"Then, as I imagined, that the ship which was leaving the shore was the one which contained our robbers and their prizes, I put a white flag on the end of a lance, and came near the ship's side to treat about the ransom, being careful not to be taken myself. The captain appeared on the deck, and when I was about to raise my voice and speak to him, I must confess I was startled and disturbed at being cut short in my attempt by a loud and frightful noise, proceeding from a discharge of artillery; this came from the vessel that was outermost, and was a message of defiance to the other vessel that was near the land; it was quickly answered by a return not less tremendous, and then began a cannonading between the two ships, like two fierce and furious enemies. "We withdrew our little boat from the scene of combat, and from a distance we surveyed the fight. After the firing had lasted an hour, the two ships grappled one another with unexampled fury. The men of the outermost vessel, either more daring or more valiant, leapt into the other ship, and cleared her decks in a few minutes, killing all, without sparing a single soul on board; then, finding themselves masters, they proceeded to pillage the ship of everything valuable that she contained, which was not much, seeing that she was only a pirate vessel, but in my estimation she held what was more precious than anything else in the whole world, for they got possession of my sister and Clelia, and Silviana, and Leoncia, thus carrying a rich cargo to their own vessel, for they saw that the beauty of Auristella would ensure an unheard-of ransom. I wished to row near the ship, and speak to the captain of the conquerors--but the winds have been ever to me a source of misfortune,--a land breeze sprung up, which carried the ship rapidly away, and made it quite impossible for me to reach it, or to offer impossibilities as a ransom for their prize. "Thus then were we obliged to return hopeless of recovering our lost ones, and knowing nothing of her course except that she had gone before the wind. We knew nothing of whither she was bound, or who were the pirates, so as to judge from a knowledge of their country what hopes remained of any remedy. With downcast and dejected hearts we entered the river, where all the fishermen in their boats were expecting us.