The bashi bazouks were mercenary soldiers in the Ottoman Army. A group had been employed to act as bodyguards to the Prince and his companions as they travelled through parts of the Holy Land. The Prince wrote in his journal that they were dismissed at Nablus in mid-April, but Bedford photographed these men almost a month later in Beirut. The photograph is unsigned and undated. It was not released as part of the Day & Son series in 1862.