"You should know further that my yacht, which is named the _Gazelle_, is worthy of its name; it does not sail, it bounds over the water. It has three times beaten the brig of Lord Yarboroug, our president, in the races at the Isle of Wight, and has taken the prize of the Yacht Club; in a word, there is not a warship of the royal navy of France or of England, that my yacht cannot distance as easily as a race-horse outstrips a cart-horse." "I know that nearly all these pleasure-boats of your aristocracy swim like fishes; but what more?" "Life now seems to you weary and monotonous, does it not? Well, would you like to give it some savour?" "Without doubt." "But first," said Falmouth, with an air of grave sarcasm, "I must declare to you that I am not the least in the world friendly to the Greeks; on the contrary, I have a leaning, and a very marked inclination towards the Turks." "What?" I said to him, in astonishment. "And what connection is there between our journey and the Turks or friendliness towards the Greeks?" "A very simple connection: I am going to propose to you to go to Greece." "For what?" "Have you heard of Canaris?" said Falmouth. "Of that intrepid corsair, who has already burned all the Turkish vessels with his fireships? Certainly." "Ah, well, and have you never been tempted to go to see that?" "But go to see what?" "Go to see Canaris set fire to a Turkish vessel?" replied Falmouth, with the most indifferent air in the world, and as if it had been a question of taking part in a race, or visiting a manufactory. "I confess," I replied, unable to suppress a smile, "that until the present moment I have never had such a curiosity." "It is surprising," replied Falmouth; "for myself, for six months I have dreamed only of Canaris and his fireships; and I have had my yacht brought from the Isle of Wight to Marseilles with the only intention of gratifying this fancy; so that if you consent to it we will set out from Marseilles for Malta, on board my schooner. Once arrived at Malta, I shall obtain authority from Lord Ponsonby to serve with my yacht, in aid of the Greeks, although, I repeat, I am not friendly to the Greeks, and go to increase the squadron of Lord Cochrane. Now if you wish, for a few months, we will lead a life on board ship, which will have a little of the life of wandering knights or of pirates. We shall find there dangers, combats, tempests,--who knows? Finally, all kinds of things new, and a little adventurous, which will take us out of this worldly life which weighs upon us, and we shall perhaps have the pleasure of seeing my fixed idea realised, that of seeing Canaris burn a Turkish vessel, for I shall not die satisfied until I shall have seen that. What do you say to it?"