To the camp of the Emperor
came the fugitive King, Muley Hassan, in whose cause the armada had
nominally been assembled--how nominal this was we shall see later by the
light of the treaty concluded between him and the Emperor. Charles had
complete command of the sea for the time being, and, in consequence, the
ex-Sultan was amazed at the profusion and luxury which reigned in the camp
of the Christians; and he concluded that these indeed must be the lords of
the earth, as luxury and profusion was hardly the note of such courts as
then existed in the northern portion of the African continent.
Although the army was landed, and with it artillery for the bombardment of
the Goletta, there remained, of course, "the army of the sea," under the
orders of the redoubtable Doria; and while the Marquis del Guasto, who was
in supreme command on shore, prepared to batter down the defences of the
fortress on the land side, the attack was carried on simultaneously from
the sea by the galleys. The actual presence of the Emperor stimulated the
various nationalities under his eyes to vie with one another in deeds of
daring, and they contended among themselves for the posts of the most
honour and danger. The attacks of the African horsemen were brushed on one
side by the disciplined valour of the Andalusian cavalry, while the great
guns thundered from land and sea against the walls of the doomed Goletta.
Sinan and his Ottoman soldiers performed prodigies in the way of repairing
breaches in the walls as soon as they were made; but Kheyr-ed-Din from the
city watched the progress of the bombardment gloomily, as he saw and knew
that the fall of the Goletta was but a matter of days.
Pages:
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171