s, captured on the shore near Gomenzia, where
they had strayed too far from their boat. These prisoners assured the
Pacha that the Christian fleet had not as yet been joined either by the
great ships or the galeases, and that forty galleys, sent under Santa
Cruz to Otranto for troops, and two galleys with which Andrade had gone
on a cruise of observation, had not yet returned. This story confirmed
the accounts both of Karacosh and the Greek fishermen. The Pacha was
naturally no less anxious to meet Don John with Santa Cruz than Don John
had been to meet the Pacha without the Viceroy of Algiers. It was no
wonder, then, that the chiefs of the Turkish fleet led their galleys
down the gulf in the ardent hope of speedily meeting with an enemy in
whom they made certain of finding a rich and easy prey. The three
hundred sail of the Sultan moved, as already described, in the form of
an immense crescent, stretching nearly from shore to shore.

When the Christian armament first came in sight, nothing was seen of it
but the small vanguard of Cardona's Sicilian galleys, and a portion of
the right wing under Doria. The rest was hidden by the rocky headlands
at the north of the gulf. For a while this circumstance buoyed up the
Turks in their belief that the force of the enemy was greatly inferior
to their own. As, however, the long lines of the centre under Don John
of Austria, and of the left wing under Barbarigo, came galley after
galley into view, they began to discover their mistake. The men posted
aloft were eagerly questioned by the officers as to the result of their
observations, and their answers, always announcing accessions of
strength to the Christians, led to misgivings, and to vehement
denunciations against Karacosh for the inaccuracy of his report from
Gomenzia. When Ali perceived that the Christians had adopted a long
straight line of battle, he also caused his fleet to take the same
order, drawing in the horns and advancing the centre of his crescent. As
the fleets came nearer to each other, the leaders of the League were
encouraged by observing that the enemy's rear was not covered by
anything that could be called a reserve, but only by a number of small
craft. Ali, on the contrary, was surprised to see the galeases which had
been pushed forward by the Christians. He inquired what these _mahones_
were, and was told that they were not mahones, but galeases; the very
vessels, in fact, which he had been led to believe ha