The rowers, if possible, were all Christian slaves, belonging to the owners, but when these were not numerous enough, other slaves, or Arabs and Moors, were hired at ten ducats the trip, prize or no prize. If he was able, the captain (_Reïs_) would build and furnish out his own vessel, entirely at his own cost, in hope of greater profit; but often he had not the means, and then he would call in the aid of one or more _armadores_. These were often speculative shopkeepers, who invested in a part share of a galleot on the chance of a prize, and who often discovered that ruin lay in so hazardous a lottery. The complement of soldiers, whether volunteers (_levents_), consisting of Turks, renegades, or _Kuroghler_ (_Kuloghler_)--_i.e._, _creoles_, natives, Turks born on the soil--or if these cannot be had, ordinary Moors, or Ottoman janissaries, varied with the vessel's size, but generally was calculated at two to each oar, because there was just room for two men to sit beside each bank of rowers: they were not paid unless they took a prize, nor were they supplied with anything more than biscuit, vinegar, and oil--everything else, even their blankets, they found themselves. The soldiers were under the command of their own Aga, who was entirely independent of the Reïs and formed an efficient check upon that officer's conduct. Vinegar and water, with a few drops of oil on the surface, formed the chief drink of the galley slaves, and their food was moistened biscuit or rusk, and an occasional mess of gruel (_burgol_): nor was this given out when hard rowing was needed, for oars move slackly on a full stomach.