At last, furious with impatience, Grimani made a raid into the
Gulf of Arta, which was defended at the entrance by the fortress of
Prevesa. The only result of this ill-timed attack was that two Papal
captains and a number of soldiers were killed. Grimani then returned to
Corfu, to find Capello irritated to the last extent by the non-appearance
of Doria.
At last, on September 5th, the Imperial fleet hove in sight. It was
composed of forty-nine galleys, but these were supplemented by a great
number of sailing ships; the sailing craft, however, did not arrive till
September 22nd. These vessels were gradually making way among the Spaniards
since the discovery of the new world.
At this time the Venetians possessed fourteen nefs. Doria had augmented
these by twenty-two of his own, and the total number of thirty-six was
commanded by Franco Doria, a nephew of the admiral. The Venetian nefs were
commanded by Alessandro Condalmiero, captain of the _Galleon of Venice_.
This was the most formidable fighting vessel in the Mediterranean; she was
reckoned an excellent sailor, she was by far the most heavily armed sailing
ship then afloat; in fact, in the opinion of contemporary seamen, she was
"an invincible fortress."
Doria, Grimani, and Capello had now nearly 200 ships carrying nearly 60,000
men. Such a force, in all ages, has been considered great. William the
Conqueror conquered Britain with a less number; it is almost half the total
of the personnel of the British fleet in the present day which has to
defend a country with 40,000,000 inhabitants, and all this force had been
raised, armed, and equipped to combat with a Moslem corsair.
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