Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/746

 708 A History of the Knights of Ma/la. kalends of July, burning with a fiercer ardour than ever, approached the tower with the utmost silence, and attacked it on all sides with the greatest impetuosity; but our ears were pricked up, and we were not asleep. For when we discovered that the foe was arrived, our machines commenced to hurl their stones, our soldiers girded on their swords, and missiles of every description being hurled from the tower and mole, overthrew and repulsed the enemy; the battle was carried on with the utmost vehemence from midnight until ten o’clock. Numberless Turks, who had reached the mole from the boats and triremes, were killed. The floating bridge, laden with Turks, was broken by the missiles from our machines, and those who were on it were thrown into the sea. Four of the triremes, and those boats which were laden with guns and stores, were destroyed by the stones hurled upon them, and were sunk. The fleet also was set on fire, and forced to retire; and thus the Turks departed, beaten and defeated. Many of their leading commanders fell in this battle, whose loss was deeply mourned for by the army. Deserters, who joined us after the battle, told us that the Turks had received a severe cheek, and that nearly 2,500 had been slain. But when the Turks lost all hopes of capturing the tower, they turned all their energies, their ingenuity, and their strength, on an attack of the town itself, and although the whole city was so shaken and breached by their artillery that scarcely the original form of it remained, still their principal attack was directed against that part of the walls which encloses the Jews’ quarter, and looks towards the east; and against that part which leads to the post of Italy. For the purpose, therefore, of destroying and breaching those walls, they brought eight gigantic and most enormous bombards, hurling stones of nine palms in circumference, which played upon the walls without ceasing night and day. Nor did the bombards and mortars placed around the city cease from hurling similar stones, the fall of which added greatly to the general terror and destruction. We therefore placed the aged, the infirm, and the women in caves and other underground spots, to dwell, which caused but few casualties to occur from that infliction. They also prepared another description of annoyance, by using fire-balls and lighted arrows, which they hurled from their balist and catapults, which set fire to our buildings. We, however, careful for the safety of our city, selected men, skilled in the art, who, ever on the watch, put out the fires wherever the flaming missiles fell. By these precautions the Rhodians were preserved from many mishaps. The infidels also attempted to approach the city underground, and excavated winding ditches, which they partly covered with timber and earth, that they might reach the ditches of the city undercover; and they built up batteries in many places from which they kept up an unceasing fire, with colubrine and serpentine guns, and harassed and wharied our men, and also thought it would be an advant age to fill up that portion of the ditch which is adjacent to the wall of the spur. Th4y continued without ceasing, therefore, to collect stones, and secretly to throw them into the ditch, so that part being filled up by their labours to the level of the opposing wall, they could form a pathway in the shape of a