Some ships were driven off the Italian coast altogether, and forced into the Libyan and Sicilian seas, and some which could not weather the Iapygian Cape were overtaken by night, and being dashed by a violent and boisterous sea against that harborless coast were utterly lost, except only the King's ship.

It was assumed that the Dalmatian territory to be acquired under the treaty to be negotiated in accordance with the terms of the Pact would, with the return of the Italian provinces, give to Italy naval control over the Adriatic Sea and secure the harborless eastern coast of the Italian peninsula against future hostile attack by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

in danger &c n.; endangered &c v.; fraught with danger; dangerous, hazardous, perilous, parlous, periculous^; unsafe, unprotected &c (safe, protect) &c 664; insecure. untrustworthy; built upon.sand, on a sandy basis; wildcat. defenseless, fenceless, guardless^, harborless; unshielded; vulnerable, expugnable^, exposed; open to &c (liable) 177.