bringing up the rear for the better protection, as was considered, of the whole convoy. The lines were sufficiently near for a trumpet to be heard from one to the other; and each ship also was near enough to her consort to communicate by hailing. But though such an order of sailing might have succeeded during fine weather, the fleet was soon after dispersed during a gale off Ætna, the crews being "sea-sick and frightened;" while three ships were wholly lost on the island of Cyprus and their crews drowned, together with the Vice-Chancellor of England, whose body was washed on shore, with the Great Seal tied round his neck.
Arrival at, and capture of, Acre, June 10, 1191.
Richard returns to England.
After the successful capture of Acre, and a truce,
as its consequence, with Saládin, Richard set out for
England, where, however, he did not arrive till
13th March, 1194. On landing at Sandwich, he was
received "amidst the joyful acclamations of his subjects,"
or, as we may presume, of those chiefly who
dwelt in the seaport towns; for these could hardly
have failed to greet joyfully a monarch who had opened
out the means of affording ample and lucrative employment
to their shipping and seafaring population.
Nor, indeed, were the merchants less handsomely remunerated;
for to them, the progress of the Crusades
procured the opportunity of developing many new
and valuable markets for commercial enterprise.
Prevented by the jealousy and the restrictive policy of the Italian cities, English traders had hitherto not ventured on voyages so distant as the Levant, the general policy of the republics of the south throwing various difficulties in the way of foreign shipping. By the Crusades, however, the eyes of English
