ships were above the horizon, and it was apparent that the Turks meant fighting as determinedly as the Christians. Then the banner of the League was run up to the maintop of the Captain-General, and a gun from the flag-ship was the signal to prepare for action. The enthusiasm was now intense, and the eager shouts pealing from all the ships together, woke the thousand echoes of the gulf in presentiment of victory.[1]
Rapidly the ships formed three divisions in line. Doria commanded that on the right; Barbarigo that on the left; in the centre was Don John himself, supported by Veniero and Colonna. Santa Cruz followed with a reserve squadron. In front of the whole line were towed some heavily armed galeasses, which were expected to do much execution on the enemy's first closing, as he was not provided with heavy ships of that build.
On the Turkish side the admiral directed the centre; the Pasha of Alexandria the right; and Aluch Ali, the Algerine, the left. The smaller craft were in rear. The Turks, as well as the Christians, were in high spirits, and confident of victory.
After the fleets were in sight of each other, there were still many miles of sea to be passed before they could be at fighting distance; so that there was time to make all necessary preparations. The chiefs of the expedition repaired to the flag-ship to receive last orders; and, even now, with the enemy in sight, there were some counsellors who would have had Don John avoid the battle. But he answered shortly and courteously that the question of fighting had been decided at Corfu, and that the time for action had come. Don John, sheathed in complete armour, now went on board a light frigate, and in her passed rapidly along the whole force which sailed to the right of his flag-ship; while Requesens, his second in command, made a similar passage along the left. They spoke a few words of encouragement to the officers and men, and in that way roused the ardour of the crews to the highest pitch. And Don John, remembering the estrangement which there had been between himself and the Venetian admiral, did not fail to pass in this supreme moment under the stern of Veniero's galley, and to reciprocate some words of kindness with the hot-tempered veteran.
As the distance decreased, the Turks made all the noise they could, by shouting, screaming, the clang of arms and of cymbals, and by useless discharges of firearms. In contrast to all this savage din, the crews of the League preserved a stern silence. A crucifix was elevated in the flag-ship, then in all the other vessels; and every man, from the Commander-in-Chief downward, knelt in adoration and implored the help of Heaven. This ceremony over, the Christian trumpets sounded and the bands played. Don John, and some of his younger officers, are said to have danced on the deck in the revelry of their brimming spirits. But the time for earnest work was now at hand.
- ↑ "Rarely in history had so gorgeous a scene of martial array been witnessed. An October sun gilded the thousand beauties of an Ionian landscape. Athens and Corinth were behind the combatants; the mountains of Alexander's Macedon rose in the distance; the rock of Sappho and the heights of Actium were before their eyes. Since the day when the world had been lost and won beneath that famous promontory, no such combat as the one now approaching had been fought upon the waves." – Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic, Part V. chap. i.
