1829.] TheManoflll-Onien. 293 



left her to dream of me, if she liked, and galloped down to the shore. 

 There never was a brighter moonlight, nor a smoother sea. The scene 

 would have been incomparable for a serenade; but never was man less dis- 

 posed to the picturesque. My ship was not to be seen between heaven and 

 earth, nor on the waters of the earth. My dollars, doubloons, bills, jewels, 

 rings set with the most jetty locks, and miniatures presented by the 

 noblest fingers of Spanish beauty — all were gone ! I grew furious ; I 

 screamed — I tore my hair — and, in the loudest tones of my voice, devoted 

 ship, captain, and crew to more than purgatory. I called on the 

 rocks to echo my vows against the traitors ; and echo they did, with a ven- 

 geance ! A roar of merriment and a shot were the echo. I was instantly 

 in the hands of a dozen cofFee-visaged thieves, fresh from Tripoli. They 

 had touched upon the Spanish coast for information from the governor's 

 secretary of the sailing of a vessel with royal treasure for Cadiz. A 

 thought struck me. I told them that the vessel had put to sea, that I 

 ■was sent by the secretary with the information, and that they had no 

 time to lose. I exiUted in this sudden retribution ; and, having pointed 

 out her course, was about to bid them good night. But I felt the cap- 

 tain's strong grasp on my shoulder at the moment. * I have long wished/ 

 said he, ' to have a gentleman on board, to teach my fellows manners ; 

 and, as you seem to be a showy cavaliero, you cannot do better than take 

 a trip with us.' I Avas thunderstruck ; but where was the use of resist- 

 ance .'' I walked on board with a heavy heart. But sorrow never sat 

 long upon me. 



" The captain was as bold a ruffian as ever swam a ship, and his felucca 

 as pretty a sailer as ever carried a gang of robbers. The captain, too, 

 was a man of taste ; for I soon became such a prodigious favourite, that 

 he offered to make me a true believer. ' A turban would become you,' 

 said he ; ' you have a fine marauding eye, and, to judge by your figure, 

 it would be pity to spoil so fine a pirate by making you a grandee.' 



" I liked the man. The turban was as good as the cap, and better 

 looking. A scimitar by my side was more showy than a fisherman's 

 pouch, or even a cartouch-box. So I took his offer ; and a month's sail- 

 ing made me his lieutenant. We now ran along the coast just as we 

 pleased, and never had man a gayer time ; for wherever we chased a 

 merchantman, we took her ; and wherever we fell in with a frigate, she 

 ran away. We had made little fortunes apiece before the month was 

 over ; for I knew the coast, and I was not indelicate enough to make 

 any distinctions between Europe and Africa. But this could not last. 

 Off Corsica we fell in with a sloop, that, at a distance, glittered like a 

 church-steeple. Our fellows gave a general shout, and got pike and 

 pistol ready. They would have run through a fleet of line-of-battle 

 ships, to lay a grappling-iron on such a prize. Still we found it impossible 

 to make out the nature of this shining display. The captain, a pious 

 rogue, pronounced the sloop some magical thing risen from the bottom 

 of the deep, and covered with gold. Others would have sworn that it 

 was the Grand Signior's barge, driven down the IMediterranean by the 

 last east wind. But she had now caught sight of us : all her finery 

 vanished in a moment, and away she flew like a swallow. A shot from 

 one of our chasers, however, soon brought her to reason, by knocking 

 down her mast. She lay quiet, and we stepped on board of the Santa 

 JMaria of Livorno. The shew that had been her ill-luck was now 

 explained. The captain, a precious Maltese, had been freighted with a 



