, lying off the entrance of
the Great Port,--and all as silently and expeditiously as possible. La
Valette had hoped that some part of the Spanish reinforcement would be
detached during the night to the aid of the garrison, when he proposed
to sally on the enemy, and, if nothing better came of it, to get
possession of their cannon, so much needed for his own fortifications.
But no such aid arrived; and, through the long night, he impatiently
listened to the creaking of the wheels that bore off the artillery to
the ships.[1372]

[Sidenote: MUSTAPHA DEFEATED.]

With the first light of morning the whole Ottoman force was embarked on
board the vessels, which, weighing anchor, moved round to Port Musiette,
on the other side of St. Elmo, where the Turkish fleet, the greater part
of which lay there, was now busily preparing for its departure. No
sooner had the enemy withdrawn, than the besieged poured out into the
deserted trenches. One or two of those huge pieces of ordnance, which,
from their unwieldy size, it was found impossible to remove, had been
abandoned by the Turks, and remained a memorable trophy of the
siege.[1373] The Christians were not long in levelling the Moslem
entrenchments; and very soon the flag of St. John was seen cheerily
waving in the breeze, above the ruins of St. Elmo. The grand-master now
called his brethren together to offer up their devotions in the same
church of St. Lawrence where he had so often invoked the protection of
Heaven during the siege. "Never did music sound sweeter to human ears,"
exclaims Balbi, "than when those bells summoned us to mass, at the same
hour at which, for three months past, they had sounded the alarm against
the enemy."[1374] A procession was formed of all the members of the
order, the soldiers, and the citizens. The services were performed with
greater solemnity, as well as pomp, than could be observed in the hurry
and tumult of the siege; and, with overflowing hearts, the multitude
joined in the _Te Deum_, and offered up thanks to the Almighty and the
Blessed Virgin for their deliverance from their enemies.[1375] It was
the eighth of September, the day of the Nativity of the Virgin,--a
memorable day in the annals of Malta, and still observed by the
inhabitants as their most glorious anniversary.

Hardly had the Turkish galleys, with Mustapha on board, joined the great
body of the fleet in Port Musiette, than that commander received such
intelligence as convinced h