Italy: Sinbad the Sailor (The Count of Monte Cristo, Chapter 31 – Part 3)

Franz learns why Monte Cristo carries an ominous reputation: though uninhabited, the island serves as a hidden refuge for smugglers and pirates crossing between Corsica, Sardinia, and Africa. A visit there means six days of quarantine upon returning to Leghorn—a delay Franz refuses to accept. But secrecy solves everything, or so the sailors insist, and the boat turns toward the rocky island. Once underway, Franz presses the captain further, surprised to learn that piracy has not vanished with the fall of Algiers. Just as bandits still haunt the outskirts of Rome, the Mediterranean, too, has its dangers—quiet, persistent, and very real.

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