Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/402

372 persuade Solyman to offer the knights better terms. The envoys took with them a letter which had been received by D’Aubusson from Bajazet, the grandfather of Solyman, in which that prince invoked the malediction of Heaven upon any of his successors who should attempt to disturb the Order in its peaceful possession of the island of Rhodes. Achmet pasha, to whom this document was shown, at once destroyed it, feeling sure that if it came under the eye of his master it would only stimulate his rage against the fraternity by recalling to his memory an incident which in no way redounded to the glory of his race.

At this juncture, and whilst the terms of the treaty were being discussed, an unfortunate collision occurred between some portion of the garrison and the Turks, in which several of the latter lost their lives. It is not clear how this arose. The Turkish writer Hafiz states that on that night a relieving force of fifteen galleys filled with troops had arrived in the harbour, and that the attack was made by them. No allusion to such a reinforcement is made by any of the other historians, nor is it easy to see from whence they came. Be this as it may, the outbreak brought the truce to a premature close, the batteries were reopened, and everything replaced on a hostile footing. Some prisoners who fell into the hands of the Turks were mutilated by having their fingers, noses, and ears cut off, and in that miserable plight sent back into the town with the message that such was the treatment the besieged might now expect at the hands of the sultan. L'Isle Adam was overjoyed at the failure of the negotiation. He had entered into it most reluctantly, nothing but a stern sense of necessity having induced him to countenance the attempt. Now that it had been made and had failed, he was free to continue the defence, and to carry out his original project of burying himself and his fraternity beneath the ruins of the city.

The recommencement of hostilities was followed up by an assault on the retrenchment of the Spanish bastion still held by the knights. This took place on the 17th December, and although the struggle was continued throughout the whole day, the Turks were once more worsted and compelled to retire dis-