teachers did not fail to declare a special interposition of
God in behalf of the fleet which carried the flag of his vicar upon
earth.

At the sound of the signal gun each captain began to prepare his ship
for action. By order of Don John of Austria the sharp peaks of the
galleys, the spurs (_espolones_) as they were called, had been cut off,
it being thought expedient to sacrifice those weapons of offence, which
were somewhat uncertain in their operation, to insure the more effectual
working of the guns on the forecastle and gangway; and the bulwarks had
been strengthened, and heightened by means of boarding-nettings. In
some vessels the rowers' benches were removed or planked over, to give
more space and scope to the soldiers. Throughout the fleet the Christian
slaves had their fetters knocked off and were furnished with arms,
which they were encouraged to use valiantly by promises of freedom and
rewards. Of the Moslem slaves, on the contrary, the chains which
secured them to their places were carefully examined, and their rivets
secured; and they were, besides, fitted with handcuffs, to disable them
from using their hands for any purpose but tugging on the oar. The
arquebusier, the musketeer, and the bombardier looked carefully to the
state of their weapons, ammunition, and equipments; the sailor sharpened
his pike and cutlass; the officer put on his strongest casque and his
best-wrought cuirass; the stewards placed supplies of bread and wine in
convenient places, ready to the hands of the combatants; and the surgeons
prepared their instruments and bandages, and spread tables in dark and
shaded nooks, for the use of the wounded.

While these preparations occupied their subordinate officers, the chiefs
of the armament repaired to the flag-ship to learn the final resolution
and receive the last instructions of Don John of Austria. Some of these
went for the purpose of combating that resolution and objecting to those
instructions; for that eagerness to fight, which pervaded the soldiers
and sailors, was not unanimously shared by their leaders. Veniero,
although he had been hitherto very desirous of meeting the enemy, was
now anxious and dispirited. Doria and Ascanio de la Corgnia reminded
their young commander that the Turk, who was evidently bent upon
fighting, had a convenient harbor and arsenal behind him at Lepanto;
while for the fleet of the League, far from accessible ports, a disaster
implied total destruction.