great satisfaction both of the Government and the citizens. There is no doubt that their position was always a very risky one, and it required all their diplomatic tact to save them from ruin. They were literally between the devil and the deep sea, but they always managed to steer a clear course between the many dangers which beset them. But although they were on good terms with the Sultan, there was also danger to be apprehended from the turbulent Pashas and Sandjakbegs of Bosnia and the Herzegovina. Many of these men were the descendants of the lawless native princelings who had gone over to Islam, and still maintained their old ambition to win their way to the seaboard. The whole country of Dalmatia was now threatened. Clissa, Poljica, and even Montenegro had to pay tribute to the Turks after 1515. In 1522 Knin, the chief Croat fortress in the country, surrendered to the Pasha of Bosnia, and Scardona was also occupied. Sinj, Vrlika, Nučak, and Clissa fell in 1536, and the castles of Vrana and Nadin in 1538. The Turkish fortress of Castelnuovo was captured by the Venetians and Spaniards in that year, but in 1539 it was attacked by the pirate Haireddin Barbarossa and recaptured, the Spanish garrison being put to the sword. It is said that some Ragusan vessels took part in the siege, thus contributing to the success of the Turks, and that the Republic sent presents to Barbarossa so as to induce him to respect their territory. There now remained no part of Dalmatia under a Christian Government except the Venetian coast towns and the Ragusan State. On the whole, the Republic found the Turks in some ways less objectionable neighbours than the Christian Powers, especially the Venetians. In 1538 the allied fleet under the command of Grimani, the Venetian Patriarch, sailed down the Adriatic and touched at the Isola di Mezzo; a part of the squadron proceeded to Ragusavecchia, where it was received with great honour by the citizens, but some vessels remained at the island and sacked it, took 170 prisoners, including the Count, and did much damage to property. The Ragusan Senate protested to the Patriarch, who had all the prisoners liberated, the stolen property restored, and compensation paid. A certain number of Ragusans were detained as rowers, but at good salaries, and thirteen Ragusan ships were pressed into the Spanish service. The fleet then sailed southwards, and encountered the Turks off Prevesa; the engagement proved undecisive, but the honours of the day remained with the Turks. It was then proposed to attack Castelnuovo. The Venetian and Pontifical admirals objected, and suggested that Ragusa should be attacked instead, as she had shown herself so friendly to the enemy. But Doria, the Genoese admiral, and Don Ferrante Gonzaga refused to make war on a Christian city, and the Castelnuovo plan was adhered to. Thirteen thousand troops and 22 guns were disembarked, and an assault delivered by land and sea.