The Sultan's Admiral Read Online Free PDF Page B

not for months together (commonly half a year), urged on, even beyond human strength, with cruel and repeated blows on their bare flesh, to an incessant continuation of the most violent of all exercises; and this for whole days and nights successively, which often happens in a furious chase, when one party, like vultures, is hurried on almost as eagerly after their prey, as is the weaker party hurried away in hopes of preserving life and liberty.”
    The lookouts aboard the great galley, Our Lady of the Conception , sighted the Turkish galleot as she slid out from behind a wooded point. At the very same moment Aruj, Isaac, and the rest of their crew caught sight of the cross that waved on the standard above the poop of the galley. They knew at once that this vessel belonged to the greatest enemies of the Turks, and indeed of all Moslems, the Knights of St. John—“the Chivalry of the Religion” as they were proud to call themselves. The Turks bent to the straining oars. Freemen all, they were well aware of the fate awaiting them if they fell into the hands of the knights.
    Had there been any wind, it is just possible that the galleot might have escaped owing to her greater manoeuvrability, but it was a calm and empty day—the weather for which the fighting galley had been developed. As the fleeing Turks sweated and strained over their oars, the galley drew remorselessly nearer. Aruj, who in later years was often enough to enjoy the satisfaction of swooping upon a fat Christian prey, now found himself in the position of a sparrow hawk that has been unwise enough to fall foul of an eagle.
    On the poop of Our Lady of the Conception there were gathered “the knights and gentlemen, and especially the admiral or captain, who sits at the stem under a red damask canopy embroidered with gold, surveying the crew, surrounded by the chivalry of ‘The Religion,’ whose white cross waves on the taffeta standard over their heads, and shines upon various pennants and burgees aloft . . The shrill call of the under officer’s silver whistle gave the order for the rowers to increase the stroke. Plash by plash, the galley drew nearer to the Turkish galleot— until it was within reach of the forward bow chasers. The seamen on the rambade now held their smouldering slow matches to the fuse holes of the guns, while the arquebusiers and archers stood ready to open fire.
    Escape was impossible. Aruj shouted down to his crew to prepare to surrender. But before it could be made clear to the pursuing galley that they would meet with no resistance, they had begun their initial onslaught. With the first salvo from the guns and from the soldiers on her prow, Isaac, Aruj’s brother, was killed outright along with a number of other Turks. The galleot was overwhelmed and “Aruj and his little company were ironed and flung into the depths of the galley until such time as they should be wanted to take their turn at the oars. In this ignominious fashion ended his first attempt at independent piracy …”
    Now he learned for the first time, as did innumerable other sailors in those days, what the word “failure” really meant. Whether you were a Christian or a Moslem, a man or a woman, to travel upon the Mediterranean in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was to hazard your life and liberty. If you were a man, you might finish on the oar bench or in the slave market. If you were a woman you would end up if you were fortunate in the harem of a rich Turk, or as an unpaid drudge in the kitchen or the fields.
    Life was a cheap commodity. To survive beyond childhood and beyond puberty was an achievement in itself. After that, the strong, the cunning, and the lucky might continue to enjoy the few material and sensual comforts that divert the human animal. Isaac was eliminated from the continuous conflict of the world, but Aruj and the survivors from his crew were now to serve at the oar benches.
    There is no record of how long Aruj spent as a galley