LIFB
OJ' G.o\BIB.U.DI,the blockading forces, intimated to the government the order to conclude
the o11'ered the previous day to the Ga.riba ldians. In case or
refusal, the city would be occupied by troops, all the foreigners made
prison.ers, and the leut attempt at resistance, punished with the utmost
rigor. The Regent to whom the majority of the eoldiers had already
pused their word to execute the agreement, assured tho archducal enYoy
that by mid-day the territory of the Republic should be freed from the
lut rc!publican. To the great surprise of all the officer then insisted oo.
the change of one article in the capitulation. It had been agreed that
each 11oldier, on surrendering his arms, should receive a regular passport,
allowing him to return home in all safety ; but it wu now proposed to
deliver them ably rated as far as Rimini, where the disbanded meo.
wouldl await the final determination of General Gorzgowski. The officer,
howe,rer, pledged his word of honour, that this was merely a precau
tionB.l'Y measure, and that not a single hair of their head would be
touched. On the assurance of a man who was supposed incapable of
o11'ering a trap, the arms were given up. After their receipt the govern
ment of San Marino generously emptied the public treasury in giving a
viaticum to the old defenders of Rome; and at eleven in the morning,
about' 900 men, in small detachments, marched to Rimini. 'Ve shall see
prcseutly how the unhappy men fared, who had the imprudence to put
faith in the Austrians ; but we must now return to our hero.
Thirteen fishing boats belonging to Chioggia, received on board Gari
baldi and the men who followed him, in the port of Cesenatico. On the
morning of August 2, the small flotilla lifted their anchors and steered
in direction of Venice. The bold navigators were full of hope; for
they believed the object of their fruition was at last within their grasp,
that object for whose sake they had feared no privation, and shunned no
peril.. A fresh breeze blew in the direetion of Venice, and the whole dsy
was 11pent beneath a g'loriously serene sky, and in the formation of the
most seductive prospects. The boats of the flotilla were steered by the
most faithful and devoted Volunteers of the American legion, who, after
having fought by Garibaldi's side afloat and ashore, without ever wishiag
to leiLve him, had survived, though few in number, the combats of Italy.
Th.e fishermen, though skilied in managing their boats in waters they
were acquainted with, trembled at the thought of falling into the hands
of the AustrianJ. To insure the success of the expedition, all engaged
in it ought to have been willing to run any risk to reach the shore ; but
the few brave men, capable of managing veaaele, were not sufficient, and
they were compelled to trust to the fishermen and good fortune. At
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