John, of Austria, 1547-1578; Spain -- History -- Philip II, 1556-1598
Having said this with impassive Oriental gravity, Aluch Ali left to
prepare his fleet. Then everyone was for Ali Pasha; but he, more for
appearance than from fear or want of confidence, desired to send the
corsair Kara Kodja to make fresh investigation of the enemy's strength.
So the Barbary pirate set out from Lepanto with two galleys, and began
to seek cautiously for the allied fleet; on the 5th he had crossed the
long, narrow channel of Ithaca, which is at the extreme north of the bay
of Samos, in Cephalonia, having to take refuge in the creek of Pilaros,
owing to bad weather. D. John proposed to reach the isles of Curzolari
from the north, and to shelter among these islands to rest the crews on
the 6th, and to fall back suddenly on Cape Scropha on the 7th,
surprising the Turkish fleet anchored at Lepanto. Kara Kodja, with
daring, entered the channel of Ithaca with his two galleys, and
discovered the allied fleet at Pilaros; but he had gone so far that the
Christians, in their turn, discovered him and gave chase, and it was
only by the great strength of his oarsmen, and because the wind favoured
him, that he was able to escape. However, again this time God desired to
blind this Barbary pirate, and in the hurry and fear of his flight his
sharp eyes failed to see the ships that were sheltered behind a bend of
the bay. So Kara Kodja thought that the fleet had not altered since he
saw it at Corfu without its rear or vanguard, and returned triumphant to
Lepanto, confident in his mistake, and he announced to Ali Pasha that
the Christians were at Pilaros, in Cephalonia, and that there was
nothing to diminish the enormous advantage the Turks had over them.
Ali Pasha wanted no second telling; he hurried to leave Lepanto, to go
and cast anchor in the bay of Calydon, at the mouth of the gulf, only
twelve miles distant from that fatal Cape Scropha, to which the Turks
gave, the next day, the sinister name of Cape Sangriento.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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