The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-09 00:00:00

ALEXANDER DUM.ASIN SICILY AND

NAPLES.

A Naples correspondent of the Presse gives some
interesting particulars of Garibaldi, received by the
writer directly from Alexander Dumas. Gari-
baldi's disinterestedness is incredible. 'He allows
himself 10 francs a-day for his personal expenses—
that is his civil list. The other day his trousers
accidentally caught fire, and he was much incon-
venienced for want of a change. He said to
Alexander Dumas, "If I were rich I would have a
yacht like you," and a moment before he had signed
a bill of 500,000 francs for the public service.
When Medici was marching upon Melazzo the city
of Messina sent him a splendid charger. Bosco
hearing of this gave out that he would bring in
Medici into Messina a prisoner, and that he (Bosco)
would make his triumphant entry into the town
upon the horse which the citizens had given to
Medici. Garibaldi made Bosco walk on board the
ship which was to carry him to Naples, and he
had to give up his own charger to Medici. One of
the articles of the capitulation was, that the arms
in the fortress of Melazzo should be equally
divided. IV hen Garibaldi found that the twelve
guns which Bosco had left behind were spiked, he
went on board the Neapolitan frigate on which
Bosco was embarked, and made him send back the
twelve sound guns which he was taking away with
him. Alexander Dumas has been presented with
the freedom of several towns in Sicily. He is
about to start a journal in Palermo, with the title
of the indipendente. On this subject Garibaldi
wrote the following letter :

" Melazzo, July 21.

"The journal which my friend Dumas is about
to publish in Palermo will be called the Indipen-
dente, a title which it will all the more deserve, be-
cause the founder will not spare me if ever I should
deviate from my principles and my duty as a child
of the people.

" G. GARIBALDI."

There is no confirmation of Garibaldi having
shot any inhabitants of Melazzo. There have been,
however, two sentences of death. An officer and
an engineer of the Veloce (now called the Tuckery),
have been condemned for wilfully and traitorously
damaging the machinery of the vessel. The cor-
respondent from whose letter the above extracts
are taken says in a P.S. that Alexander Dumas
was the bearer of his own communication. He
passed a day in the Bay of Naples on his way from
Messina to Marseilles. The police civilly asked him
to land, although he had no Neapolitan visa on his
passport, but he declined. After a hasty trip to
icrance ne intends to return to Naples, and he has
actually written a letter, inviting a friend to visit
him a month hence in apartments which Garibaldi
will give him in the Royal palace of Naples.
The following (slightly abridged) is Dumas's
third letter to General Carini, and very amusing it
is, although less gifted correspondents may be ex-
cused for doubting whether the narration is in all
respects literally true.

" Bay of Naples, July 31.
MY DEAR CARINI,—I don't know when you
were in Naples, but you would not know it again.
Listen to my narrative—l who had the honour of
being sentenced to four years of the galleys by his
Majesty King Ferdinand. The Pausilippe had
scarcely cast anchor here when crowds of people
rushed upon the deck. A man, who probably re-
cognised me by my looks for a patriot, said,
Monsieur, where is Garibaldi? When will Gari-
baldi be here ? We are waiting for him.' 'I, who
know Naples on my fingers' ends, said to myself,
This must be a spy,' and I merely replied Non
capiseo.' A moment afterwards a gentleman,
politely taking off his hat, asked if I was not M. A.
Dumas. 'At your service,' said I ; but who have
I have the honour to speak to ?" Monsieur, I am a
police agent.' I took off my hat in my turn, and
said, Monsieur, lam here under the protection of
the French flag, and if you come to arrest me----.
' Arrest you, sir. You, the author of Corncob
Speronare and Captano Arena ! Why, sir, my
children learned to read in your books. Arrest
you! What idea can you have of us ? Why, I
have your name on the list of passengers, and I
felt it a duty to come at once to ask you to land.'
Another polite gentleman said that his boat was
waiting to take me on shore. ' I beg your pardon,
sir,' said I, but to whom am I indebted for this
obliging offer ?" I am the commissary of the port;
pray, sir, do not refuse me ; my wife is most
anxious to see you. Your Monte Cristo was played
the other day with the most brilliant success.'
Gentlemen,' said I, there are two reasons why I
cannot accept your invitation—the first is, that I
am under a sentence of four years in the galleys
ta,
and • if I were to set foot on Neapolin
territory —." Ah, sir ! who thinks of any
such thing in these times ? If you were
known to be on shore you would have a tri-
umphal reception.' My second reason,' I continued,
is, that I promised Garibaldi not to come to Naples
till he was there." And when do you think he
will'be here said the commissary in a persuasive
tone ? Why,' said I, in a fortnight or three
weeks at the least.' Oh, so much the better—so
much the better,' exclaimed the two police agents
simultaneously. Everybody here is impatiently
waiting for him.' I could not believe my ears.
You know, Sir,' said one of the agents, ' that we
received your letter from Melazzo ; it made an im-
mense sensation ; 10,000 copies were struck at once,
and if you were to go on shore now, you would hear
it cried in the streets.' I was more and more aston-
ished. Sir,' said I, since you are so Garibaldien,
I will show you something that will please you—a
splendid portrait of Garibaldi.' Tears stood in the
eyes of the police agent. Oh, Sir ! why, we have
nothing but the most villanous portraits of the
general, and even those are sold at an enormous
price.' Then, I have half a mind to have this en-
graved, and make a patriotic gift of the engraving
to the City of Naples.' But why give it,
Sir, when you might sell it at your own price ?'
My astonishment was unbounded. Such, my
dear Carini, is the state of feeling in Naples.
The very police agents, who hope to keep
their places when Garibaldi comes to Naples,
are more Garibaldien than even the rest of
the people. When the emigrants returned, their
instructions—instructions given, it is presumed,
sldibi eler
this
sees. is
themh
ep
revolutionsoos
by M. Cavour—were to make the revolution
withoutc
.. Garibaldi. But it is now seen that
made
M.
C who f
oauibo
fought
a,a.mgnuhadsi
ntwsirtie.tshiiginGnahr
Garibaldi.t
At Naples, as everywhere else, h. name is magi-
at C 1
tafimi say that he is eight feet high, that iat he received
150 balls during the battle, but that
at when the fight
was done he shook his red, shirt
and all the balls
fell out of it at his feet.

" ALEX. DUMAS."

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"Beyrout, July 19.
" We are favoured by yours of the 28th ult., and
in reply to your information that the Sublime
Porte had changed some governors, and ordered the
despatch of some soldiers to this country, and, in
consequence of those measures, hopes were enter-
tained of a speedy settlement of these disturbances,
we beg to say that the fearful occurrences in the
mountains against the Christians are totally ab-
sorbed now in the last events and cruelties at Da-
mascus. On Monday, the 9th inst., a rising of the
Moslems took place against the Christians of that
capital, and about 6,000 men in three divisions
attacked their quarter, and at once commenced pil-
laging and murdering, and on the following day
Moslems, Bedouins, and Druses of the neighbour-
hood poured into the town and continued the
tragedy. Some Christians took refuge at the house
of Abd-el-Kader, others with some respectable Mos-
lems, and the women and children at the Castle,
and at the English and Prussian Consulates which,
being Moslem property and in the Moslem quarter,
were saved. All the Christian quarter, with the
other Consulates, to the number of about 1,000
houses, were pillaged and burnt. On the 12th
inst., when they had done with the pillaging and
burning of every house, they went into the city,
and there ransacked all the warehouses and shops
belonging to the Christians, and, according to
the last news arrived from Damascus yesterday,
pillage and murder continued up to the last
date, the 16th inst. The number of killed some
calculate at 6,000, and some at more. At the time
these horrible deeds began there were about 1,500
regular Turkish troops and as many Bashi-Bazouks,
but they never gave any protection to the Chris..
tians, but helped to throw them back into the
burning flames when they attempted to escape ;
those who are still alive are in danger of meeting
their death by starvation. In fine, if we were to
write all the details we should require a large
volume ; suffice it to say,—God save us ! At pre-
sent fears are entertained for the Christians in
every place,—at Homs, Hammah, Saida, Latakia,
Aleppo, Tripoli, Beyrout, Tyre, Acre, Jaffa,
Naplous, and Jerusalem,—lest the same fearful
crimes should be committed there, as, after these
events at Damascus, the Drises and Moslems killed
the Christians of Horan and Baalbec, pillaged their
property, and forced many to embrace Islamism.
About half the population of Beyrout have left for
Alexandria, Syra, and other parts of Greece, and
even for Russia. Two days ago his Excellency
Fuad Pasha, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and his
Excellency Halim Pasha, commander of the army
of Damascus, arrived, and before them, and in their
company, came regular soldiers, sent for the last
disturbances in the mountains, as when they left
they had not the news of the Damascene events ;
so we have about 5,000 in Beyrout, and with the
soldiers that went with Mahmer Pasha, the new
Governor of Damascus, there will be about 14,000
there ; but no one knows what will happen after-
wards."

The following is an extract of a letter dated
Piraeus of Athens, July 23 :
" A day or two after I wrote my last letter we
received such startling intelligence by telegraph
from Syria, that our captain, upon his own respon-
sibility, steamed off to Beyrout at once. We
arrived there about four days afterwards, and found'
the Druses, a powerful tribe of Mahomedans,
massacreing Christians all over the country, and
threatening to attack Beyrout. The Turkish troops
were doing nothing towards presenting them,
but rather encouraged them, and, in two or
three instances, actually took part in killing
the unfortunate Christians. The arrival of

ourselves,frigate, and a large Rus-
siannted them attacking
reve
Beyrout, and about a week afterwards my old ship,
frigate a,
however, French
p
the Exmouth, 90, came in, which made the inhabi-

Cants of Beyrout feel themselves quite safe. Two
or three days after that we were suddenly ordered
to get up our steam with all speed, and found we
were going to rescue some poor wretches who had
escaped a fearful massacre at a place called Deir-
el-Kamar, and had managed to fetch the seashore
about 15 miles off. When we got to the place
pointed out, we saw on some hills, about two miles
off the beach, crowds of women and children hud-
dled together, apparently in g.reat distress, and we
could not make it out how it was they did not come
down to the beach-to be taken off. So the captain
sent me ashore with all the boats to bring them off.
I made all the boats lay off the surf, and then
landed myself, with an interpreter. I met an
armed party of Druses on landing, and told them
I wished to see the chief, as it appeared it was he
that would not allow the people to depart. I went
about two miles to a village where the chief lived.
On my way up I met crowds of women and chil-
dren in a fearful state of distress, but no men ;
they had all been killed. If I had been an angel,
I could not have been more blessed ; for, poor
creatures, no sooner did they catch sight of my
uniform, than they fell down at my feet and kisses
my hands, and implored me to save them. Of
course I did not understand their language, but I
was told what they said by the interpreter.
" I was received in great state by the Druse
chief, he and I sitting down and drinking coffee,
while all the smaller chiefs stood round uncovered.
I then told him I had come from my captain, to
request him to allow the unfortunate women and
children to embark on board of us without further
molestation ; that the English liked the Druses, and
admired their bravery, as long as they did not
hurt women and children, but if they injured them
they would make the English their enemies. The
old Druse chief told me they never warred with
women and children, and that he would be very
happy to allow them to embark, and that the armed
Druses with them were only for their protection. So
I told ,him to send them all down to the beach at
once. I was quite astonished to see the number of
them ; instead of 200 or 3AO, as we heard there
were, there were at least 1,500, and the most horri-
ble part was there was hardly a man to be seen, or
a boy over 12 years old; they had all been massa-
cred—husbands, brothers, and fathers, every one.
Poor things, they seemed overjoyed to get away,
and when they got to the beach I had the greatest
difficulty in preventing them throwing themselves
into the sea, and had to drag one or two of them
out of the surf myself.
" We only had about eight boats, but these we
began to load with all despatch, every poor woman
and child having to be carried through a tremen-
dous surf to the boats. However, our blue jackets
worked well and cheerfully, only I must say
that
they very unfairly gave preference to the pretty
girls, and when any old mother wanted to be car-
ried off I was obliged to order some man personally
to do it. Some of the women and children were
badly wounded. They had been wounded while
clinging to their husbands and fathers and were
killed. As soon as a boat was loaded she was sent
off to the ship, and the poor wretches stowed as
close as they would lie on board, and then the boat
was sent back. After two hours' hard work our
decks were packed as close as possible, and we had
room for no more. The gunboat, I must tell you,
was full of fugitives from Sidon, so that she could
not hold any. The sun had set ; the surf was in-
creasing fast, and two or three of our boats had
been pitched bottom up on the beach. and there
were still 700 unfortunate women and children on
the beach with hardly a stitch of canvas on, and that
little wet, all footsore, having travelled 30 miles the
previous day, and some of them had not touched
food for two or three days. I sent for the Druse
chief, and made him promise me to take care of them
until the morrow, when I said we would come again
and bring off the rest of them, as the Gannet was
firing guns for my recall. I went off, leaving
them all horribly disappointed on the beach, poor
things! When I went on board I found almost
every inch of deck covered. We had 700 women
and children on board, and only about a score
of men who had escaped. It was the most dis-
tressing sight I ever saw or hope to see again, for
row that the immediate fear of death was removed
they began to feel conscious of the full extent of
their misfortunes—houses burnt down and all their
relations massacred ; they began to scream, tear
their hair off in handfulle, and beat their breasts in
a most horrible manner. We did all we could to
soothe them. Officers and men are all vieing with
each other in feeding them with biscuit and giving
them clothes, &c. I could tell you hundreds of
anecdotes about them, but must reserve them for
another time, as we are off directly—suffice it to
s ywe took them to Beyrout, and, after a miser-
able night for them, poor things, wet through as
they were, landed them the next morning, and the
gunboat was sent up and brought down the remain-
ing 700 that night. We got great credit for the
affair, and my name figured in a despatch to the
Admiral. After stopping on the coast for about
a fortnight we were ordered back to Athens, and
when we got here found_ we had join the Admiral,
who was at Zante. to
We e picked him up at sea, and,
after cruising with the fleet between that place and