janissaries, calling to mind similar omens said to have preceded the
conquest of Rhodes and of Cyprus, exclaimed that the land whose soil had
once been trodden by Moslem horse hoofs, was the predestined inheritance
of the Faithful: and the flame was fanned by the capitan-pasha Yusuf, a
Dalmatian renegade, who, independent of the hatred which from early
associations he bore Venice, dreaded being sent on a bootless expedition
against the impregnable defences of Malta--an enterprise which, since
the memorable failure in the last years of Soliman, had never been
attempted by the Osmanlis. Preparations for war, meanwhile, were carried
on with unexampled activity, though the destination of the armament was
kept profoundly secret; till, on April 30, 1545, the most formidable
expedition which had ever been equipped in the Turkish ports, set sail
from the Bosphorus. Eight thousand janissaries, 14,000 spahis, and
upwards of 50,000 _timariots_ or feudal militia, were embarked on board
the fleet, which consisted of eighty galleys, and more than 300
transports, besides the auxiliary squadrons of the Barbary regencies,
which joined the armada, May 7, at the general rendezvous at Scio.

[14] Among the captives was the ex-nurse of the heir-apparent,
afterwards Mohammed IV., with her son, who was mistaken for a
prince of the Imperial family; and being carried to Malta, was
brought up there as a monk under the name of Padre Ottomanno!
During the siege of Candia he was brought to the beleaguered
fortress, in the hope that the presence of this supposed Turkish
prince of the blood would shake the allegiance of the
janissaries--but this notable scheme, as might have been
foreseen, was wholly without success.

From Scio the united fleet sailed to Navarino--a course purposely
adopted to spread the belief that Malta was the point of attack; but no