On his way, however, a black object was seen in the water.  As they neared it, this was seen to be the head of a swimmer.  He was soon picked up, and was found to be a Venetian citizen, named Savadia, who had been captured by the enemy, but had managed to escape, and was swimming towards land to warn his countrymen that the whole Genoese fleet, of forty-seven sail, under Pietro Doria, was close at hand; and that the six ships in the offing were simply a decoy, to tempt the Venetians to come out and give battle.

Giustiniani at once returned to port, and scarcely had he done so, than the whole Genoese fleet made its appearance.  They approached the passage of the Lido; but the respite that had been afforded them had enabled the Venetians to make their preparations, and the Genoese found, to their disappointment, that the channels of the Lido and Malamocco were completely closed up with sunken vessels, palisades, and chains; and they sailed away to seek another entry through which they could strike at Venice.

Had the same precautions, that had proved so effective at the Lido and Malamocco passages, been taken at all the other channels; Venice could have defied all the efforts of Doria’s fleet.

The city is situated on a group of small islands, rising in the midst of a shallow basin twenty-five miles long and five wide, and separated from the sea by a long sandbank, formed by the sediment brought down by the rivers Piave and Adige.  Through this sandbank the sea had pierced several channels.  Treporti, the northern of these channels, contained water only for the smallest craft.  The next opening was known as the port of Lido, and separated the island of San Nicolo from Malamocco.  Five miles farther on is the passage of Malamocco, between that island and Pelestrina.  Southwest of Pelestrina lay Brondolo, behind which stood Chioggia, twenty miles distant from Venice.  The southern point of Brondolo was only separated by a small channel—­called the Canal of Lombardy—­from the mainland.

Unfortunately, at Brondolo the channel had not been closed.  All preparations had been made for doing so, but the work had been postponed until the last moment, in order that trading vessels might enter and leave the harbour, the Chioggians believing that there was sure to be sufficient warning, of the approach of an enemy, to enable them to close the entrance in time.  The sudden appearance of Doria’s fleet before Brondolo upset all these calculations, and the Genoese easily carried the position.  Little Chioggia, the portion of the town separated from the rest by the Canal of Santa Caterina, was captured without difficulty; but the bridge across the canal was strongly defended by bastions and redoubts, and here Pietro Emo made a brave stand, with his garrison of three thousand five hundred men.

The enemy at once erected his batteries, and, on the 12th of August, the Genoese opened fire.  The Venetians replied stoutly, and for three days a heavy cannonade was kept up on both sides.  Reinforcements had reached the garrison from Venice, and, hour by hour, swift boats brought the news to the city of the progress of the fight.