A.D. 1800. being in turn conjectured as their possible destination. The apprehensions of the Suliots had in the mean time been lulled, not only by the precautions of the vizir, but by the exertions of one of their own chiefs, Georgio Botzaris, whom Ali had seduced to his interests by a bribe of 25,000 piastres. He was, at the period of his defection, one of the most influential leaders of his tribe; the ammunition of the state was under his care, and by a treacherous manœuvre, it was conveyed, on the eve of the invasion, to the quarters of the enemy.* On June the first intimation, therefore, of the Pacha's march, the warlike little community were 14th. 18,000, (v. ii. p. 146,) Fauriel at 20,000, (v. i. p. 247,) and Perevos, Pouqueville, and Bartholdy at 28,000 men. * On the advance of Ali upon Suli, in spite of all these disadvantages, he found the mountain in a much more formidable position for defence than he had been led by the representations of Botzaris to believe. Enraged at this disappointment and his frequent defeats, he insisted on the traitor immediately joining his army, with all his family and followers, and it was only by lengthened and earnest entreaty that Botzaris obtained permission to send forward his soldiers, and remain himself behind. Remorse had already seized upon him; his little band of 200 retainers, led on by his sons, were cut to pieces at the mountain of Raidovuni, and, a few months after, the unfortunate chieftain expired of a broken heart. Perevos, v. i. p. 57. Pouqueville, v. i. p. 147. Bartholdy, v. ii. p. 270. Fauriel, v. i. p. 247. Dufey, v. i. p. 112. 1800. obliged, on a few hours notice, to hurry to A.D. their posts, and retire within the fortified villages, almost totally unprovided with arms, ammunition, or even the necessary store of provisions. The number capable of bearing arms amongst them amounted to little more than 1500 men, the chief command of whom was conferred upon Dimo Draco, Christos Botzaris, cousin to the traitor, and Foto Tzavellas, the same who in the preceding war had been left as a hostage by his father in the hands of the Pacha. He had been educated, together with his sister Chaïdo, under the auspices of his amazonian mother, Moscho; and, nursed in the very cradle of war, he had already, at the age of six-and-twenty, become the Achilles of his race. Like Hannibal, whilst yet a child, he had taken an oath of eternal hostility to the enemies of his country, and as he grew to manhood, so conspicuous were his justice and his valour, that "by the sword of Tzavellas" was the ordinary oath of his companions.* In all the athletic exercises of his clan, he was without a rival; in talent, in energy, and endurance, he * Ο δὲ ὅρκος ἐλέγετο παρ' αὐτων οὕτω· “ μὰ τὸν Θεὸν ἀδελφὲ (δεῖνα), ἄν σοι λέγω ψεύματα, ἀπὸ τὸ σπαθὶ τοῦ Φώτου Τζαβελλα νὰ μὴ γλυτώσω.” (Perevos, v. i. p. 93.) Or, Αν ψευδωμαι, τὸ Σπαθὶ τοῦ Φώτου νὰ μοῦ κόψῃ ταῖς ἡμέραις. (Pouqueville, v. i. n. p. 171.) 1800. A.D. stood immeasurably superior to the most distinguished chieftains of the mountain; and to him all eyes turned instinctively as their leader in the present emergency." Ali commenced hostilities by some skirmishes with scattered parties of the Suliots, in which, though the Turks were often successful, owing to their overwhelming numbers, their dense columns were fearfully thinned by the destructive fire of the enemy; whilst they, separated into flying detachments, and presenting no broad front to their opponents, escaped almost uninjured. Besides, several of the Pacha's allies, especially the Beys of Paramithia and Margariti, were privately disposed in favour of the mountaineers, and conveyed to them constant information of his plans. The campaign had scarcely commenced, ere his soldiers, galled by frequent defeats, and harassed in their encampments by the unceasing descents and nightly attacks of the Suliots, began to murmur against the service, and entreated permission to return to Joannina. Convinced, at length, of the impossibility of effecting any thing by assault, Ali determined on converting the siege into a blockade, and commenced with promptitude the * Hughes, v. ii. p. 148. Rizo, p. 162. Fauriel, v. ii. p. erection of a number of small forts commanding the principal exits from the mountain.* The country and villages for miles along the course of the Acheron and around the district of Suli, was completely laid waste, in order to offer no temptation to the frequent foraging expeditions of the besieged, in which numbers of the Pacha's troops were invariably cut off. The alliances of the neighbouring Beys and Pachas were eagerly solicited to assist in the completion of the blockading cordon, and, amongst others, Ibrahim of Berat was induced to join the camp with a reinforcement of 2000 soldiers. With these he sought to make a diversion, and draw off a portion of the Suliots by attacking Kurillo, a strong position about four miles distant from the principal village. Hither Tzavellas, with a hundred hardy adherents, hasted to meet him; but, after a well-contested action, in which Ibrahim was repulsed, Tzavellas was struck down, in the very moment of victory, by a ball from a concealed enemy. The Turks, animated by his supposed death, rallied, and with redoubled enthusiasm returned to the charge, allured, in a great degree, by the costly price which the Pacha had set upon his head. The action thus renewed, continued from noon till sunset, whilst * Perevos, v. i. p. 67. Rizo, p. 160. Dufey, v. i. p. 115. A.D. 1800. A.D. 1800. the wounded and exhausted chieftain, surrounded by his struggling comrades, and exposed in the midst of an affray in which he could no longer join, besought his followers, as fortune seemed occasionally to waver, to sever his head from his body, nor permit it to be borne in insulting triumph to the tent of the vizir.* The approach of night at length brought a respite, and his wearied soldiers bore off their exhausted leader, whose wounds prevented him for many months from appearing at the head of the Suliots. The expedition had been undertaken by the Pacha in the summer; and as autumn advanced, the ranks of his army were daily thinned by pestilence and hardship, whilst their spirits were broken by delay, privations, and unwholesome food. The war, too, showed no symptoms of drawing to a close: the Turks, unable to gain ground by acting on the offensive, were compelled to remain quietly in their entrenchments, where they were nightly assailed by flying parties of the mountaineers, and their stores plundered by foraging detachments, ‡ See vol. i. of this History, c. xi. p. 432. Hughes, v. ii. p. 154. + Pouqueville, v. i. p. 149. On one of these occasions, a Suliot, named Gianni Striviniottis, perceiving that the Turks had received a large supply |