The Sultan's Admiral by Ernle Bradford Read Free Book Online Page A

and the rock of Ceuta in North Africa, there began to pass argosies of wealth that could hardly fail to excite the greed of the new race of corsairs—especially of the expelled Moriscos who, for so many centuries, had lived happily in Spain. The western basin of the Mediterranean, which previously had been of less importance than the eastern, took on a new lease of life. It was at this very moment in history that the expulsion of the Moslem people from Spain coincided with the ejection of the Christians from the east after the capture of Constantinople in 1453. At the same time, by a strange accident of fortune, there arrived upon the scene the extraordinary Barbarossa brothers.
    The territory which these Turkish sea rovers were to make peculiarly their own ranged from Tripoli, due south of Malta, to Tangier, and beyond to some of the small Moroccan ports on the Atlantic. From these latter the Moslems were soon to harry merchantmen returning from America, before they had even entered the Mediterranean.
    The coastline of North Africa is remarkable for its excellent harbours—something comparatively rare in this tideless sea— and it was this fact, above all, that gave the area its special value to the Barbarossas. Moving westward from the secure harbour of Tripoli, less than a hundred miles away lies the island of Djerba, concealing behind its palm-fringed sandy shores a beautiful great lagoon whose only access is through one narrow channel at the western end. A whole armada of ships could lie safely at anchor here, and rest secure whatever winds splintered the dangerous Gulf of Gabes. This gulf was rendered particularly treacherous to shipping by its variable and tricky currents, and by the shifting sandbanks that fringed its shores. Two islets due north of Djerba, Chergui and Rharbi, provided a convenient resting place for the marauding galleys, and an excellent lookout post for traffic passing south of Lampedusa through the channel eastward to Malta. A little north of them on the mainland lay the ancient city of Mahdia, usually referred to by contemporary writers as Africa, since this was the name given to the cape on which it stood. The small harbour there, now silted by the sand of centuries, was more than adequate for galleys that rarely drew more than six foot of water. North again, the great arm of Cape Bon thrust itself out into the strait of Sicily-—perfect vantage point from which to watch for traffic bound for the southern ports of that island. Within the next gulf lay Tunis itself, and then beyond it there were the ancient harbours of Carthage and of Porto Farina, ravaged by time and the destruction of centuries but still adequate for shallow-draughted vessels. Westwards Bizerta and Tabarka, Bone, and Djidjelli beckoned the mariner—good harbours all of them, and with rich coastal land behind and always adequate water, fed by the watershed towering above the fertile coastal strip. Still further to the west lay Bougie, Algiers* Shershell, Tenez, and Oran with its superb port of Mers-el-Kebir. Quite apart from its harbours the land grew corn, olives, dates, vines, and almost every kind of fruit. Its inhabitants were mainly Berbers with an admixture of Arabs: the mountain people hardy and warlike, and the coastal people industrious farmers. With such a springboard behind them—food to nourish and harbours to shelter—it was little wonder that the warlike Turks would soon begin to shake the trade of Christendom.
    While the winter harassed the Mediterranean, and while throughout all its ports seamen and merchants withdrew into the interior world of home, market place, and tavern, Aruj and his men quietly prepared for the coming spring. They were rich now, rich in possessions such as jewels and clothing, as well as in slaves. They could afford to enjoy the pleasures of a city like Tunis, whose comparatively unsophisticated inhabitants were still unaware that, though the Turk is a Moslem, he is a very different