comparative pleasantness of
aspect, Charles's Isle at this period was occasionally visited by
foreign whalers. These His Majesty had always levied upon for port
charges, thereby contributing to his revenue. But now he had additional
designs. By insidious arts he, from time to time, cajoles certain
sailors to desert their ships, and enlist beneath his banner. Soon as
missed, their captains crave permission to go and hunt them up.
Whereupon His Majesty first hides them very carefully away, and then
freely permits the search. In consequence, the delinquents are never
found, and the ships retire without them.

Thus, by a two-edged policy of this crafty monarch, foreign nations were
crippled in the number of their subjects, and his own were greatly
multiplied. He particularly petted these renegado strangers. But alas
for the deep-laid schemes of ambitious princes, and alas for the vanity
of glory. As the foreign-born Pretorians, unwisely introduced into the
Roman state, and still more unwisely made favorites of the Emperors, at
last insulted and overturned the throne, even so these lawless mariners,
with all the rest of the body-guard and all the populace, broke out into
a terrible mutiny, and defied their master. He marched against them with
all his dogs. A deadly battle ensued upon the beach. It raged for three
hours, the dogs fighting with determined valor, and the sailors reckless
of everything but victory. Three men and thirteen dogs were left dead
upon the field, many on both sides were wounded, and the king was forced
to fly with the remainder of his canine regiment. The enemy pursued,
stoning the dogs with their master into the wilderness of the interior.
Discontinuing the pursuit, the victors returned to the village on the
shore, stove the spirit casks, and proclaimed a Republic. The dead men
were interred with the honors of war, and the dead dogs ignominiously
thrown into the sea. At last, forced by stress of suffering, the
fugitive Creole came down from the hills and offered to treat for peace.
But the rebels refused it on any other terms than his unconditional
banishment. Accordingly, the next ship that arrived carried away the
ex-king to Peru.

The history of the king of Charles's Island furnishes another
illustration of the difficulty of colonizing barren islands with
unprincipled pilgrims.

Doubtless for a long time the exiled monarch, pensively ruralizing in
Peru, which afforded him a safe asylum in his ca