The fleet moved away carefully, to prevent any surprise from the Turk, in the order and formation planned by D. John, and communicated in writing to all the Field-Marshals, Colonels, Captains, Sergeant-Majors and other officers. In the vanguard was D. Juan de Cardona, with three Sicilian and four Venetian galleys. He was followed on the right wing at a distance of twenty miles during the day and eight at night by fifty galleys, under the orders of Gian Andrea Doria. Behind, on the left wing, were fifty-three galleys, commanded by the Commissary Agostino Barbarigo. Then came the centre division of the fleet, consisting of sixty-two galleys, commanded by the Generalissimo D. John of Austria; on the right of the "Real" was the flagship of Marco Antonio Colonna, on the left that of Sebastian Veniero. The rearguard of thirty galleys, commanded by the Marqués de Santa Cruz, was a mile behind. None of these divisions were formed of the galleys of one nation only, they were all intermingled, nor did they fly their own flags, only a pennant of the colour the Generalissimo had selected as a distinguishing mark. Doria's pennants were green, Barbarigo's yellow, Don John's blue, and those of the Marqués de Santa Cruz white. The "Real" and the flagships, instead of these, flew broad pennants of their respective colours.

The fleet cast anchor that night in the roadstead of San Giovanni, and at dawn they erected a tent on the shore, in front of the "Real," and before weighing anchor celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as it was not then lawful to celebrate it on board ship. At the elevation of the Host so loud were the cries and shouts with which the whole fleet besought the God of Battles for triumph over those whom they were pursuing, that the clamour drowned the noise of the drums and clarions and the salutes of the artillery as they rolled across the waves.

The Armada of the Holy League cast anchor at Corfu on the morning of the 28th of September; there were no signs there of the whereabouts of the Turk, but on all sides the island showed the marks of his devastating steps. Then D. John sent Gil de Andrade with four galleys in search of news, and meanwhile embarked the considerable reinforcements of artillery, ammunition, victuals and soldiers which the Venetians had kept there ready.

On the night of the 28th a frigate arrived at Corfu from Cephalonia, sent by Gil de Andrade, bringing word that the Turks were at Lepanto, and, without doubt, flying from battle, and retiring to their winter quarters, because their Generalissimo Ali Pasha had taken leave of the Viceroy of Algiers, Aluch Ali, with his 110 galleys; so that the Ottoman fleet was reduced to 180 galleys; but unfortunately, these tidings were absolutely false. It was true that the Ottoman Armada was at Lepanto, and also that the Viceroy of Algiers, Aluch Ali, had separated himself, with his galleys, from it; but it was only a temporary absence, to reconnoitre the archipelago, and he was already back at Lepanto, where the whole powerful fleet was, much superior to the Christian one, and, far from fleeing from fighting, they were trying to provoke a battle. This mistake on the part of the Christians, and a similar one, as we shall see, on the part of the Turks, was no doubt the simple means which Providence employed to bring about the decisive combat between the Cross and the Crescent, which could have been effected in no other way.

D. John, satisfied with this information, ordered the decks to be cleared for action, and this time, in agreement with all the Generals, decided to wait at Gomenizza, while the wind, then contrary, did not permit them to make for Lepanto. The bay of Gomenizza is on the Albanian coast, thirty miles south-east of the port of Corfu, and there for the last time discord managed to upset the plans God was unfolding. This was on the 2nd of October, and the order had already been given to have everything in readiness for sailing the next morning at daybreak. Consequently there reigned in all the galleys the confusion that such man?uvres always bring, and on the Venetian áquila, whose Captain was a native of Crete, Andres Calergi, two Spanish arquebusiers were disputing with a Venetian sailor as to whether or no the latter had come against them with the end of a yard; the contention became general, owing to the bad feeling between the Spanish arquebusiers and the Venetian sailors, who looked upon them as interlopers on their ships, and it was all aggravated by the Captain, Muzio Alticozzi, taking part. He was a quarrelsome, wrong-headed man, who had already got himself into trouble with the law; words changed to blows, and then arms were used with such rage and violence, that in ............