Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/438

406 pirates. whose depredations kept the coasts of the Mediterranean in a state of constant alarm. He trusted by crushing them in their nest to insure the safety of Tripoli without further outlay, and at the same time relieve his maritime subjects from an incubus which had long weighed upon them.

Four hundred knights, each accompanied by two armed attendants, formed the contingent which the Order contributed to the army of the emperor, who, inflated by the success of his late expedition against Tunis, determined once again to lead his forces in person, and directed a general rendezvous in the island of Majorca. In vain his veteran admiral Doria remonstrated with him on the imprudence of attempting a maritime expedition so late in the year, when the storms which, at that season, are so violent and frequent in the Mediterranean, might at any moment disperse his fleet. Charles was not to be diverted from his purpose by any such prudential considerations, and he persisted in prosecuting the enterprise. The result proved the sagacity of Doria and the foolhardiness of the emperor. The army landed before Algiers, and commenced operations against it, but two days after they had broken ground a fearful storm arose from the north-east (known in the Mediterranean as a gregale). This not only deluged the camp and prostrated the army, but caused the far more irreparable loss of the greater part of the fleet, which had been lying off the coast, and the bulk of which was driven ashore. Fifteen galleys and 140 transports and store ships were lost in this dreadful tempest.

Doria, who, by the exercise of superior seamanship, had succeeded in rescuing some of his ships, took shelter under cape Matifu, whence he despatched messengers to the emperor announcing his whereabouts. After a most harassing march, Charles at length brought his prostrate force to the spot, hampered during the retreat by the hostile action of the Moorish cavalry. During this movement the knights of St. John had ample opportunity for distinction, as the task of covering the march of the army was intrusted to them. Their losses in carrying out this duty were most severe, and the number