I believe they called me 'adventurer,' 'artful dodger,' &c., but it must be remembered that I was in every way as much entitled to this position as the Admiralty 'pet,' whoever he may have been.
From the day of signing my contract (which has been constantly renewed) to the time I write, some sixteen years, I never have had cause to regret the step I took.
Shortly after my installation as vice-admiral in the Turkish navy, it was decided that I should be sent to Crete to put a stop to the blockade-running.

'Set a thief to catch a thief,' as one of my, what may be called, unfriendly critics has written about me, and the remark was _ben trovato_ at all events, for I certainly did know something about blockade-running.
I accordingly hoisted my flag in a fine fifty-gun wooden frigate, and arrived at Suda Bay, the principal port of Crete, where six or seven Turkish men-of-war were stationed, of which I took command.

Here I heard all the naval officers had to say about the blockade, the impunity with which it was carried on, &c.

I found, as I before mentioned, that the Turkish naval officers' hands were tied by all sorts of imaginary difficulties.

They had most zealously done their duty while trying to stop the blockade-running.