to be employed against Acre. "If," concludes Vinesauf, "this vessel had succeeded in making her way to the succour of Acre, the place would have never been taken by the Christians." Most of the dromon's cargo seems to have gone down with her, but what was saved was given to the galley-men.[1]
There is, of course, nothing particularly creditable to the arms of Richard in the record of this action. The Turks fought with the utmost gallantry, and were overpowered only by the weight of superior numbers, while it would appear that but for Richard's threat that if the dromon got away his men should be crucified, the English, at one period of the contest, would have been very glad to let her depart in peace. It is not said that she ever surrendered, and even if she did not go down, so to speak, with her colours flying, she deserves, although her name has unfortunately not been preserved, to rank with our "little Revenge,"[2] and the United States ship Cumberland,[3] among the best-fought craft in the history of naval warfare.
Richard reached the camp before Acre on Saturday, June 10th, and on July 12th the town surrendered. After a year and two months' further service in Palestine, where the fleet, though useful had little or no fighting to do, the king decided to return to England. His buss, however, was so delayed by contrary winds, that he disguised himself and paid the master of a neutral galley to land him and his suite on the Dalmatian coast.[4] On his overland journey homeward, he was, on December 20th, 1192, arrested by order of Leopold, Duke of Austria, and held prisoner for about seventeen months. When at length the terms for his release had been settled, he proceeded to Antwerp, and in March, 1194, embarked in a galley which, with other vessels under the command of Alan Trenchmer, he had ordered to meet him there. He seems to have travelled in this galley by day, but to have slept every night in a large ship belonging to Rye. Not until the sixth day did he reach the roadstead opposite Gadzand, and there he was detained for five days longer; but on Sunday, March 13th, 1194, he once more landed in England.[5]
