DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70302#0128
108
SINGULAR HISTORY OF AN IMPOSTOR.
himself in order to keep alive the doubts and uncertainty
of the public.
When the prisoner arrived at Cadiz, he was conducted
to the Fort of la Caragna, which commands the port.
The commandant was informed, that he must be answer-
able for the prisoner; but his order at the same time
directed that he should treat him con maniera, with po-
liteness. The commandant, a native of France, named
Devau, who had raised himself by his merit to* the situa-
tion he held, after reading his orders, observed : “ When
I am to be answerable for the safety of any person, I
know but one maniera of treating him, and that is to put
him in irons.”
When the moment arrived for the departure of the
convoy for Ceuta, he was put into a vessel separate from
the other galley-slaves. When they were setting sail, a
Secretary of the governor appeared. He brought what
remained from the sale of his effects after deducting from
the produce all that had been expended on his account.
The surplus amounted to seven or eight hundred reals,
(about ten guineas.) “Aha!” said he, “the governor
takes me for his almoner.”—then raising his voice, he
continued: “Sailors, the governor is very generous, he
has sent you some money,” and distributed the whole
among them in the presence of the Secretary.
Nadau, who had been ordered home to France to give
an account of his conduct, received on his return to
Martinico, a pair of pistols of the finest workmanship,
accompanied by a letter from the prince, in which after
some excuses for the uneasiness he must have caused
him, he informed that officer that he was at Ceuta in
the convent of the Cordeliers, where he was very well
treated, and under little restraint. He pretended that
he had received a visit from Ali Obaba, the brother of
the
SINGULAR HISTORY OF AN IMPOSTOR.
himself in order to keep alive the doubts and uncertainty
of the public.
When the prisoner arrived at Cadiz, he was conducted
to the Fort of la Caragna, which commands the port.
The commandant was informed, that he must be answer-
able for the prisoner; but his order at the same time
directed that he should treat him con maniera, with po-
liteness. The commandant, a native of France, named
Devau, who had raised himself by his merit to* the situa-
tion he held, after reading his orders, observed : “ When
I am to be answerable for the safety of any person, I
know but one maniera of treating him, and that is to put
him in irons.”
When the moment arrived for the departure of the
convoy for Ceuta, he was put into a vessel separate from
the other galley-slaves. When they were setting sail, a
Secretary of the governor appeared. He brought what
remained from the sale of his effects after deducting from
the produce all that had been expended on his account.
The surplus amounted to seven or eight hundred reals,
(about ten guineas.) “Aha!” said he, “the governor
takes me for his almoner.”—then raising his voice, he
continued: “Sailors, the governor is very generous, he
has sent you some money,” and distributed the whole
among them in the presence of the Secretary.
Nadau, who had been ordered home to France to give
an account of his conduct, received on his return to
Martinico, a pair of pistols of the finest workmanship,
accompanied by a letter from the prince, in which after
some excuses for the uneasiness he must have caused
him, he informed that officer that he was at Ceuta in
the convent of the Cordeliers, where he was very well
treated, and under little restraint. He pretended that
he had received a visit from Ali Obaba, the brother of
the