d been separated
from the enemy, and whose formidable artillery he did not expect to
encounter. He also observed with concern the large number of the
galleys which were Spanish, or western (_ponenirinas_, as they were
called in the Levant), and of a stronger build than those which were
constructed at Venice by the Orientals. He now saw that the victory was
not to be so easy as he had anticipated, and that he must neglect no
means that might avert defeat. A kind-hearted as well as a brave man,
he had always been remarkable for the humanity with which he had cared
for the unhappy Christian slaves who rowed his galley. He now walked
forward to their benches and said to them in Spanish: "Friends, I
expect you to-day to do your duty by me, in return for what I have done
for you. If I win the battle, I promise you your liberty; if the day is
yours, God has given it to you."

When the fleets neared each other, and the Christians were all prostrate
before their crucifixes and friars, and no sound was heard on their
decks but the voices of the holy fathers, the Turks were indulging in
every kind of noise which nature or art had furnished them with the
means of producing. Shouting and screaming, they bade the Christians
come on "like drowned hens" and be slaughtered; then they danced and
stamped and clanged their arms; they blew trumpets, clashed cymbals, and
fired volleys of useless musketry. When the Christians had ended their
devotions and stood to their guns, or in their ordered ranks, each
galley, in the long array, seemed on fire, as the noon-tide sun blazed
on helmet and corselet, and pointed blades and pikes with flame. The
bugles now sounded a charge, and the bands of each vessel began to play.
Before Don John retired from the forecastle to his proper place on the
quarter-deck, it is said by one of the officers, who had written an
account of the battle, that he and two of his gentlemen, "inspired with
youthful ardor, danced a galliard on the gun platform to the music of
the fifes." The Turkish line, to the glitter of arms, added yet more
splendor of color from the brilliant and variegated garb of the
janizaries, their tall and fanciful crests and prodigious plumes, and
from the multitude of flags and streamers which every galley displayed
from every available point and peak. Long before the enemy were within
range the Turkish cannon opened. The first shot that took effect carried
off the point of the pennant of Don Juan