Gradually,
as we have seen, under the able guidance of the two Barbarossas, but
particularly that of the second and greater of the two, piracy became a
commonplace in the north, as well as in the south, of the tideless sea; the
corsairs, as time went on, even devoting more time and attention to the
coast of Italy and the islands of the archipelago than they did to the
recognised trade routes. These latter had become by 1540 similar to an
estate which has been shot over too frequently; birds had become both wild
and scarce, it was hardly worth while to go over the ground, except now and
again on the chance of picking up a straggler. Towns and islands, on the
other hand, even if they did not yield much in the way of actual plunder,
were always good cover to beat for slaves, which had a certain value in the
markets of Algiers and Tunis. Another circumstance which had led to the now
frequent raids on the littoral of the European countries was the
countenance and support accorded to the corsairs by the Grand Turk: so
admirably did they fit into the scheme of his ambitions, that by the time
Dragut arrived at a commanding position they were, so to speak, officially
recognised as a fighting asset of the Sublime Porte; and, as we have seen,
the Sultan did not hesitate to lend his picked troops, the Janissaries, to
the corsairs when engaged in their ordinary piratical business. To the
Grand Turk the corsairs were Moslems who were prepared to fight on his
side, and who, taking it all in all, really cost him hardly anything; in
fact, at this date, owing to the magnificent gifts made to the Sultan by
Kheyr-ed-Din, the Padishah must have made something out of his association
with the sea-wolves.
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