During the war with Murat, in 1816, Lieutenant Lyon appears to have been present at the siege of Gaeta, by the combined Austrian and Anglo-Sicilian forces, under General Baron Laner, and Captain (now Sir William Charles) Fahie[1]. On the last day of that year he was appointed to the Albion 74, fitting for the flag of Rear-Admiral (afterwards Sir Charles) Penrose, in which ship he bore a part at the battle of Algiers, Aug. 27, 1816[2].
In Sept. 1818, Mr. Ritchie, a gentleman of great science and ability, employed by the British government on a mission to the interior of Africa, arrived at Malta (where the Albion was then lying), attended by M. Dupont, a Frenchman in his pay, whom he had engaged at Marseilles for the purpose of collecting and preparing objects of natural history. It was understood that Captain Frederick Marryat, R.N. was also to have accompanied Mr. Ritchie, but that circumstances had occurred which induced that officer to relinquish his intention of joining the mission. Soon after Mr. Ritchie’s arrival at Valette, he became acquainted with Lieutenant Lyon, who, hearing him express his disappointment at having failed to obtain Captain Marryat as his companion on the proposed expedition, offered to supply his place, “hoping that the zeal by which he was actuated would in some degree make amends for his deficiencies in other respects.” Mr, Ritchie, without hesitation, accepted his proposal, and in consequence, lost no time in requesting Sir Charles Penrose to solicit the necessary permission for his quitting the Albion. On the 19th of November a favorable answer was received from the Admiralty; and Lieutenant Lyon, who had employed himself during the interval in acquiring the Arabic alphabet, and in otherwise preparing himself for the object in view, immediately followed Mr. Ritchie to Tripoli, where he landed on the 25th of the same month. In 1821, he published his Journal, under the title of “A Narrative of Travels in Northern Africa, accompanied by geographical notices of
