily
• sending threatening messages to' the General. On
the Ilatter day, provisions beginning to grow scarce
amO'ng them, and no probability that the, General
Avouldaccede to their demands, and no prospect of
' escape left. for them, difference's broke 'out among
tthernselves; and the most of the reg3ment rushed out
tfcl- surrendered themselves, having first massacred
the sentinels that bad been placed at the gates. In
-this-conftision, the Officers and English .men„Wo.,
and children, gut out of the Fort. There
were now not supposed to be above .et) left' in the
Fort of -the Mutineers ;. but these were'the ring-
, leaders, and conseqiiently could not hope for pardOn,;
however tfiey still deManded it, and woUld:surren-:
-der on:no other terms thafithey at first:•de.Manded;
• threateping still\ ttr. bombard. the city., and when
they could do no further rnisthief, to' ,blow up' the
~Fort : -and; in order to skew that they were in ear-
ncst; op:Frilly, evening; they threw two shells and
::,several shot, but fortunately without doing any mis-
phie'l. The General determined to carry the Fort in
-the night by assault ; but unfortunately, a dog
which.the Mutineers had with them, and a mus-
_
„OLT, going off by accident; alarmed them; and after a
few shots and shells •fired, they made their escape
into the powder magazine ; our people• having se-,
cured Nit two of them.
• 4“

,Here they were entirely cut oft from an pro-'
visions and water ; yet they would not surrender,
but fired 'on our people whenever they could get a
shot at them. Thus they remained until last night,
at nine o'clock, when they sent out their last mes-
sage, declaring if provisions and 'water were not sent
them in half an hour, as they were starving, they
would end their miseries by blowing up the maga-
tine. They kept their word ; and at thirty-two
Minutes past nine the explosion took place, but
most fortunately indeed did no further mischief than
destroying part Of the works, and killed three cen-
tincls. Thus has ended the most determined Mu-
tiny I ever witnessed ; but punishment, I trust,
.aWaits the greater part of the Regiment : never did
Of so general a Mutiny; very few stood by
•their Officers.

" On Saturday 24 of the worst of those taken were
tried, and executed the same day. A Court-martial
twill bbassembled to-morrow to try a further num-
:;b6r, Who, it is supposed, Will suffer the fate they so
Hvighly peril directly after... About .iOO of them laye
been; so very desperate, that it . is aln")ost impossible
selea:the worst : those executed on Saturday died
in .'the, most hardened Manner possible, sWearing,
blaspheming, dancing, singing, and darina.their fate
to the
.veryitnornent.they were launche/ into eter-
-nity. I believe, was such a seene.of harden-
ed -villany exhibited."
--" APRIL 16.—1 t is said confidently, that the fiVe
men,Who..blew the magazine up did it by a train,
and made ;their escape into the country : two of
them; were yesterday taken. There is not the least
.rdoubt but that they will all be taken very soon.
a distressing circumstanee to us to be able clear-
'see our own people among the rebels, 'yet not
ppossible to get them away, though we knew theta to
be nearstarving; and believed that at last they would
te'iMardered..,.The Fort lies near a quarter of 4 Mikt
'froL).: us by watery's° that-we could, see their every'
movement. It was not intepiled that the Mutiny.
shOuld have broken but-on the day it did, thei.not
being- prepared ; but one-of the Serjeants told 'the
„Qfficers, when oneclfi,hem rushed out, and demand;-
"ell' the head' of the Mutineers to show himseJf,
which he'. impudently did elirealy in arms. The
Officer attempted. to
.stab him, when they all fell on.:
him and murdered him ; but not before he had
killed one and wounded several others. He, nod
most of their Officers, were Gertnatis. While the
Men were tit the magazine, we were of Various
nions as to.wherher they would or not have courage
to blow. the magazine and themselves up. For the
safety of Valette we knew there was no danger ;
our-only concern was for the officers and men in
the Fort.. The former, at the time the explo.,.
sion happened,. were sitting at their wine after din-
ner. The magazine was so construaled, that in
ease of au explosioh it might take to-the sea, which
it did.".

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY A PERSON
OF THE FIRST RESPECTABILITY IN MALTA.
•
" A circumstance of a very unpleasant nature hai
recently taken place here, and has thrown the whole
Garrison into a state of great alarm and consterna•
tion. A foreign regiment, composed Of almost every
nation under the sun, but in the British service-, bad
the command of a considerable fortress, just Opp-
, site this city, and about a fortnight since a spirit
of rebellion broke out amongst them. A large party
drew vim!) their officers, killed three, wounded severat

ethers, tore down the English Flag, hoisted another
„
in its place,.and swore they-would fire upon the tOWn,
and blow up the Fort, unless. the General would
grant them a free pardon-,, and provide them with
• vessels, and every accommodation to carry thetn. to
their respeclive countries. This, of course, could.
not be complied with, and for five days we were
kept in a dreadful stispense and uneasiness. At the
expiration of this period, the gates were opened by'
sortie means Or other, when a number of the Mu-,
thieers, together with a small
,paily ofFingliSh ar-
tillery, who were likewise there_upen duty, rushed
Out ; the former were secured.. #-Prisoners, and the
--
others-were glad to regain 11f6Tr.liberty, having been
kept in momentary expectation of being destroyed
by the rebels. , On Saturday, about 24 of the prin-
cipal ringleaders were tried by a
.Court Martial;
fOund guilty, and were executed the
.Same'day. The
following evening, those who still remained in,pOs,
session of the Fort grew desperate for want of pro-,
visions, and actually blew up the poWdermagaiine,,
which caused a terrible alarm here, though no great
deal of damage was done by,it. Three Englishmen,
were killed by the explosiOn, and some wounded ;
and thus the affairl hope is terminated."