mand and lead the crusade against the Moslems. His
splendid dress of white velvet and cloth of gold set off his graceful
person to advantage. A crimson scarf floated loosely over his breast,
and his snow-white plumes drooping from his cap mingled with the yellow
curls that fell in profusion over his shoulders. It was a picture which
the Italian maiden might love to look on. It was certainly not the
picture of the warrior sheathed in the iron panoply of war. But the
young Prince, in his general aspect, might be relieved from the charge
of effeminacy by his truly chivalrous bearing and the dauntless spirit
which beamed from his clear blue eyes. In his own lineaments he seemed
to combine all that was comely in the lineaments of his race."

At Naples Don John found a fleet at anchor under the command of Don Alvaro
de Bazan, first marquis of Santa Cruz, of whom much was to be heard in the
future in his capacity as Admiral of Castile. Here also he received from
the hands of Cardinal Granvelle a consecrated banner sent to him by the
Pope at a solemn ceremony in the church of the Franciscan Convent of Santa
Chiara. On August 25th he left Naples and proceeded to Messina, where he
landed under a triumphal arch of colossal dimensions, embossed with rich
plates of silver and curiously sculptured with emblematical bas-reliefs.
The royal galley in which the hero embarked was built at Barcelona: she was
fitted with the greatest luxury, and was remarkable for her strength and
speed; her stern was profusely decorated with emblems and devices drawn
from history; no such warship had ever been seen in the world before.

Cayetano Rosell, in his _Historia del combate naval de Lepanto_, says that
the number of vessels, great and small, in the Christian armada was over
300, of which 200 were galleys, the ordinary warships of the time. He goes
on to say:

"In this spacious harbour [Messina] there were collected the squadrons
of the League; the people who managed the oars and sails and the
innumerable combatants making an immense number when added together.
Since the days of Imperial Rome, never had been seen in these seas so
imposing a spectacle, never had there been collected so many ships
moving towards a single end dominated by a single will. Never was there
a spectacle more gratifying in the eyes of justice, nor of greater
incentive to men to fight for the cause of religion."

The Spanish fleet comprise