Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/233

 CHAPTER XLVII. set sail for Acre on the 30th March, 1191; and Richard, at the same time, proceeded to Riggio, on the coast of Calabria, where he took on board his young bride, with the Qreen Eleanor, and carried them to Messina.The season of Lent being not yet over, the marriage was deferred; and Eleanor, having confided her charge to the care of her own daughter Joan, returned to England. Within a few days afterwards the English fleet was ready for sea, and passed with a stiff breeze through the Straits of Messina. More than 200 vessels were there, some of large size, with three masts, and all well appointed, and gaily decked with the banners of the Crusaders. Never before had so gallant an armament been seen in those waters; and as the brilliant pageant moved away, the Sicilians gathered in multitudes on the shore with cries of admiration. In those days war was, with half the world, the business of life women did not hesitate to share the dangers of those they loved, and the smile of beauty was at once the incentive and the reward of valour. Joan and Berengaria accompanied the expedition, and Richard, with a delicacy which belonged to his chivalrous character, fitted up a splendid galley, which was allotted to their separate use.

Plan of the Town of Acre in the 11th Century. From a Drawing by Martin Sanuto, in the Twenty-first Volume of the Archæologia.

The fleet was not destined to proceed far in such gallant