152 CAPTURE OF THE VENETIAN GALLEYS

“ At this time four Venetian galleys sailed fromthe' island of Cadiz , and took the route forFlanders ; they were laden with merchandise fromthe Levant, especially from the island of Sicily ,and, passing by Cape St. Vincent , they were at-tacked by a French corsair, son of captain Colon(Colombo), who had seven vessels in his armada - rand the galleys were captured the twenty-first ofAugust*.”

A much fuller account is given in the life ofking John II. of Portugal, by Garcia de Ree-sende, who likewise records it as happening in1485. He says the Venetian galleys were takenand robbed by the French , and the captains andcrews, wounded, plundered, and maltreated, wereturned on shore at Cascoes. Here they weresuccoured by Dona Maria de Meneses, countessof Monsanto. When king John II. heard ofthe circumstance, bein^ much grieved that suchan event should have happened on his coast, andbeing disposed to show r his friendship for therepublic of Venice, he ordered that the Venetian captains should be furnished with rich raiment of

* Zurita, lib. xx. c. 64.