_Now, gentlemen, I have his mother's word for it (and her honour cannot
be doubted), that Baron Tott is the fruit of that amour. When Tott was
born, his mother applied to His Holiness, as the father of her child; he
immediately placed him under the proper people, and as he grew up gave
him a gentleman's education, had him taught the use of arms, procured
him promotion in France, and a title, and when he died he left him a
good estate._



CHAPTER XV

_A further account of the journey from Harwich to Helvoetsluys--
Description of a number of marine objects never mentioned by any
traveller before--Rocks seen in this passage equal to the Alps in
magnitude; lobsters, crabs, &c., of an extraordinary magnitude--A
woman's life saved--The cause of her falling into the sea--Dr. Hawes'
directions followed with success._

I omitted several very material parts in my father's journey across the
English Channel to Holland, which, that they may not be totally lost
I will now faithfully give you in his own words, as I heard him relate
them to his friends several times.

"On my arrival," says my father, "at Helvoetsluys, I was observed to
breathe with some difficulty; upon the inhabitants inquiring into the
cause, I informed them that the animal upon whose back I rode from
Harwich across to their shore did not swim! Such is their peculiar form
and disposition, that they cannot float or move upon the surface of the
water; he ran with incredible swiftness upon the sands from the shore,