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186 Spain. At length he determined to try his hand on England, but there he was defeated, and taken prisoner, in a bloody battle by Ella, King of Northumbria, and was shockingly put to death by being cast into a den in which numbers of poisonous reptiles had been thrown on purpose to destroy him. That is a clue for the knowing ones—let them find out my name.

'I was fourteen when the splendid palace of the king of my native land was burnt to ashes. The palace was situated on an island, to which access could only be had by means of a drawbridge. The flames ascended to an immense height, and were grand and awful beyond description. The lakes around our fine city reflected the splendour of the conflagration; and as I stood on an eminence looking at it at night, and heard the fire roaring, and the falling roofs crashing, and saw the pictures of the old knights who had long been dead moving as the devouring elements swept over the canvas, so that they seemed again animated with life, my mind was filled with extraordinary emotions. The fire could not be subdued; the poor king refused to believe that his palace was being consumed, and his servants were compelled to remove him from his burning chamber by force.

'A strong spirit of adventure took possession of me about this time, and I tormented my father until he bound me as apprentice to a ship in the coaling trade; at this I remained for four years, during which time I mastered the English language, read a great number of books, and made myself acquainted with astronomy, geography, and nautical science. At the age of eighteen I left the coal trade, and entered on board a South Sea whaler going to the Cape of Good Hope with stores. When we arrived there, I went to another ship bound for Algoa Bay. The captain told me he had in many perilous adventures; he was an officer on