no further satisfaction. It appears from Cursell's confession that the rogues had quarrelled among themselves for a division of the spoils, that they had fought, and he had been driven away from any participation of it. With this story, and the honorable victory which he had won, Smith was compelled to be satisfied; and leaving the wounded robber to his own conscience and the care of the peasantry before whom he had confessed, he directed his steps to the seat of the Earl of Ployer, whom he had formerly known during the wars in France. By this nobleman and others, his kinsmen, Smith was received with distinction. They took pains to show him the country, "Saint Malo's Mount, Saint Michael, and divers other places in Brittany," and when he was ready to depart, they supplied him with means and sent him on his way rejoicing. Pursuing such a route as would enable him to see the country, and gratify the caprices of his curiosity, he at length made his way to Marseilles, where he took passage in a ship for Italy.

He was destined on this voyage to experience another of those trials, by which it would seem that fortune studies to task the strength, while she confers upon genius the degree of hardihood which is essential for great achievements. The vessel in which Smith sailed was crowded with pilgrims of the Catholic faith, making their way to Rome. She had scarcely put to sea when she was driven by stress of weather into the harbor of Toulon. This mishap, and possibly some indiscretion of his own, drew all eyes particularly upon himself. They discovered that he was the only Protestant on board. He was the Jonah, accordingly, to whom their misfortune was ascribed, and they exercised their own ill-humor, and his patience, by denouncing his religion and his nation, in no measured language, to his teeth. How, with a temper so quick and

passionate, he forbore his defiance at this treatment, or that he did forbear, is not told us. The matter was not mended when they resumed the voyage. The bad weather continued, and the vessel was once more compelled to seek the refuge of a port. They cast anchor under the little isle of St. Mary, which lies off Nice, in Savoy. Here the pious Catholics once more gave vent to their indignation at the presence of so pernicious a heretic among them. "They wildly railed on his dreade sovraigne, Queen Elizabeth;" "hourly cursing him not only for a Hugonoit, but his nation they swore were all pyrats." In short, concluding "that they never should have faire weather so long as hee was aboard them, their disputations grew to that passion" that at length they cast him into the sea. We are told by one of the authorities, that he used his cudgel soundly among them before they proceeded to this extremity; but the assertion is grossly improbable, allowing anything for his discretion, and his own narrative affords no sanction for the story. That he may have defended himself when they offered to lay hands upon him-that he did defend himself-is probable enough. But that he offered violence in anticipation of this proceeding is highly questionable. Smith, even at this early day, was not without discretion. He was bold enough, but scarcely so rash or so thoughtless as, without help, to rush into conflict with a whole ship-load of angry enemies. That he met their vituperations with responses fashioned in a like style that he gave them as good as they sent in the way of spiritual doctrine, and berated the pope as savagely as they cursed his "dreade sovraigne, Elizabeth," may be admitted; and in this way he may have precipitated those extremities, which at a later day his prudence would have taught him to avoid. But, whether imprudent or merely unfortunate, the storm still pre

vailing, he was dismissed by these pious pilgrims to the tender mercies of the deep. Well for him was it that the vessel was so nigh the shore. It was among the accomplishments of his desultory mode of life that he was an able swimmer. His heart did not fail him, nor his limbs. Buffeting the seas manfully, he succeeded in making his way, with little hazard or difficulty, to the dry land on St. Mary's isle. The place was uninhabited, except by a few kine or goats; and here, but for his better fortune, he might have become another Alexander Selkirk, with a temper quite as well prepared as his to make the most of his barren empire. But the very next day he was taken off by a French vessel, which, like his own, had put in to find shelter from the storm. This vessel was commanded by one Captain La Roche, of St. Malo, who proved to be a friend of the Earl of Ployer. When he ascertained the friendship of this nobleman for Smith, he treated him with the utmost kindness and consideration.

To the roving mind of our hero it did not much matter to what quarter of the globe his face was turned, and, well entertained, he made no sort of objection to accompanying his new acquaintance on his voyage. They sailed accordingly to Alexandria, in Egypt. Smith does not tell us in what capacity he went with Captain La Roche, nor whether he participated, except as a looker on, in any of the proceedings of the latter. But he was of an age and a character which must have made him highly useful in any situation, and we may readily conceive that he was not simply "an idle mouth" on the passage. Discharging her freight at Alexandria, they went to Scanderoon, " rather," says Smith, "to see what ships were in the roade than anything else." The truth seems to be that our vessel of Brittany was something more than a merchantman. She could serve a turn at other purposes,

and her cruise simply "to see what ships were in the roade" was not a quest of idle curiosity. "Keeping their course by Cypres and the coast of Asia, sayling by Rhodes, the Archipellagans, Candia and the coast of Grecia, and the isle of Zeffalonia," they lay-to for a few days, evidently on the watch for prey, between the isle of Corfu and the Cape of Otranto at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea.

Here they did not watch in vain. Their cruise was rewarded by an encounter with a Venetian argosy, richly laden with gold, silks, velvets, tissue, and other rare products of that genius and invention, in which the Venetians were then very much in advance of the age. This encounter enlightens us somewhat in regard to the object of our Frenchman's course, although it is not certain that his quest was a Venetian vessel. It does not appear that war at that time existed between France and the Republic, but this was not necessary to make insecure the rich argosies of the one nation, meeting with a cruiser of the other, where no cognizance of their mutual doings might be had. The suspicious demeanor of our vessel of Brittany startled the fears of the vigilant Venetian. He very imprudently answered the civil salutation of Capt. La Roche with a shot, affording him in all probability the very pretext which he desired. This shot, killing one man on board the Frenchman, brought on a general action. The conflict which followed was exceedingly fierce. Twice in the space of an hour and a half did the French board the Venetian, and twice were they gallantly repelled. A third attempt resulted in the two vessels taking fire. The mutual danger led to their separation. The fire was soon quenched, but not the fury of the assailants. Their rage at being baffled led to more desperate efforts, and these were successful. The Venetian, in a sinking condition, yielded to the captors. They went to work to