rils of the deep were quite enough to keep
timid folk at home in those days of clumsy, ill-found sailing ships, which
could by no means work to windward, and did not sail remarkably well even
with the most favouring breezes; when to this we add that every ship which
started on a voyage in the Mediterranean had before her the chance of being
captured by the corsairs, it was no wonder that he whose business led him
oversea should make his last will and testament and bid a fond farewell to
all his relatives.

There is a record in the Memoires of the Rev. Frere Pierre d'An, Bachelier
en Theologie de la Faculte de Paris, etc., who wrote in a most heartfelt
manner concerning the danger of the sea and the perils to be expected from
the Barbary corsairs. He says, date 1637:

"An ancient writer, considering how little assurance can ordinarily be
placed in the sea, and how hazardous it is to expose oneself and one's
goods to its mercy, has remarked, with much reason, that it is
infinitely preferable to be poor on shore than to be rich at sea. In
which saying he mocks indeed at those ambitious, avaricious, and
mercenary men who, in order to gain false glory and the things of this
world, expose themselves rashly to the manifest perils which are most of
the time the inevitable lot of the seaman. This same consideration
causes him also to utter these remarkable words: that he repents himself
of but one thing, and that is ever to have travelled by sea when it was
possible to have done so by land. And, to say truth, he has good reason
to speak as he does, because it is impossible for the most hardy
navigators not to tremble with fear when it is represented before their
eyes that they must combat with the winds, the waves, and the foam every
time that they adventure upon the deep.

"Because it is indisputable that this is the very Theatre of the storms,
and the place in the world most capable of all sorts of violence and
tragic adventure. This, however, does not prevent those who covet the
perishable goods of this world from straying upon the sea, even in
unknown and untraversed regions, without ceasing and without rest.

"If, however, they abandon the ocean for a time, it is but to return to
it again to seek once more war with their ships, in order unjustly to
make themselves masters of the bodies and of the riches of others.

"Of such it may be remarked to-day are, in all the maritime