" In consequence they concerted among themselves and one
dark night sailed off, leaving Kheyr-ed-Din to continue his voyage with his
original following.
That warrior, nothing disconcerted, pursued his way to the island of Zante,
where he fell in with a Turkish "flota," under the command of the Bashas
Zay and Himeral. To these officers of the Grand Turk Barbarossa used most
injurious language, bitterly reproaching them with not having sought out
and destroyed Andrea Doria, which he declared they ought to and should have
done. This is yet another instance of the extraordinary character of the
man. These persons were the highest officers in the fleet of the Ottoman
Empire; it was more than possible that they would be placed under the
command of Barbarossa as soon as his new position as Admiralissimo was
adjusted at Constantinople; and yet, in spite of these facts, the corsair
had taken the very first opportunity which presented itself grossly to
insult these men. It is true, as we shall see, that his injurious words
came home to roost in the future; but arrogant, conquering, contemptuous,
Barbarossa seems to have shouldered his way through life, fearing none and
feared by all.
The fact of his known cruelty accounts for much of the dread which he
inspired, but it was something far more than this which caused the son of
the Albanian renegado to ride roughshod as he did over all with whom he was
brought into contact.
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