Andrea Doria after his flight made Corfu his place of rendezvous; whilst the pasha on the 14th of the same month started from Prevesa by night, and on the evening of the following day arrived at Bahshiler; but finding no traces of the infidels there, he returned to Prevesa. The privateers having obtained his permission to plunder Cephalonia, proceeded thither, and left nothing behind them but the bare fortress. On the other hand, whilst the pasha was engaged in repairing the fortress of Prevesa, information was brought him that the infidels had attacked Durazzo; upon which he cleared his galleys, and stood out to sea the same night. Next morning he attacked the fort of Parga, put the inhabitants to flight, took four hundred prisoners, and plundered and set fire to the castle. On his way to Bahshiler he took two barges; and after resting there two days, on the morning of the third, he again sailed to the channel of Corfu, where he was overtaken by a violent storm, which obliged him to put into Avlona, where he was detained for ten days till the weather cleared up. During this time the army suffered greatly. While there the pasha received orders either to winter there, or to return to Constantinople, as he might think most advisable. He chose the latter alternative, and immediately sailed for Constantinople. On their way the fleet had to encounter another dreadful storm at the strait of Beberjek, but succeeded in reaching Gallipoli, and thence proceeded to Constantinople, which they entered amidst the firing of numerous salutes.
CAPTURE OF CASTEL NOVO BY THE INFIDELS.
Andrea, taking advantage of the storm which detained Khair-ad-din at Avlona, returned and attacked Novo; and the governor being a weak man, he with the most consummate assurance took possession of it, garrisoned it with six thousand soldiers, and left it.
EXPEDITION OF SOLEIMAN PASHA TO INDIA.
Spain had just completed the conquest of the New World; and so early as the year 900 (A. D. 1494.) the Portuguese, emboldened by her success, proceeded from the Western to the Eastern Ocean, and passing along the Mountains of the Moon, (where the blessed Nile has its source,) and the coasts of Abyssinia and Zanguebar, penetrated into India, and took possession of the fortresses of Sind. The kings of that country being too weak to resist them, the king of Guzerat applied for assistance to Sultan Soleiman Khan. This zealous monarch, with the view of driving the oppressive infidels from the coasts of Yemen and India, equipped a fleet of thirty galleys in the road of Suez, and gave the command of them to Khadem Soleiman Pasha, chief of the emirs of Egypt, who left the port of Suez about the end of Moharrem (940 A.D. 1533), and arrived on the seventh of Rabi-al-avul at the city of Aden, on the coast of Yemen, the fortresses of which, under the command of Amar Ben Davud, he took possession of, and having considerably strengthened them, gave them in charge to Behram Beg. He then proceeded towards Div, an Indian port in the possession of the Portuguese, which was the principal object of his efforts. The winds being favourable, he arrived in the beginning of Rabi-al-avul at the citadels of Goa and Kari, situate in the neighbourhood of Div, and also in the possession of the Portuguese, where he landed his men and artillery, and took both these fortresses; a thousand infidels falling by the sword. He next laid siege to Div, the citadel of which was defended on three sides by the sea, and on the land side by very strong fortifications; on which account he deemed it advisable to land twenty thousand men, and a considerable quantity of ammunition. The siege had how lasted a month, and the king of Guzerat had in vain expected the ammunition and provisions he had demanded from Prince Mahmoud. This prince, frightened at the murder of Amar, the emir of Aden, would neither come himself nor send succours. The besieged infidels then, as a last resource, persuaded Mahmoud that the murder was committed by Soleiman Pasha, and that any good the latter might do him would be dictated by treachery. Deceived by these insinuations of the infidels, he decidedly refused the succours. This refusal, together with his open opposition to them in other matters, and the peace he had made with the infidels, obliged the Moslems to raise the siege of the citadel: and they accordingly reimbarked their artillery and departed for Shedjer, where they arrived safely in twenty days. The governor of this city having surrendered, the fleet departed for Aden and Zebid. Emir Ahmed, having taken possession of the country, was then its governor. On the approach of Soleiman, the emir shut himself up in a fortress, which was subsequently taken, and the command of the province of Yemen was given to Mustafa Beg, son of Mohammed Pasha Bikli.[42] Soleiman Pasha, after remaining a month at these places for the defence of Yemen, sailed for Jidda, where he arrived on the twentieth of Sheval. Immediately on his arrival there he undertook the pilgrimage (to Mecca), and whilst the fleet continued its voyage, accompanying the caravan, he proceeded by land to Egypt, and at length reached Constantinople, where he obtained a seat in the divan.
EXPEDITION OF KHAIR-AD-DIN TO CASTEL NOVO.
The recovery of Castel Novo, which some time before had fallen into the hands of the infidels, being considered a matter of importance both to religion and the state, on the return of spring Khosrow Pasha, the begler-beg of Roumelia, who had remained at Sophia, was sent thither by land. Khair-ad-din also, on the eighth of Rabi-al-akher, sailed with one hundred and fifty vessels, and with thirty-seven pieces of cannon besieged the fortress. After a discharge of eight thousand two hundred shots, on the twenty-second day the walls of one of the fortresses were reduced and the fortress itself taken. Novo had two large fortresses; they therefore proceeded to the other one, which they also took by assault, making the infidels prisoners. The pasha then rebuilt the castle, and placed twenty-six pieces of cannon in it. He then sent his troops to plunder the country of the infidels, and returned to Constantinople with immense riches.
ATTACK OF THE KING OF SPAIN UPON ALGIERS, &C.
In the year 948 (A.D. 1541) the emperor went with his army on an expedition into Hungary, and sent Khair-ad-din at the same time with seventy galleys to guard the Mediterranean. At this time too, the king of Spain, in order to assist the emperor Ferdinand, and to plunder the Moslem territories, sailed with his fleet towards the Venetian coasts. When he heard that Khair-ad-din was at sea, ashamed to return to his own country, he proceeded to Algiers. For some time previous to this Khadem Hassan Agha, to whose care the pasha had confided Algiers, having equipped thirty galleys and golettas, had been carrying on a system of plunder on the Spanish coasts. The king of Spain therefore embarked troops to the number of fifty thousand, four thousand of which were cavalry, on board a hundred galleys, and sailed for Algiers, where he arrived on the twenty-eighth day of Jemazi II., A.H. 948. Hassan thereupon immediately held a divan, and encouraged his men. Meantime the infidels had pitched their camp, and were attempting a trench, when Hassan Beg, with six hundred Turkish and two thousand Arab horsemen, sallied out and attacked them by night. In the confusion which ensued and the darkness of the night the infidels fell upon each other, and three thousand of them were killed; and the warriors returned in safety to the castle. By the decree of God, on the fifth day there was a violent storm of wind and rain, which drove most of the enemys heavy barges ashore, and sunk several; their ammunition too was wet, and their cannon and musketry unfit for service. Hassan Beg therefore made an attack upon them, and after a hot engagement of two hours, returned to the castle. In this storm a hundred and six of the infidels ships were driven ashore, and four galleys into the harbour. In these were one thousand four hundred Moslem prisoners, who were immediately liberated. The infidels, mortified and disappointed, now retired and assembled at a cape called Tementos, whence they set out on their return to their own country. They were pursued by the Moslems, who slew great numbers of them: whilst the Algerines, observing the violence of the stream of dissension which was strongly agitated among them, plunged into it, and sunk or destroyed many of their ships. Those who escaped embarked on board the remaining vessels, and on the 26th of Rajab again put out to sea, but were again overtaken by a storm, which drove them to Bajaiah, and at length with great difficulty made their way to Spain. Not long after this memorable defeat by the storm, which is recorded in the Spanish histories, Charles V. entered a monastery and became a recluse; and his kingdom passed to his son.