over the bar of Lisbon, the inhabitants of the capital watched often with eager suspense the progress of a small vessel, having at the main the royal standard, as it ploughed its way through the foaming waters, for on board that frail ship was the hope of the nation, King Don Sebastiaõ. ‘There is no bravery, nor merit, nor profit to be gained by going on board in a calm,’ replied the King to the expostulation of his Council.”[57] It may be added, too, that Cymburga of Poland, who was married to Ernest the “Iron,” cracked her nuts with her fingers, and when she trained her fruit trees, she hammered the nails into the wall with her clenched knuckles. The Albanian Prince, George Castriot, better known as Scanderbeg, was a strong man, for he could cut off a bull’s head at a single stroke. Mahomed II. invited him to send the sword which had performed so remarkable an exploit. It was sent, but the Sultan, finding that it differed not from any other weapon of the kind, expressed his dissatisfaction. Scanderbeg retorted that he had sent him his sword as desired, but could not send the arm which had wielded it. Charles V. of Spain had a decided taste, and, as it would seem, talent for mechanical pursuits, and when in Germany had invented a carriage for his own accommodation. After his abdication he would often amuse himself, with his companion Torriano, in making little puppets--soldiers performing their exercises, girls dancing with their tambourines, and if the account be true, wooden birds that could fly in and out of the window.[58] When he entered Nuremberg, of the many forms of welcome which he there encountered, none pleased him more than the artificial eagle which flew to meet him.[59] He had also a turn for the mathematical sciences, and, like Louis XVI., a passion for timepieces; and the difficulty which he found in adjusting his clocks and watches is said to have drawn from the monarch a philosophical reflection on the absurdity of his having attempted to bring men to anything like uniformity of belief in matters of faith, when he could not make any two of his timepieces agree with each other. On one occasion the _maître d’hôtel_, much perplexed how to devise a daily supply of rich and high-seasoned dishes to suit his palate, told his royal master--knowing his passion for timepieces--that “he really did not know what he could do, unless it were to serve up his Majesty a fricassee of watches.” And like her illustrious relative, Charles V., Queen Mary had a decided taste for clocks, for they form a prominent article in her yearly expenditure.