Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/82

 52 THE RENEWED KXPEDITION TO KETITCII. ('II AT. IV. The Tartars In Krltcll destroying •mil plun- dering. The meas- ures taken by Brown aud by tin' people of Kertch. task of restraining their own men, the French officers seemed wholly powerless. It was 'piti- ' able,' wrote Sir George, ' to see their faces ' when asked to undertake such a duty.* The Turks were not undeserving of the keen efforts made to restrain them. They, day after day, proved guilty of committing horrible outrages.! On the same day, the 26th, a second deputation from Kertch came before Sir George Brown at Yeni Kale, informing him that the dread expecta- tion of the day before had become a reality, that the town was in a state of anarchy, and that ' the ' Tartars,' as they called them, were plundering and destroying everything. In the face of this appeal, Sir George again refused to give the place any garrison ; but a vessel of war at his instance was promptly moved into the bay. The unfor- tunate people of Kertch found means to arm for their protection a body of fifty men of various nationalities ; and this small improvised force proved firm and courageous in dealing with isolated outrages committed by stragglers, as for instance when they promptly shot down several Turks whilst resisting attempts to arrest them for knocking out the brains of a child ; } but — weak in numbers — these guards did not seemingly try — and so far as I know, were not ordered — to drive out the plundering Tartars. f Sir George Brown to Lord Raglan, 29th May. X Ibid. They, it seems, killed one, and seriously wounded the rest.
 * Sir George Brown, 27th and 28th May.