No sooner had the gallant Wright cast anchor in Leghorn, than he realised that he had landed in a nest of hornets. The authorities were furious at the failure of their schemes, and the clever fashion in which Wright had hoodwinked them. He was ordered to bring his vessel to the inner harbour, or she would be brought in by force. He refused, and two vessels of vastly superior force were placed alongside his. He appealed to Sir Horace Mann, and there was a fine battle of words between him and the Tuscans, the latter alleging that Wright had deceived them as to his force, and had fought in their waters; and they were very angry also that he should have dared to refuse to take his vessel inside the mole. To all of which Sir Horace very properly replied that--well, that it was a parcel of lies, though he put it in the language of diplomacy; and he flourished the Governor's certificate in their faces, which made them feel very sick indeed--having no sense of humour. A couple of months elapsed without either side giving way; and then the problem was solved by the appearance of two powerful English men-of-war; to wit, the _Jersey_, of 60 guns, commanded by Sir William Burnaby, and the _Isis_, of 50 guns. Sir William explained politely to the authorities that he was under orders from the Admiral (Sir Edward Hawke) to convoy any English vessels which might be there, and also to release the _St. George_. To the Governor's protest the English captain replied that he had his orders, and intended to carry them out, if necessary, by force; and so the little fleet of English vessels took their departure in a few days, and Wright was free to resume his operations. In a little while, having taken some more prizes, he put into Malta, only to find that French influence was there as potent as at Leghorn. He was not permitted to buy necessary stores for his crew, and when he took on board a number of English seamen, who had been landed there from ships taken by French privateers, he was compelled to send them on shore again; and so he went to sea again, on October 22nd, 1756. Twenty-four hours later a big French privateer, of 38 guns, sailed with the intention of eating him up; but, according to the account of one Captain Miller, of the English vessel _Lark_, "When the great beast of a French privateer came out Wright played with him, by sailing round him and viewing him, just to aggravate him, as Wright sailed twice as fast as him."