er of delay, at last lost his temper, and
embarked on board a ship with a few of his chosen knights, and set sail
by himself for Sicily, the point at which the two armies of the
expedition were to re-unite. A few days after his departure, the
long-looked-for fleet arrived, and a portion of the English host embarked
at once, and set sail for Sicily, where they were to be landed, and the
ships were to return to fetch the remaining contingent.

A sea voyage of this kind in those days was a serious matter. Long
voyages were rare, and troops were carried very much upon the principle
of herrings; that is, were packed as close as they could be, without any
reference to their comfort. As the voyages seldom lasted more than
twenty-four hours, this did not much matter, but during long voyages the
discomforts, or as may be said sufferings, of the troops were
considerable. So tightly packed were the galleys in which the English set
sail from Marseilles, that there was no walking about. Every man slept
where he sat, and considered himself lucky indeed if he could obtain room
sufficient to stretch himself at full length. Most slept sitting against
bulwarks or other supports. In the cabins, where the knights, their pages
and squires, were placed, the crowding was of course less excessive, but
even here the amount of space, which a subaltern travelling to India for
the first time now-a-days would grumble at, was considered amply
sufficient for half-a-dozen knights of distinction. It was a week after
sailing, when Cnut touched Cuthbert's arm as he came on deck one morning,
and said,--

"Look, look, Cuthbert! that mountain standing up in the water has caught
fire on the top. Did you ever see such a thing?"

The soldiers crowded to the side of the vessel, in intense astonishment
and no little awe. From the top of a lofty and rugged hill, rising almost
straight from the sea, flames were roaring up, smoke hung over the
island, and stones were thrown into the air and rattled down the side of
the hill, or fell into the sea with a splash.

"That is a fearsome sight," Cnut said, crossing himself.

"It looks as if it was the mouth of purgatory," exclaimed another,
standing by.

Cuthbert himself was amazed, for the instruction he had received from
Father Francis was of too slight a nature to include the story of
volcanoes. A priest, however, who accompanied the ship in the character
of leech and confessor, explained the nature of the phenom