Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/364

334 had legalized in their eyes. Both in that island, and afterwards at Malta, their galleys were invariably propelled by gangs of Turkish captives told off for that purpose, and driven to constant labour by the dread of punishment. A gangway ran along the centre of the vessel on which paced an official armed with a cruel whip, which he mercilessly applied to the back of any one of the unfortunate victims whom he considered was not putting forth his full strength. During the cruise the slave was never released from his seat at the oar, but as several men were attached to each, they took it in tums to obtain what rest and repose was possible under such miserable conditions. When not required on board the galleys, they were housed in a prison on shore established for the purpose. They were then employed either in the dockyard or on the fortifications. No one can have examined the stupendous and elaborate defences either of Rhodes or Malta, without perceiving that such works could have only been created under conditions of labour very different from those of the present day. The extraordinary width and depth of the ditches, so far beyond what seem actually necessary for purposes of defence, show that in their construction labour was a drug. It is true that in both instances these ditches were the quarries from which most of the stone used in the building of the respective towns was taken; still, but for the fact that there was a constant and never-failing supply of the cheapest manual power, the work would never have been carried to such vast depths.

There can be no doubt that great cruelty was often practised against these unfortunate captives, and the treatment which they received at the hands of their Christian masters was, as a rule, disgracefully barbarous. Their lives were held as of little or no value, and the records teem with accounts of the very thoughtless and cruel manner in which they were sacrificed to the whims and caprices of those who held control over their lives and persons. During the first siege of Rhodes a gang of these miserable beings was returning from the perilous labour of repairing the breaches made in the ramparts by the enemy’s artillery when a party of young knights chanced to meet them, and began to amuse themselves at their expense. A slight scuffle ensued, the wretched slaves endeavouring to shield themselves