near to the part of the shore that lay under the walls and the towers.
Then might you have seen the mangonels shooting from the -ships and
transports, and the crossbow bolts flying, and the bows letting fly
their arrows deftly and well; and those within defending the walls and
towers very fiercely; and the ladders on the ships coming so near that
in many places swords and lances crossed; and the tumult and noise
were so great that it seemed as if the very earth and sea were melting
together. And be it known to you that the galleys did not dare to come
to the shore.

CAPTURE OF TWENTY-FIVE TOWERS

Now may you hear of a strange deed of prowess; for the Doge of Venice,
who was an old man, and saw naught (seeing he was blind), stood, fully
armed, on the prow of his galley, and had the standard of St. Mark
before him; and he cried to his people to put him on land, or else
that he would do justice upon their bodies with his hands. And so they
did, for the galley was run aground, and they leapt therefrom, and
bore the standard of St. Mark before him on to the land.

And when the Venetians saw the standard of St. Mark on land, and the
galley of their lord touching ground before them, each held himself
for shamed, and they all gat to the land; and those in the transports
leapt forth, and landed; and those in the big ships got into barges,
and made for the shore, each and all as best they could. Then might
you have

43

seen an assault, great and marvellous; and to this bears witness