This, the most historical, if not the greatest feat in the life of
Kheyr-ed-Din Barbarossa, was for him a triumph indeed; with a vastly
inferior force he had driven from the field of battle his "rival in glory,"
as he himself had denominated Andrea Doria, and he had accomplished this
feat notwithstanding the almost mutinous condition of his own forces. In
spite of this it is with Condalmiero and with him alone that the glory of
this day must rest; alone, absolutely unsupported as we have seen, he
fought one of those fights which bring the heart into the mouth when we
read of them; the stern pride of the Venetian noble, who despised as
canaille the pirate hosts by whom he was assailed, had its counterpart in
the sturdy valour of Chief Bombardier Francisco d'Arba and the other
nameless heroes of which that good company was composed; to them we render
that homage which so justly is their due.
The whole campaign of Prevesa, as we have said, is a curious study in
hesitation, in dilatoriness, in absolute lack of initiative and virility on
the part of the two chief actors in the drama: that Doria should fly from
the field of battle in an untouched ship is only one degree less incredible
than that Barbarossa should have relinquished his attack on the _Galleon of
Venice_. It would almost seem as if on this occasion each of the great
rivals was hypnotised by the presence of the other; all their lives they
had been seeking honour and riches on the sea, they knew, of course, that
all men in both the world of Islam and that of Christendom looked upon them
in the light of the special champions of the opposing sects, that the eyes
of the entire world were fastened on this meeting of theirs in the classic
waters of the Ambracian Gulf.
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