ne, and does infinite credit to the generous and noble
disposition of Matilda the queen, who disdained to depreciate the
character of a fallen foe. He commences his expedition by an act of
piety; here, on his embarkation at Bosham, he is kindly carrying his
dog through the water. In crossing the sands of the river Cosno, which
are dangerous, so very dangerous as most frequently to cause the
destruction of those who attempt their transit, his whole concern
seems to be to assist the passage of others, whose inferior natural
powers do not enable them to compete with danger so successfully as
himself; his character for undaunted bravery is such, that William
condescends to supplicate his assistance in a feud then at issue
between himself and another nobleman, and so nobly does he bear
himself that the proud Norman with his own hands invests him with the
emblems of honour (as seen in the tapestry); and, last scene of all,
he disdained all submission, he repelled all the entreaties with which
his brothers assailed him not personally to lead his troops to the
encounter, and the corpses of 15,000 Normans on this field, and of
even a greater number on the English monarch's side, told in bloody
characters that Harold had not quailed in the last great encounter.

Unpropitious winds drive him and his attendants from their intended
course. Many historians accuse the people of Ponthieu of making
prisoners all whose ill fortune threw them upon their coast, and of
treating them with great barbarity, in order to extort the larger
ransom. Be this as it may, Harold has scarcely set his foot on shore
ere he is forcibly captured by the vassals of Guy of Ponthieu, who is
there on horseback to witness the proceeding. The tapestry goes on to
picture the progress of the captured troop and their captors to Belrem
or Beurain, and a conference when there between the earl and his
prisoner, where the fair embroideresses have given a delicate and
expressive feature by depicting the conquering noble with his sword
elevated, and the princely captive, wearing indeed his sword, but with
the point depressed.

It is said that a fisherman of Ponthieu, who had been often in England
and knew Harold's person, was the cause of his capture. "He went
privily to Guy, the Count of Pontif, and would speak to no other; and
he told the Count how he could put a great prize in his way, if he
would go with him; and that if he would give him only twenty livres he
should