Our little party was composed of three persons, viz., Thomas Schoepfius, the schoolmaster of St. Pierre; a Parisian by the name of Robert who happened to be passing then through Basel on his way to Geneva; and myself, a lad of sixteen. We traveled on horseback and all three of us were armed with rapiers. My outfit, which was handed to me by my father shortly before our departure, consisted of two extra shirts and a few pocket-handkerchiefs, wrapped up in a piece of waxed cloth. In the matter of funds for the journey I received from my father three crowns in silver and four gold pieces which, for further security, he sewed into my vest. In addition, he presented me with a rare piece of silver money which had been issued by the Cardinal Mathieu Schiner, of the Canton de Valais, who personally commanded the Swiss soldiers in their successful combat with the troops of Louis the Twelfth, at Marignan. It was a coin, therefore, which possessed considerable historical value. My mother also bestowed upon me a gold coin (a _couronne_). As a last injunction my father begged me not to forget that, in order to procure the money which he had just placed in my hands, as well as that which he had already paid for my horse, he had been obliged to mortgage his property. We left the city at nine o’clock on the morning of Oct. 10th, 1552, and at the same moment the news reached us that the Plague had made its appearance in Basel. This was a most depressing piece of intelligence, especially as we were already in great fear that the army of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, which was at that time on its way to the siege of Metz, would utterly destroy our city.