so bitter against Sir Tristram
that he intended to lay complaint against him before the court of chivalry
at Camelot.

But Sir Lamorack did not reach Camelot upon that voyage; for, whilst he was
in passage, there suddenly arose a great tempest of wind, and in spite of
all that the mariners could do, that small ship wherein he sailed was
driven upon a cruel headland of rocks and cliffs where it was dashed to
pieces.

But Sir Lamorack had foreseen that that small boat was to be wrecked,
wherefore, before the end came, he stripped himself entirely naked and
leaped into the waters and swam for his life.

[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is shipwrecked upon a strange land] So he swam for
a long time until he was wellnigh exhausted and upon the point of drowning
in the waters. But at that moment he came by good hap to where was a little
bay of quiet water, whereinto he swam and so made shift to come safe to
land--but faint and weak, and so sick that he feared that he was nigh to
death. Then Sir Lamorack perceived that there was heather at that place
growing upon the rocks of the hillside, so he crawled into the heather and
lay him down therein in a dry spot and immediately fell into such a deep
sleep of weariness that it was more like to the swoon of death than to
slumber.

[Sidenote: Of Sir Nabon le Noir] Now the lord of that country whereunto
Sir Lamorack had come was a very wicked knight, huge of frame and very
cruel and hard of heart. The name of this knight was Sir Nabon, surnamed le
Noir; for he was very swarth of hue, and he always wore armor entirely of
black. This knight had several years before slain the lord of that land,
and had seized upon all of the island as his own possession, and no one
dared to come against him for to recover these possessions, for his prowess
was so remarkable and his body so huge that all the world was afraid of
him. So he dwelt there unmolested in a strong castle of stone built up upon
a rock near to the seashore, whence he might behold all the ships that
passed him by. Then, whenever he would see such a ship pass by, he would
issue forth in his own ships and seize upon that other vessel, and either
levy toll upon it or sink it with all upon board. And if he found any folk
of high quality aboard such a ship, that one he would seize and hold for
ransom. So Sir Nabon made himself the terror of all that part of the world,
and all men avoided the coasts of so inhospitable a country. Such was the