Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/326

300 past, with a view to this object; although he had occasionally broken in upon his appropriations, to redeem unfortunate Spaniards, who had been swept into slavery. He had obtained accurate surveys of the Barbary coast from an Italian engineer named Vianelli. He had advised, as to the best mode of conducting operations, with his friend Gonsalvo de Cordova, to whom, if it had been the king's pleasure, he would gladly have intrusted the conduct of the expedition. At his suggestion, that post was now assigned to the celebrated engineer, Count Pedro Navarro.

No time was lost in completing the requisite preparations. Besides the Italian veterans, levies were drawn from all quarters of the country, especially from the cardinal's own diocese. The chapter of Toledo entered heartily into his views, furnishing liberal supplies, and offering to accompany the expedition in person. An ample train of ordnance was procured, with provisions and military stores for the maintenance of an army four months. Before the close of spring, in 1509, all was in readiness, and a fleet of ten galleys and eighty smaller vessels rode in the harbour of Carthagena, having on board a force, amounting in all to four thousand horse, and ten thousand foot. Such were the resources, activity, and energy, displayed by a man whose life, until within a very few years, had been