operations of Pedro Navarro, who, in the Italian wars, acquired such
terrible celebrity in this department, till then little understood. The
Venetian cannon, larger and better served than that of the Spaniards, had
opened a practicable breach in the works, which the besieged repaired with
such temporary defences as they could. The signal being given at the
appointed hour, the two armies made a desperate assault on different
quarters of the town, under cover of a murderous fire of artillery. The
Turks sustained the attack with dauntless resolution, stopping up the
breach with the bodies of their dead and dying comrades, and pouring down
volleys of shot, arrows, burning oil and sulphur, and missiles of every
kind, on the heads of the assailants. But the desperate energy, as well as
numbers of the latter, proved too strong for them. Some forced the breach,
others scaled the ramparts; and, after a short and deadly struggle within
the walls, the brave garrison, four-fifths of whom with their commander
had fallen, were overpowered, and the victorious banners of St. Jago and
St. Mark were planted side by side triumphantly on the towers. [23]

The capture of this place, although accomplished at considerable loss, and
after a most gallant resistance by a mere handful of men, was of great
service to the Venetian cause; since it was the first cheek given to the
arms of Bajazet, who had filched one place after another from the
republic, menacing its whole colonial territory in the Levant. The
promptness and efficiency of King Ferdinand's succor to the Venetians
gained him high reputation throughout Europe, and precisely of the kind
which he most coveted, that of being the zealous defender of the faith;
while it formed a favorable contrast to the cold supineness of the other
powers of Christendom.

The capture of St. George restored to Venice the possession of Cephalonia;
and the Great Captain, having accomplished this important object, returned