Before entering on the particulars of this memorable siege, it will be necessary to make the reader somewhat acquainted with the country which was the scene of operations. The island of Malta is about seventeen miles long[{415}] and nine broad. At the time of the siege it contained some twelve thousand inhabitants, exclusive of the members of the order. They were gathered, for the most part, into wretched towns and villages, the principal one of which was defended by a wall of some strength, and was dignified with the title of Civita Notable—"Illustrious City." As it was situated in the interior, near the centre of the island, the knights did not take up their residence there, but preferred the north-eastern part of Malta, looking towards Sicily, and affording a commodious harbor for their galleys.
The formation of the land in this quarter is very remarkable. A narrow, rocky promontory stretches out into the Mediterranean, dividing its waters into two small gulfs,—that on the west being called Marza Musiette, or Port Musiette, and that towards the east, which now bears the name of Valetta Harbor, being then known as the Great Port. The extreme point of the promontory was crowned by the Castle of St. Elmo, built by the order, soon after its arrival in the island, on the spot which commanded the entrance into both harbors. It was a fortress of considerable strength, for which it was chiefly indebted to its position. Planted on the solid rock, and washed, for the greater part of its circuit, by the waters of the Mediterranean, it needed no other defence on that quarter. But towards the land it was more open to an enemy; and, though protected by a dry ditch and a counterscarp, it was thought necessary to secure it still further, by means of a ravelin on the south-west, which La Valette had scarcely completed before the arrival of the Turks.
Port Musiette, on the west, is that in which vessels now perform quarantine. The Great Port was the most important; for round that was gathered the little community of knights. Its entrance, which is not more than a quarter of a mile in width, is commanded by two headlands, one of them crested, as above mentioned, by the fort of St. Elmo. The length of the harbor may be nearly two miles; and the water is of sufficient depth for ships of the greatest burden to ride there in security, sheltered within the encircling arms of the coast from the storms of the Mediterranean.
From the eastern side of this basin shoot out two projecting headlands, forming smaller harbors within the Great Port. The most northerly of these strips of land was defended by the Castle of St. Angelo, round which clustered a little town, called by way of eminence Il Borgo, "The Burgh,"—now more proudly styled "The Victorious City." It was here that the order took up its residence,—the grand-masters establishing themselves in the castle; and great pains were taken to put the latter in a good state of defence, while the town was protected by a wall. On the parallel strip of land, known as the island of La Sangle, from a grand-master of that name, stood a fort, called the fort of St. Michael, with a straggling population gathered around it, now busily employed in strengthening the defences. Between the two headlands lay the Port of Galleys, serving, as its name imports, as a haven for the little navy of the order. This port was made more secure by an iron chain drawn across its entrance, from the extreme point of one headland to the other.
Such were the works constructed by the knights in the brief period during which they had occupied the island. They were so far imperfect, that many a commanding eminence, which the security of the country required to be strongly fortified, still remained as naked and exposed as at the time of their arrival. This imperfect state of its defences presented a strong contrast to the present condition of Malta, bristling all over with fortifications, which seem to form part of the living rock out of which they spring, and which, in the hands of a power that holds possession of the sea, might bid defiance to the world.
The whole force which La Valette could muster in defence of the island[{416}] amounted to about nine thousand men. This included seven hundred knights, of whom about six hundred had already arrived. The remainder were on their way, and joined him at a later period of the siege. Between three and four thousand were Maltese, irregularly trained, but who had already gained some experience of war in their contests with the Barbary corsairs. The rest of the army, with the exception of five hundred galley slaves, already noticed, and the personal followers of the knights, was made up of levies from Spain and Italy, who had come over to aid in the defence. The useless part of the population—the infirm and the aged—had for the most part been shipped off to Sicily. There still remained, however, numbers of women and children; and the former, displaying the heroic constancy which, in times of trouble, so often distinguishes the sex, did good service during the siege, by tending the sick and by cheering the flagging spirits of the soldier.[1301]
This little army La Valette distributed on the several stations, assigning each to some one of the languages, or nations, that the spirit of emulation might work its effects on the chivalry of the order. The castle of St. Elmo was the point of first importance. It covered so contracted a piece of ground, that it scarcely afforded accommodation for a thousand men; and not more than eight hundred were shut up within its walls at the commencement of the siege.[1302] Its dimensions did not admit of its being provided with magazines capable of holding any large quantity of provisions, or military stores, for which it was unfortunately obliged to rely on its communication with Il Borgo, the town across the harbor. The masonry of the fort was not in the best repute: though the works were lined with at least thirty pieces of artillery, looking chiefly towards the land. Its garrison, which usually amounted to sixty soldiers, was under the command of an aged knight, named De Broglio. The grand-master reinforced this body with sixty knights under the bailiff of Negropont, a veteran in whose well-tried valor La Valette placed entire confidence. He was strengthened by two companies of foreign levies, under the command of a Spanish cavalier named La Cerda.[1303]
Various other points were held by small detachments, with some one of the order at the head of each. But the strength of the force, including nearly all the remainder of the knights, was posted in the castle of St. Angelo and in the town at its base. Here La Valette took his own station, as the spot which, by its central position, would enable him to watch over the interests of the whole. All was bustle in this quarter, as the people were busily employed in strengthening the defences of the town, and in razing buildings in the suburbs, which the grand-master feared might afford a lodgement to the enemy. In this work their labors were aided by a thousand slaves, taken from the prison, and chained together in couples.[1304]
ARRIVAL OF THE TURKS.
On the morning of the eighteenth of May, 1565, the Turkish fleet was descried by the sentinels of St. Elmo and St. Angelo, about thirty miles to the eastward, standing directly for Malta. A gun, the signal agreed on, was fired[{417}] from each of the forts, to warn the inhabitants of the country to withdraw into their villages. The fleet amounted to one hundred and thirty royal galleys with fifty of lesser size, besides a number of transports with the cannon, ammunition, and other military stores.[1305] The breaching artillery consisted of sixty-three guns, the smallest of which threw a ball of fifty-six pounds, and some few, termed basilicas, carried marble bullets of a hundred and twelve pounds' weight.[1306] The Turks were celebrated for the enormous calibre of their guns, from a very early period; and they continued to employ those pieces long after they had given way, in the rest of Europe, to cannon of more moderate and manageable dimensions.