THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. 319 



ficial defences, was deemed impregnable, especially 

 on its sea-face, was the stronghold of a handful of 

 hardy and desperate adventurers, who, although their 

 numbers never exceeded seven hundred men, had 

 yet, for many years preceding the date of this narra- 

 tive, made themselves a name dreaded throughout 

 the whole Adriatic. The inhabitants of the innum- 

 erable Dalmatian islands, the subjects of the Grand 

 Turk, the people of Ancona all, in short, who in- 

 habited the shores of the Adriatic, and were inter- 

 ested in its commerce, or in the countless merchant 

 vessels that skimmed over its waters trembled and 

 turned pale when the name of these daring free- 

 booters was mentioned in their hearing. In vain 

 was it that the Sultan, who in his sublimity scarcely 

 deigned to know the names of some of the great 

 European powers, had caused his pachas to take the 

 field with strong armaments for the extermination 

 of this nest of pirates. These expeditions were cer- 

 tainly not disadvantageous to the Porte, which seized 

 the opportunity of annexing to its dominions some 

 large slices of Hungarian and Venetian territory ; but 

 their ostensible object remained unaccomplished, and 

 the proverbial salutation of the time, "God save 

 you from the Uzcoques ! " was still on the lips of 

 every one. 



The word "Uzcoque," by which this dreaded 

 people was known, had grown into a sound of 

 mourning and panic to the inhabitants of the 



