castle and palace. The space enclosed by the walls was not more than
half a mile square, and the houses did not occupy nearly all of it.
There were open places, gardens, and even small paddocks among them.
None of the houses were more than two storeys high, but what at once
struck a stranger was the fact that they were all roofed with red tiles,
most of the houses of that day being thatched or covered with shingles
of wood. As Felix afterwards learnt, this had been effected during the
reign of the present king, whose object was to protect his city from
being set on fire by burning arrows. The encircling wall had become a
dull red hue from the long exposure to the weather, but the roofs were a
brighter red. There was no ensign flying on either of the towers, from
which he concluded that the king at that moment was absent.




CHAPTER XVI

THE CITY


Slowly descending towards the city, Felix looked in vain for any means
of crossing the channel or creek, which extended upon the side of it,
and in which he counted twenty-two merchant vessels at anchor, or moored
to the bank, besides a number of smaller craft and boats. The ship of
war, which had arrived before him, was beached close up by a gate of the
city, which opened on the creek or port, and her crew were busily
engaged discharging her stores. As he walked beside the creek trying to
call the attention of some boatman to take him across, he was impressed
by the silence, for though the city wall was not much more than a