"I have, mighty sovereign, been engaged in watching over the island of which you have made me guardian. I found the women good and beautiful, and the men brave and hardy, true sons of the ocean, their barks roving to every distant clime, and bringing back the produce of each to their sea-girt shore." "'Tis well, Britannia," said the sovereign of the ocean; "let them understand, that as long as they remain faithful to me--as long as they keep their fleets well manned, their sea-barks ready to repel any aggression--as long as they refuse to submit to the slightest interference of any foreign prince or potentate, Albion shall be my favoured isle, the land of peace and liberty." When Neptune had ceased speaking, all the Kings of the Sea and Tritons signified their desire to support their sovereign's wishes. Neptune then looked round, and seeing Borasco's throne vacant, inquired what had become of him. Before any one could answer, the Spirit of the Storm entered the hall, and making a low obeisance, walked with a dejected air to his seat. To the customary inquiry, Borasco informed his sovereign of all the storms which had blown, and the shipwrecks which had occurred. "Now tell me, Borasco," asked the monarch, "why have you the downcast look I see you wear?" Borasco replied, "Dread chief, I come to crave your aid for a cause in which all the power I possess I find of no avail. As I was lately wandering over the ocean, I reached the shores of a lovely island clothed with beautiful shrubs and trees and sweet-scented flowers, and canopied by skies of purest blue. Never have I seen a spot more beautiful; and yet it is but the setting of a precious jewel--a pearl of matchless price. That jewel is a lovely and youthful maiden, a princess, the daughter of the mortal sovereign of that island. As I slept, concealed beneath the rocks, she and her maidens, she outshining them all, came to sport upon the sands. Their laughter, sweet as the murmuring of the breeze upon the summer waves, roused me from my slumber; but no sooner did I present myself before them, than they fled with shrieks of terror, fast as the fleet dolphin from the voracious shark. She alone remained behind. I gazed delighted. I endeavoured to approach her, to behold her nearer; but no sooner did I move, than, affrighted, she fled far away from me into the woods, where I could not follow. I endeavoured to shout to her, to entreat her to tarry, to listen to what I had to say; but my voice (it was somewhat loud, I confess) only made her fly the faster. When she and her attendants had disappeared, I sat me down on a rock, disconsolate, to consider the state of the case, when I by degrees began to suspect that she was frightened by the form I am doomed to wear, which I fear is somewhat more hideous than she is accustomed to see. I meditated still further, and at length I came to the conclusion that I am what human beings call desperately in love.