ith most of the Sclavonian races, were all trained to the use
of arms,[1] and who on this occasion swelled the ranks of the
freebooters. Their ferocity exceeded, if possible, that of the men.
Neither age, sex, nor station afforded any protection against these
furies, who perpetrated barbarities the details of which would exceed
belief.

[1] The reader of German literature will call to mind the
anecdote, in Jean Paul's _Levana_, of a Moldavian woman who in
one day slew seven men with her own hand, and the same evening
was delivered of a child.

The violence of the flames rendering it impossible to remain in the
town, the Uzcoques betook themselves to the castle of a nobleman,
situated on a rising ground a short distance from Pesca. On first
landing, the pirates had broken into this castle and made it their
headquarters. After pillaging every thing of value, they had gratified
their savage love of destruction by breaking and destroying what they
could not well carry away. In the court-yard were collected piles of
furniture, pictures of price, and fragments of rich tapestry, rent by
those ruthless spoilers from the walls of the apartments. With this
costly fuel had the Uzcoques lit fires, at which quarters of oxen and
whole sheep were now roasting.

A shout of triumph burst forth when the news of the Proveditore's
capture was announced to the pirates who had remained at the castle,
and they crowded round the unfortunate prisoners, overwhelming them
with threats and curses. Something like silence being at length
obtained, Jurissa commanded instant preparations to be made for the
banquet appointed to celebrate the success of their expedition. Tables
were arranged in a spacious hall of the castle, and upon them soon
smoked the huge joints of meat that had been roasting at the fires,
placed on the bare boards without dish or plate. Casks of wine that
had been rescued from the flames of the town, or extracted from the
castle cellars, were broached, or the heads knocked in, and the
contents poured into jugs and flagons of every shape and size.
Although the light of the conflagration, glaring red through the tall
Gothic windows, lit up the hall and rendered any further illumination
unnecessary, a number of torches had been fixed round the apartment,
the resinous smoke of which floated in clouds over the heads of the
revelers. Seating themselves upon benches, chairs, and empty casks,
the Uzcoques commenced a ra