Anglo-Egyptian War, 1882: execution of an arsonist by a British firing squad in Alexandria. Wood engraving after F. Villiers, ca. 1882.

"Our special supplement. These sketches, which only arrived in England on Wednesday, represents incidents which, thanks to the detailed telegraphic accounts given by the various correspondents of the daily newspapers, are already familiar to most of our readers. Our double-page engraving represents the first reconnaissance in force, which took place on Thursday, July 13th. When it was discovered that Arabi had retreated into the interior under cover of a flag of truce, detachments of marines and sailors were landed, and sent to explore the city. Various street fights occurred, as our men found Arabs firing and plundering private dwelling houses. These rascals were fired upon by our marines, and after a while a Gatling gun was landed from the Monarch, which proved of valuable assistance. Not that this retribution was confined solely to Arabs, as one scoundrel of a Christian who had taken the opportunity to loot was executed by our men with equal celerity. "A curious coincidence in the affair," writes our artist, "was that the execution took place in the very building where two young English merchants sought refuge and were murdered on June 11th." The British Consulate was not burnt during the first firing of the town, as The Times correspondent, writing on July 15th, reports it safe and sound. On the evening of that day, however, it was burnt to the ground, the flames having spread from the adjoining houses. Singularly enough the coat of arms usually suspended over the doorway was, our artist tells us, untouched ..."—The graphic, loc. cit.