An item reported that the British admiral Hornby and his staff were ordered by London to depart with the HMS Sultan toward the Levant . The troop transports Jumna with on board 1,067 British soldiers coming from India and the Eufraat with 1,142 soldiers on board destined towards India were for the being ordered to stay at Malta, This movements must be effected by the war going on between the Russian and Ottoman Empires.(1) According to the newspaper Nieuwe Goessche Courant dated 18 January was the Russian government well aware of keeping this two transports with more as 2,000 soldiers on board at Malta.
Note
1. The movements are probably effected by the Russo-Turkish War between 24 April 1877 and 3 March 1878 which ended in a Russian victory. This war was fought in the Balkans and Caucasus and mainly caused by the increasing 19th century nationalism in the Balkans although Russia wanted also to restore her sphere of influence and territory after the disastrous Crimean War in which the Ottoman Empire had been one of her opponents.
