"Your
advice may be good," he retorted, "but we think our plan the better."
The admiral suggested a reconnaissance of the site, which was merely a ruse
to gain time. This was carried out under his own supervision, and confirmed
him in the idea that disembarkation was folly; but Sinan-Reis and the
Janissaries held obstinately to their opinion, while the "Joldaks," or
Turkish soldiers in the galleys, grumbled among themselves that
Kheyr-ed-Din must indeed be full of vanity to reject the counsels of one
like Sinan-Reis.
Both commanders-in-chief, Christian and Moslem, seem on this occasion to
have taken an absolutely correct view of the problem as it was presented;
but whereas Andrea Doria was a real commander-in-chief, Barbarossa was
forced to consider and to defer to the opinions of men whom he knew to be
in the wrong.
It was against his better judgment that Kheyr-ed-Din at last yielded; the
men were backing up their officers, a spirit of disaffection was abroad in
the armada: such a thing as this a wise chief must gauge at its true value,
and stop before it goes too far. The Osmanli were murmuring against "the
corsair"; it was time to let them see whether they or their war-worn leader
possessed the greater wisdom.
According to Moslem chroniclers the valour of Kheyr-ed-Din was only
equalled by his piety; consequently he murmured a prayer into that famous
beard of his, which was now so much nearer to white than red, and gave
orders that the cannon shall be immediately disembarked.
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