The battle had lasted more than four hours.  The sky, which had been almost without a cloud through the day, began now to be overcast, and showed signs of a coming storm.  Before seeking a place of shelter for himself and his prizes, Don John reconnoitred the scene of action.  He met with several vessels in too damaged a state for further service.  These mostly belonging to the enemy, after saving what was of any value on board, he ordered to be burnt.  He selected the neighboring port of Petala, as affording the most secure and accessible harbor for the night.  Before he had arrived there, the tempest began to mutter and darkness was on the water.  Yet the darkness rendered the more visible the blazing wrecks, which, sending up streams of fire mingled with showers of sparks, looked like volcanoes on the deep.

Long and loud were the congratulations now paid to the young commander-in-chief by his brave companions in arms, on the success of the day.  The hours passed blithely with officers and men, while they recounted one to another their manifold achievements.  But feelings of gloom mingled with their gayety, as they gathered tidings of the loss of friends who had bought this victory with their blood.

It was, indeed, a sanguinary battle, surpassing in this particular any sea-fight of modern times.  The loss fell much the most heavily on the enemy.  There is the usual discrepancy about numbers; but it may be safe to estimate the Turkish loss at about twenty-four thousand slain, and five thousand prisoners.  But what gave most joy to the hearts of the conquerors was the liberation of twelve thousand Christian captives, who had been chained to the oar on board the Moslem galleys, and who now came forth with tears streaming down their haggard cheeks, to bless their deliverers.

The loss of the allies was comparatively small,—­less than eight thousand.  That it was so much less than that of their enemies may be referred in part to their superiority in the use of firearms; in part, also, to their exclusive use of these, instead of employing bows and arrows, weapons much less effective, but on which the Turks, like the other Moslem nations, seem to have greatly relied.  Lastly, the Turks were the vanquished party, and in their heavier loss suffered the almost invariable lot of the vanquished.

As to their armada, it may almost be said to have been annihilated.  Not more than forty galleys escaped, out of near two hundred and fifty which had entered into the action.  One hundred and thirty were taken and divided among the conquerors.  The remainder, sunk or burned, were swallowed up by the waves.  To counterbalance all this, the confederates are said to have lost not more than fifteen galleys, though a much larger number doubtless were rendered unfit for service.  This disparity affords good evidence of the inferiority of the Turks in the construction of their vessels, as well as in the nautical skill required to manage them.  A large amount of booty, in the form of gold, jewels, and brocade, was found on board several of the prizes.  The galley of the commander-in-chief alone is stated to have contained one hundred and seventy thousand gold sequins,—­a large sum, but not large enough, it seems, to buy off his life.