The admiral, however, even when backed by the Padishah, could not man a large fleet of galleys with Moslem rowers, and, as there was a shortage in the matter of propelling power, his first business was to collect slaves, and for this purpose he visited the islands of the Archipelago.  The lot of the unhappy inhabitants of these was indeed a hard one.  They were nearer to the seat of the Moslem power than any other Christians; they were in those days totally unable to resist an attack in force, and in consequence were swept off in their thousands.

Seven islands cover the entrance to the Gulf of Volo.  The nearest to the coast is Skiathos, which is also the most important; it was defended by a castle built upon a rock.  This castle was attacked by Barbarossa, who bombarded it for six days, carried it by assault, and massacred the garrison.  He spared the lives of the inhabitants of the island, and by this means secured three thousand four hundred rowers for his galleys.  He had to provide motor-power for the reinforcements which he expected.  In July he was reinforced from Constantinople by ninety galleys, while from Egypt came Saleh-Reis, who had succeeded in avoiding the terrible Doria, with twenty more; the fleet was thus complete.

Barbarossa ravaged Skios, Andros, and other islands, putting them under contribution, and in this manner raised some eight thousand ducats; from a pen of guinea-fowl to a king’s ransom, nothing escaped the maw of this most rapacious of corsairs.  Candia and some other islands yielded up some small spoil, but the sufferings of such insignificant folk as the wretched islanders were soon lost to the sight of the Christian world in the magnitude of the events which were now impending.

Kheyr-ed-Din Barbarossa, Corsair, Admiral, and King, the scourge of the Mediterranean, and Andrea Doria, Prince of Oneglia, Admiral of the modern Caesar, Charles V., Emperor and King, were at last to meet face to face.

CHAPTER XII

THE PREVESA CAMPAIGN; THE GATHERING OF THE FLEETS

Some thirty-five miles to the south-eastward of Cape Bianco (the southernmost point of the island of Corfu) lies Prevesa, at the entrance of the Gulf of Arta, or, as it was known in classic times, the Ambracian Gulf.  In these seas, in the year 31 B.C., was fought one of the most memorable battles of antiquity, for it was here that Octavius, afterward Augustus Caesar, defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatra.  There have been many controversies of late years as to whom the original idea of breaking the line in naval combats is due:  anyhow, it can claim a respectable antiquity, as it was practised at the battle of Actium by Octavius, who by a skilful manoeuvre caused Antony to lengthen his line, which he then cut through and attacked the ships of Cleopatra, which were in support:  this was too much for the lady, who fled with her sixty ships, followed by Antony, to his eternal disgrace.  The remainder of his fleet fought bravely for a time, but was eventually defeated, the land army also surrendering to Octavius.  The date of the actual battle of Actium was September 2nd, 31 B.C.:  it was in September 1538 that the battle of Prevesa between Andrea Doria and Kheyr-ed-Din Barbarossa took place, and the conditions of the battle were almost exactly similar.