Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/465

Rh and columbrines were mounted on wheels, but the basilisk required complicated machinery for pointing and checking recoil. The Turks in that age made more use of artillery than any other nation, and their guns were of enormous calibre; the labour of placing them in position was consequently very great, and their fire by no means rapid; still, at short ranges their battering power was terrific. The result speedily manifested itself in the breaches formed both in the fort and ravelin, the ditches of which were choked with the débris.

The slender force which defended the fort was clearly insufficient to hold it in its present state. D’Eguaras therefore despatched an envoy to the Grand-Master demanding further aid, and the Spanish knight La Cerda was selected for the purpose. A worse choice could scarcely have been made. In a garrison where nearly every man was a hero the slightest taint of cowardice became instantly apparent, and unfortunately La Cerda was not free from this weakness. Exaggerating the injuries the fort had sustained, he not only strenuously pressed for immediate reinforcement, but further announced in open council that even under the most favourable circumstances the place could not hold out many days. La Valette was justly irritated with the injudicious envoy for thus publishing what, at all events, should have been reserved for the ear of his chief alone. He was, moreover, much disappointed at this speedy demand for succour before any assault had been delivered, and consequently before many casualties could have occurred. He had counted upon the delay which the attack on St. Elmo would occasion as the salvation of the island, since it would enable the Sicilian viceroy to redeem his pledge, and to hurry to the rescue. If, however, as La Cerda had proclaimed, the fort could only be held for a few days, he might expect to see the siege of the Bourg opened long before Don Garcia could possibly arrive. Turning, therefore, towards La Cerda, he demanded what their loss had been since they had so soon been brought into such a desperate condition. This was a difficult question to answer; La Cerda had been despatched for aid not on account of any serious losses, but because the breached ramparts required a larger force to hold them. His exaggerated account of the state of the work was due to his own desire to see