Oliver Ellis

Excerpt: In Regard To Prefaces Says The Author Of Curiosities Of Literature—Ladies Consider Them So Much Space For A Love Story Lost Though The Italians Call Them La Salsa Del Libra—The Spice Of The Book. Be This As It May I Must Mention That Many Of The Men Whose Names Occur In These Pages Bore The Part Ascribed To Them During The Operations Of Sir Charles Grey'S Army In The Antilles. A Duel Nearly Similar To That Which Is Described As Having Taken Place On Board Of The Adder Frigate Actually Occurred On The Deck Of One Of H.M.'S Ships-Of-War When Lying In A South-American Port In 1821. The Situation Of The Wreck In The Isle Of Tortoises Was Suggested To Me By The Discovery Of A Mysterious Vessel In A Cavern Of The Island Of Baccalieu When I Was At Fort Townsend In Newfoundland Where It Excited Much Speculation. As A Few Mexican Dollars Were Found On The Rocks Near She Was Supposed To Be Spanish; And Such Rumours Were Circulated Of The Vast Treasure She Contained That H.M.S. Comus Was Despatched From Halifax To Investigate The Matter; But The Hull Contained A Few Dead Bodies Alone. That The Marvellous Might Not Be Wanting There Was Told A Story Of A Gigantic Anchor Being Thrown By The Sea On The Desert Shore Near Her. There It Lay For A Time Till A Party Came To Remove It; But It Had Vanished Like The Treasure—By No Mortal Agency Of Course!