Des Arc citizen., 1860-09-12
The Rescue of Syrian Women and Chil
 dren by English Efen.of- War.

dren by English Men- War
 The following letter from Capt. Payn- ter, of the English Navy, describes some few of the horrible scenes he has recently witnessed in Syria. and gives an account of the rescue of 2000 women and children by English men.of war:
 With reference to the Deir-el- Kamar the Druses commenced on Wednesday, the 18th Inst., to enter the town in large armed bands, and began plEaging the shops and warehouses al four in the after. noon; the troops joined the Druses in plundering. During the night the Druses of the Hauran and the Metualis entered the city from different directions. Early on Thursday morning the town was set on fire in several places, and a massacre of every male inhabitant, from the helpless old man 10 the infant at the breast, com menced, and the women who did not fly were violated These atrocities contin- ued, without ntermission, untl Friday.
 Al s P. M. on Thursday, his Excellency KhoorSheed Pasha, Governor General of Syria, arrived, but taking no notice of the horrors committed by the troops or Druses, passed on 10 a station called Itaheen which overlooked the town. He then issued an order to stay the slaughter, which was dis regarded by both the troops and the Dfuses; 500 males, it is stated, are now lying un- buried amid the ruins of Deir-el Kamar, and the women and children who fled from oc ,l. I MT. Consul General Moore, were mak- ing their escape to the seaside, near the Damoor river, hunted down like wild beasts.
 instantly dispatched Capt. Lambert, of the Gannet. who was about to proceed to Athens. and desired him 10 signallze to the Mohawk. then on her way from Sidon, with the fugitives from the massacres a, Hasbeiya. to assist her with the boats In embarking the refugees.
 enclose you the reports of Comman- der Lambert and Acting Consul West and in doing so beg leave 10 inform you that the service was performed under great diff. 6cully, and reflected grea, credit on all concerned; and it wlll be gratifying to you 10 know that, with the means that you have placed at my disposal, we have saved from the horrors of famine, murder and viola. ,ion, upwards of 2200 Christian women and children.
 In the first trip the Gannet brought up seven hundred, the Mohawk four hundred and fifty.six; the second trip the Mohawk brought up six hundred and twen,y-four, and the third trip upwards of five hundred in every stage of misery. The most se- verely wounded 1 received on board of the Exmouth, and their wounds were dressed by the surgeon of this ship; the remain der were landed and sent to the French hospital. The whole of those wounded were shot or sabred flying from the towr after their husbands and male children had been slaughtered.
 1 received every assistance from the boats of the French, Russian and Turk ish ships lying here, in landing these poo' !, creatures; and the French Commodor, ,, dispatched to the norlhward a vessel in or } der 10 rescue any others that may have remained. but have every reason to be { { lieve that the fugitives from Zahle, Has ! balya and Deir-eI Kamir have been takei } of from our vessels
 The conduct of Osman Bey really ap ' ' pears in thls age without parallel. Il n first of all induced the Christians 10 sur Q render their arms; he then crowded tn Q poor creatures in the courts oi the Seaa1 a and for eight days kept them with barrel . sufficient food to keep life together; an {, then, when unable 10 resist from physIca debility. he opened the gates and alowe the Druses 10 rush in and massacre ihei to the number of 800, men, women an ' children. The few that escaped owed thel 2 preservation to crawling under the bodle l, of the dead, and escaping under the cove n of darkness
 ' On hearing of this bulchery. and bt .- lieving il possible that many of the w' j. men and children would escape 10 the se
 coast of Tyre and Sdon, lmmedlalel dispatched the Mohawk on the 2lst,
 those places. with orders 10 communca l. with the Vice Consul, ant bring off an 3. of the fugiIives. IL was on the return IS the Mohawk from these places with u ,s that she assisted in embarkng the wome 10 in Deir-el- Kamar on board the Gannet.
 It is said that Chang and Eng, u