Vera Cruz, and finally to England. The port at which he arrived was Chatham, and chance threw him once again into a situation, in which he was enabled to impose upon the good-nature of strangers. Putting up at the house of a publican named Ballard, his host became possessed of an idea that he was no other than a brother of his, who had gone to sea several years before, but had never returned; and Richardson, taking advantage of the good-natured credulity which the other exhibited, declared himself to be his long-lost relation. Great rejoicings took place upon the supposed discovery being made, and our hero went the round of his newly-found friends, permitting his good-nature to be imposed upon by the payment to him of a legacy alleged to have been left by his deceased parents. But his villanies did not rest there; for, being introduced to two sisters named Knowlding, he so far ingratiated himself with one of them, as to obtain possession of the title-deeds of the small estate which she possessed, which he mortgaged at Gravesend for 800_l_., and then immediately sailed for Venice with the proceeds. It was not long before, in that city of splendour, he succeeded in disposing of his ill-gotten spoil, and then he went to Ancona, where he became acquainted with Captain Benjamin Hartley, for whose murder he was eventually executed. Capt. Hartley, it appears, had sailed to that place with a cargo of pilchards, and having discharged his lading, he was about to proceed to Turkey upon a new trip. Being in want of a carpenter, he prevailed upon Richardson to accompany him in that capacity. On board the vessel, Coyle, the fellow-sufferer with Richardson, was employed as mate. The vessel proceeded in one course to Turkey, where having taken in a cargo of corn, she sailed to Leghorn. She had not advanced many leagues upon her voyage, however, before a plot for the murder of the captain and the seizure of the vessel was put into execution. Coyle, it appears, was the instigator of this foul conspiracy, and having obtained the assistance of Richardson and a man named Larson, they all three proceeded to the performance of their horrid project. On the first night of the voyage, they went to the captain's cabin at about midnight, determined to despatch him as he lay in his hammock; but Hartley being alarmed at their presence, sprang upon deck and ran up the shrouds. His pursuers were not far behind him, and he was rapidly followed by Richardson and Larson; but, driven to desperation by the dreadful situation in which he was placed, he flung himself from a fearful height upon the deck. Here Coyle was in waiting to receive him, and raising a blunderbuss to his shoulder, he attempted to shoot him. The captain, however, avoided the discharge, and, rushing to his antagonist, he wrested the blunderbuss from him, and threw it overboard. By this time the crew had gained intelligence of what was passing on deck, and, rushing through the hatchway, Capt. Hartley