Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/457

Rh awaited opportunities for penetrating into the fortress. There were also several conventual chaplains present, but they can hardly be counted as part of the garrison. It has been stated that the militia had been trained and organized into battalions; the same measures had also been adopted with the crews of the galleys. It was found, therefore, on a general muster, that, in addition to the members of the Order, the strength was as under:—

REGULAR FORCES. Hired Spanish troops ... ... ... 800 Garrisons of St. Elmo and St. Angelo ... 150 Household and guard of Grand-Master ... 150 Artillery ... ... ... ... ... 120

MILITIA AND OTHER FORCES. Militia of the Bourg ... ... ... 500 Ditto of Burmola • and Senglea ... ... 300 Ditto of remainder of island ... ... 4,560 Crews of the galleys t ... ... ... 700 Volunteers from Italy, Sicily, Genoa, Piedmont, &c. ... ... ... ... 875

From these figures it will be seen that, including the Order, La Valette might count upon a force of rather less than 9,000 men for the defence of the island.

A general description of the configuration of the ground forming the two great ports of Malta has been already given. It will now be well, before entering into the detail of the impending memorable siege, to describe more particularly the means of defence which the knights had, during a period of thirty-five years, been able to develop. For this purpose the

After the foundation of Senglea by the Grand-Master La Sangle, a suburb had gradually formed itself between that town and the Bourg, which was called Brmola. The three towns of the Bourg, Iurmola, and Senglea are now commonly known as the three cities, in contradistinction to Valetta.

t This number includes the 500 slaves who were released on promise of faithful service.