Note 60 — Chapter XIII

This bulta or balta, a kind of battle-axe, was the emblem of authority which El Gezzàr generally bore about with him. It is said that upon the retreat of the French from before Acre, El Gezzàr, to show his sense of Sir W. S. Smith’s success, gave this balta into the hands of the gallant commodore, and said to him—“You now represent myself: exercise for twenty-four hours the power with which you are invested, in what acts you please.” Sir Sydney ordered the prison doors to be thrown open, and gave the prisoners their liberty.