ew
attendants, like a simple knight-errant.

When he reached the Gulf of Salernum, Richard was joined by his fleet,
and sailed toward Messina, a coast town of Sicily, where he was to meet
Philip. On approaching the city, Richard ordered every trumpet to be
sounded. The people, rushing to the walls, beheld with surprise the
great fleet of England, manned by thousands of steel-clad warriors, and
flying the red cross of Saint George, the lion-emblazoned banner of
Richard, and hundreds of gay baronial flags. The arrival is thus
described:--

"O Holy Mary, no man ever saw
Such galleys, such dromonds, such transports before;
Rowing on, rowing on, across the deep sea,
Rowing on, rowing on to fair Sicily!

"What pennons and banners from the top of the spears
To the fair winds are streaming all graceful and proud;
What a great host of warriors, whose breasts know no fears
Pace the decks, whilst the oarsmen are chanting aloud--
Row on, lads, row on, lads, across the deep sea;
Crowd the sail and row on, lads, to fair Sicily!

"Hark, hark to the voice of the trumpets so clear
As they enter the harbor and make for the pier;
See what bright gilded beaks, what finely wrought bows,
And what thousands of shields hang out on the prows.
Oh! such a staunch fleet never sailed on the sea
As this armament anchored off fair Sicily.

"And now from his trim galley, named Cut-the-Sea
The proud Richard lands midst uproarious glee;
Clad in bright scale-linked mail with axe in his hand,
He, the chief of his hero band, paces the strand,
Whilst the people and warriors in wild ecstasy,
Shout hurrah for King Richard and fair Sicily!"

Such was the brilliant spectacle of Coeur-de-Lion's arrival in Sicily.
When Richard had landed and camped near Messina, he sent envoys at once
to Tancred, the King of Sicily, who had usurped the throne and
imprisoned Richard's sister Joan, widow of the former king. These envoys
were bidden to demand of Tancred the instant release of Joan, the
payment of her dowry, and the delivery of a rich legacy which Richard
asserted had been left by her husband to Henry II. This bequest included
a gold table twelve feet long, twenty-four gold cups and saucers, a
large silk tent, and a hundred fine galleys. On receiving King Richard's
peremptory message, Tancred at once sent Joan to her royal brother with
a large sum of money,