The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-15 00:00:00

THE ifASSACR* AT JEDDAH.

SUEZ, JULY. 6.

Her Majesty's steamer Cyclops arrived here from
Jeddah on the 3d inst., bringing the remnants of
the Christian population of that port, whore an out-
break had taken place, costing the lives of the
British acting vice consul, the French consul and
his wife, and that of the three brothers Sawa, of the
Greek firm of Tema Sawa; these were the leading
members of the Christian community at Jeddah,
which it appears consisted of not more than from 40
to 50 souls, of whom 22 were murdered. The official
reports of the captain of the Cyclops were forwarded
express to her Britannic Majesty's consul general at
Alexibdria, the accounts of the affair, as they have I
obtainid currency at Suez, being but little to be
depended upon. By these, however, it would appear
that a question having arisen concerning the na-
tionality of a certain merchant vessel, the owner-
ship of which was disputed by two Anglo-Indian
merchants, the
‘one professing to become a subject
of the Sublime Porte in consequence of the case
having been decided against him by British con-
sular authority, and, therefore, wishing to came
the Turkish flag to be hoisted, obtained from the
local authorities permission to haul down the Bri-
tish ensign and hoist the Crescent, and did so,
notwithstanding the protestations of the owner, in
whose favour the case had been decided by a meet-
ing of merchants presided at by the English con-
sular authority. Mr. Acting Vice-Consul Page
was absent at the time ; but on his return to Jeddah
in the Cyclops, he was applied to by the rightful
owner of the vessel, and with his sanction the
Turkish colours were hauled down, and the British
ensign again hoisted by order of the captain of the
Cyclops. As, however, it would appear the Turk-
ish flag had been foisted with the approval of the
local authority, whether rightfully or not, the nas
tive merchants, or Hadramooths, attended on the
Kaimakan, governor of Jeddah, protesting against
so summary a mode of setting his authority at de-
fiance, and calling upon him not to submit to such
treatment in the laud of the Prophet. The Kai-
makan, being rather perplexed, is reported to have
said, "Why make so much fuss about a flag ; are
there not flag-staffs enough in the place to pulldownr
or words to that effect, whereupon the match was
lighted, andthe flagstaffswere immediatelyattacked,
in doing which, however, the mob became infu-
riated, and proceeded to acts of violence, entering
the houses of the French and the English consuls,
burning and destroying everything they could lay
their hands on, and murdering the inmates. The
Pasha of the Hedjas was at the time at Mecca; he
was sent for in all baste, but did not arrive for four
days, although he conld have performed the jour-
ney in 48 hours. On his arrival he communicated
with the captain of the Cyclops, who demanded that
all the'Christips in the place should be sent on
board his .vessel. Those remaining, some 20 in
number, wera endeavouring to hide themselves,
and were exposed to the greatest privations and
distress until rcfuoved to the Cyclops.
The houses of both consuls are said to have been
pillaged and destroyed, and the cry was that not a
Christian should be permitted to remain in the
holy land of the Prophet.

ALEXANDRIA, JULY G.
Au officer of -the Cyclops, arrived last night from
Stl6E, brings the following news
" On the night of the 7th June some Christians
swam on board, bringing
.the intelligence that the
Mahommedans of the town, in the absence of
Namic Pacha (who had gone to Mecca with nearly
all his troops) had begun massacring' the. Christian
population. At daylight the Cycle>ps dentin her
armed boats. As they approached the beach some
Turkish soldiers warned them off, saying that the
town was in a state of revolt, and that the forces
were too small to give them any protection. The
boats, however, still approached, and wLen they
reached the . shore were surrounded by-a mob of
some 200 to 300' men, unarmed, who atttemPted to
drag them out of the boats ; our 'sailors, however,
were armed, and managed to keep off the mob, killing
two and wounding several, when in the meanwhile
they received a message from the . Lieutenant-Go-
vernor that the English consul and all his family
had been murdered the previous evening at eight
o'clock. The French consul and his family were
attacked at nine o'clock, the consul and his wife
killed, and his daughter severely wounded by . a
sabre cut down her face whiht defending her father,
whose murderer she succeeded in killing. The
.Lieutenant-Governor begged the English would not
land or fire on the town, as he had the unfortunate
younglady and upward& of twenty other Christians
at his house, and only eight soldiers to defend
them, but requested them to wait until the Paella's
return. This course they adopted.
"On the Pacha's return the remaining Christians
were sent on board the Cyclops, 24 in number, in-
cluding the French lady.
"Twenty-two Christians were said to be mas-
sacred. The Pacha says he has airestA 300 of the
townspeople on suspicion. An Indian sheik, from
Dellhi,.is said to have instigated the massacre.
" As soon as the Christians were safe on board
the Cyclops, I landed a party of men, marched
through tlfe- town, and hoisted the English and
French flags under a_satute of 21 giing.

"The kiiglish consul is said to -Lave been hewn
in pieces and strewed about the streets."

.A4EXANDRIA,- JULY 6.

Before the present letter can reach England the
will already have placed you in posses-.
sion of the leading facts connected wit., the recent
outbreak at Jeddah, where Mahomedan fana-
ticism has enacted another tragedy, and has given
the world a fresh instance of its cowardice and
treachery.
Her Majesty's steamer Cyclops, lately sent to
the Red Sea by the British Government for the
purpose of taking a series of deep water soundings,
bad been lying for about a week in the harbour of
Jeddah, whittler she had Conveyed, a&passengera
from Suez, the English acting consul and
his French coNeagtte. - Nothing whatever
bad °venire& -to Show that the people of the
place were animate' with any extraordinary
sentiment of
,liOstility towards the Christian inha-
bitants. The officers of the steamer had made ex-
cursions in th 4 vicinity of thelowneand never once
met with the slightest molestation or insult, and
even on the very evening of the outbreak several
had been walking about in the bazaars until near
sunset without the least apparent-symptom of the
storm. This was on the 15th ult. In the evening
a few persons--Greek residents in the town—came
swimming off to the ship,. and stated that disturb-
ances had arisen, and tat they feared a conspiracy
had been entered into against the Christian inha-
bitants. Everything, however, continued in ap-
pearance perfectly quiet ; not a shot nor a cry was
heard,. though the savage work had even then al-
ready commenced,- but the assassins had taken
the precaution to use cold steel alone. The Eng-
lish Consulate was the first point of attack, and
Mr. Page, the
_acting Consul, must have fallen
under the,Opws of a croWd. of ..ruffians;, who -fol-
lowed up, the „murder by sacking the house and
tearing down- th 9 flag. The unfortunate: man's
body is said to have been fouucl literally leackul to
pieces. _ _

Maddened with excitement the mob appears next
to have poured dawn upon the house of the 'French
Consul, M. Eveillard. Elere, however, the Kai-
makan, or governor of the town, made some feeble
attempt to interpose; the force at his disposal
amountel to only 80 men, and, whatever efforts
they may have used, they did not succeed ire saving
the life of either the Consul or of his wife. Bath,
were murflered„and their daughter alone—a' young.
lady who, though under 20 years of age, appears to
have possessed the spit it of a heroine—was rescued-
from the hands of the assassins, and covered with
an Arab cloak she was carried to the house of the
Kaintakan.. .Her. face. was laid-op9i with a gash
from a sabre cut across the cheek, but before being
dragged forth she had avenged the murder of her
father by the death of the assassin.
Earlyon the following morning Cap'ain
still ignorant of what bad occurred, sent two boats
ashore.. When they neared the inner reefs Turkish
soldiers were.observed warning them off ; they con-
tinued, however, to . advance until they found
themselves surrounded by a crowd Of about GOO
men, who, from, the Out-jutting, reefs,. poured
shower of atonea upon the boats. The crews were
fortunately armed and soor(forced their way back
to the ship, not, however, without having been
compelled to pour a volley of musketry into their
aisailanfs.
An interval of five days new elapsed until the
arrival :from Mecca of Nana Pasha, the Gover-
nor of the;
rledjaz, with a body of about 800 Tur-
kish troops.'
The crew of the steamer entreated their officers
to be allowed to take vengeance upon the city, if
not by-laying the place in, allies, at least by being,
permitted to land, oven though
at the risk of rind,
ins themselves, at most .200 rerrer,„ opposed to a
population' of 40;000; hurt the .ICsima• can sent re-
peatedlinessi,ges beseeching C'apta P ire ollen to de-
sist front all .intei ference, warning' him that his own
house was surrontided- by infuriated fanatics cla-
in°nriligjor the surrender of the Christians who
they knew had obtained refuge in the house, and
declaring_ that were a single fired, or one armed
man landed from the ship, not only the lives of the
refugees, but also his own, would to a certainty be
sacrificed. This officer can doubtless not have
yielded without a struggle, and no other argument,
would probably have saved the city from its-well--
merited doom. Even though it -be granted that
only a portion of the inhabitants were actually en-
gaged m this massacre, none had a claim for pity
where all bad stood calmly by, without stretching
ingifemive
forth a finger to protect a handful et