with the enemy. But the odds against him were too great; and though he
spread carnage among the Moslem ranks, he could ill afford the sacrifice
of life that it cost him. In the mean time, the two garrisons were
assailed by an enemy from within, more inexorable than the enemy at
their gates. Famine had begun to show itself in some of its hideous
forms. They were already reduced to the necessity of devouring the flesh
of their horses and asses;[1284] and even that was doled out so
scantily, as too plainly intimated that this sustenance, wretched as it
was, was soon to fail them. Under these circumstances, their spirits
would have sunk, had they not been sustained by the expectation of
succor from Spain; and they cast many a wistful glance on the
Mediterranean, straining their eyes to the farthest verge of the
horizon, to see if they could not descry some friendly sail upon the
waters.

But Philip was not unmindful of them. Independently of the importance of
the posts, he felt his honor to be deeply concerned in the protection of
the brave men, who were battling there, for the cause not merely of
Castile, but of Christendom. No sooner had he been advised by Alcaudete
of the peril in which he stood, than he gave orders that a fleet should
be equipped to go to his relief. But such orders, in the disabled
condition of the navy, were more easily given than executed. Still,
efforts were made to assemble an armament, and get it ready in the
shortest possible time. Even the vessels employed to convoy the India
galleons were pressed into the service. The young cavaliers of the
southern provinces eagerly embarked as volunteers in an expedition which
afforded them an opportunity for avenging the insults offered to the
Spanish arms. The other states bordering on the Mediterranean, which
had, in fact, almost as deep an interest in the cause as Spain herself,
promptly furnished their contingents. To these were to be added, as
usual, the galleys of the Knights of Malta, always foremost to unfurl
the banner in a war with the infidel. In less than two months an
armament consisting of forty-two large galleys, besides smaller vessels,
well manned and abundantly supplied with provisions and military stores,
was assembled in the port of Malaga. It was placed under the command of
Don Antonio de Mendoza; who, on the sixth of June, weighed anchor, and
steered directly for the Barbary coast.

[Sidenote: WAR ON THE BARBARY COAST.]

On the morni