In the case of the
corsairs and their adversaries the gallerians were as a rule prisoners of
war, but as time went on and wars became less frequent than they were
throughout the sixteenth century, another source of supply was tapped by
sending to the galleys the criminals of any country which desired to fill
up the rowers' benches. In consequence there was always one thing which was
feared above all others on board a galley, and that was a rising of the
slaves.
If they were not your enemies officially, they were a set of desperate
criminals ripe for any mischief should they get loose, and chained,
starved, beaten, frozen with the cold, baked by the summer heats, tortured,
murdered, they had nothing earthly for which to hope except escape. If in
the heat of battle there should occur a rising of the slaves, then their
masters knew that victory would declare itself surely on the side of the
enemy. Therefore that they should be securely chained was the first and
most important thing to which the boatswain of a galley and his mates had
to see. If by a bold stroke they once freed themselves from their shackles
it was a fight to the death for those who erstwhile had been in command, as
the gallerians, outnumbering them and caring nought for their lives in
comparison to their liberties, were far the most formidable foes that they
could be called upon to encounter. When men are so treated that their daily
life is one long martyrdom they become the most dangerous force in
existence, and on the occasions which sometimes happened that the slaves
got the upper hand, there were none left of the fighting men of the galley
to tell the tale of their discomfiture.
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