[1295] For the account of Malta I am much indebted to Boisgelin, "Ancient and Modern Malta." This work gives the most complete view of Malta, both in regard to the natural history of the island and the military and political history of the order, that is to be found in any book with which I am acquainted. It is a large repository of facts crudely put together, with little to boast of on the score of its literary execution. It is interesting as the production of a Knight of St. John, one of the unhappy few who survived to witness the treachery of his brethren and the extinction of his order. The last of the line, he may well be pardoned, if, in his survey of the glorious past, he should now and then sound the trumpet of glorification somewhat too loudly.
[1296] "The galleys of the order alone resisted the fury of the waves; and when Charles the Fifth was told that some vessels appeared still to live at sea, he exclaimed, 'They must, indeed, be Maltese galleys which can outride such a tempest!' The high opinion he had formed of this fleet was fully justified; for the standard of the order was soon in sight." Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. II. p. 34.
[1297] Ibid., p. 61 et alibi.
[1298] The value of the freight was estimated at more than 80,000 ducats.—"Se estimo la presa mas de ochenta mil ducados, de sedas de levante, y alombras y otras cosas, cada uno piense lo que se diria en la corte del Turco, sobre la perdida desta nave tan poderosa, y tan rica." La Verdadera Relacion de todo lo que el Año de M.D.LXV. ha succedido en la Isla de Malta, por Francisco Balbi de Correggio, en todo el Sitio Soldado, (Barcelona 1568,) fol. 19.
[1299] Ibid., fol. 17.
[1300] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 192-195.—Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 244.—Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26 et seq.—Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. II. pp. 71-73.—De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. pp. 51-53—J. M. Calderon de la Barca, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, (Madrid, 1796,) p. 28.
[1301] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 197.—Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 28.—The latter chronicler, who gives a catalogue of the forces, makes the total amount of fighting men not exceed six thousand one hundred. He speaks, however, of an indefinite number besides these, including a thousand slaves, who in various ways contributed to the defence of the island.
[1302] "De modo que quādo los turcos llegaron sobre sant Ermo, hauia ochocientos hombres dentro para pelear." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37.
[1303] Ibid., fol. 31.—Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 198.
[1304] "En este tiempo ya todos los esclauos assi de sant Juan como de particulares estauan en la carcel, que seriā bien mil esclauos. Y quando los sacauan a trabajar a las postas adonde se trabajaua, los sacauan de dos en dos, asidos de vna cadena." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37.