age of a week we cast anchor at Corfu. As soon as I had found a
comfortable lodging I took my letters to his eminence the
proveditore-generale, and to all the naval commanders to whom I was
recommended; and after paying my respects to my colonel, and making the
acquaintance of the officers of my regiment, I prepared to enjoy myself
until the arrival of the Chevalier Venier, who had promised to take me to
Constantinople. He arrived towards the middle of June, but in the mean
time I had been playing basset, and had lost all my money, and sold or
pledged all my jewellery.

Such must be the fate awaiting every man who has a taste for gambling,
unless he should know how to fix fickle fortune by playing with a real
advantage derived from calculation or from adroitness, which defies
chance. I think that a cool and prudent player can manage both without
exposing himself to censure, or deserving to be called a cheat.

During the month that I spent in Corfu, waiting for the arrival of M.
Venier, I did not devote any time to the study, either moral or physical,
of the country, for, excepting the days on which I was on duty, I passed
my life at the coffee-house, intent upon the game, and sinking, as a
matter of course, under the adverse fortune which I braved with
obstinacy. I never won, and I had not the moral strength to stop till all
my means were gone. The only comfort I had, and a sorry one truly, was to
hear the banker himself call me--perhaps sarcastically--a fine player,
every time I lost a large stake. My misery was at its height, when new
life was infused in me by the booming of the guns fired in honour of the
arrival of the bailo. He was on board the Europa, a frigate of
seventy-two guns, and he had taken only eight days to sail from Venice to
Corfu. The moment he cast anchor, the bailo hoisted his flag of
captain-general of the Venetian navy, and the proveditore hauled down his
own colours. The Republic of Venice has not on the sea any authority
greater than that of Bailo to the Porte. The Chevalier Venier had with
him a distinguished and brilliant suite; Count Annibal Gambera, Count
Charles Zenobio, both Venetian noblemen of the first class, and the
Marquis d'Anchotti of Bressan, accompanied him to Constantinople for
their own amusement. The bailo remained a week in Corfu, and all the
naval authorities entertained him and his suite in turn, so that there
was a constant succession of balls and suppers. When I presented