a little on one side and then suddenly swerved and
shot through the break. The revenue boat came
straight on, went upon the jaws of the reef, was torn,
and began to fill. Now the mate of this boat was
one against whom Tristram entertained a deadly
enmity, because he had been the means of a capture
in which his property had been concerned. So he
turned the boat, and running back, he stood up,
levelled a gun and shot the mate through the heart;
then away went the smuggling boat to shore, leaving
the rest of the revenue men to shift as best they
could with their injured boat.
The most noted smuggling centre between Penzance and Porthleven was Prussia Cove, and there, to this day, stands the house of John Carter, "The King of Prussia," as he was called, the most successful and notorious smuggler of the district. His reign extended from 1777 to 1807, and he was succeeded by his son-in-law, Captain William Richards, under whom Prussia Cove maintained its old celebrity.
The story goes that John Carter, as a boy, playing at soldiers with other boys, received the nickname of "The King of Prussia." Formerly the cove was called Porthleah, but in recollection of his exploits it is now known as Prussia Cove.
On one occasion, during his absence from home, the excise officers carried off a cargo that had lately arrived for Carter from France. They conveyed it to the custom-house store. On his return. Carter summoned his men, and at night he and they broke into the stores and carried off all that he held to be his own, without touching a single article to which
