ced back a second time by the
angry waves. Then despair seized on them all; they trembled for the
general safety, and for the illustrious personage on board. He alone
showed no emotion; but calmly said to his doctor, who, in great alarm,
was about to swim for the shore: "Do not leave the vessel while we have
sufficient strength to guide her; only when the water covers us
entirely, then throw yourself into the sea, and I will undertake to save
you."

And in the midst of those dangers he not only appeared calm, but his
gay, playful humor, and his habit of observing the different aspects of
every thing, did not abandon him. After having soothed and consoled
those around him, he likewise found means of amusement in the strong
traits of individuality which fear brought to light among his followers.
The sailors who had remained on board, seeing the danger become so
imminent, were about to betake themselves, like the rest, to the rocks;
but encouraged by Lord Byron's words and example, they remained at their
post, and succeeded in bringing the vessel between two little islands,
where they cast anchor. Thus Lord Byron, by his courage, firmness, and
his great experience in the art of navigation, overcame this great
peril, saving several lives, together with the money and other means of
assistance he was conveying to Greece! The sailors esteemed themselves
happy to be able to cast anchor between these islands, or rather these
rocks, in order to pass the night; but even what appeared fortunate, was
destined to turn out the reverse in this fatal journey.

If Lord Byron did not complain of the privation and ennui he
experienced, he did not, therefore, feel them less. After so many nights
passed on the damp and dirty deck of his _Mistico_, he could not resist
the desire of refreshing himself, and seeking amid the waves that
cleanliness which was an imperative want for his refined nature. And so,
without reflecting on the rigor of the season (it was the month of
January), he plunged into the troubled sea, and swam there for half an
hour. Imprudence no less fatal to him than to Alexander.[108] For it was
then, undoubtedly, that he contracted the seeds of the malady which
showed itself soon after, and under which he succumbed. At last he
arrived at Missolonghi, without having ceased for one instant to be
threatened by the sea. He was expected there as if he had been the
Messiah, says Stanhope; and the consternation caused by the danger