Meanwhile the Turks had reinforced their fleet until their 290 galleys held 120,000 men, counting soldiers and rowers. They had, like the Christians, divided the fleet into three divisions: the centre one commanded by the great Admiral Ali Pasha, an arrogant young man, more brave than prudent, in all the pride of his youth and of being the favourite of Selim II; the right wing was under the orders of the King of Negroponto, Mahomet Scirocco, a cautious man of mature years, brave as well as experienced; and the left wing was commanded by the Viceroy of Algiers, Aluch Ali, surnamed "el Fartass," that is "The mean one," a former Calabrian renegade, an old man of sixty-eight, careful, brave and crafty, whom more than forty years of piracy had made familiar with these seas.

At Lepanto Ali Pasha received a message from Selim II, much to his satisfaction, ordering him to give battle, and in order to do this he assembled his Council of War on board his galley, "La Sultana," on the 4th of October. The Council consisted of the two Generals of the Fleet, Mahomet Scirocco and Aluch Ali, the Serasker or general of all the troops, Perter Pasha, and several great dignitaries of the Empire, to the number of twenty, among whom were the former King of Algiers, Hassen Pasha, and two sons of Ali, who were still children, Ahmed Bey, who was eighteen, and Mahomet Bey, aged thirteen, who with their tutor Alhamet commanded a galley.

The Turkish fleet was undeniably superior to the Christian, and wherein lay, perhaps, its greatest advantage was that it was not like the Christian fleet compounded of different elements, who might, and in fact did, have different and even opposing interests. Far from this, the Turks were all vassals of one lord, and neither desired glory or power for anything but the Empire. However, Selim II's order to give battle was vigorously opposed in the Council, and the first to do so was Aluch Ali, who, with many weighty reasons, drawn from his experience of Christian warfare, showed what harm defeat would entail. The Serasker Perter Pasha and Mahomet Scirocco agreed with him, being much perturbed over the six formidable galliasses of the Christians; these vessels, the greatest of their day, carried twenty cannon, and easily broke through any line of battle which confronted them.

Ali Pasha's arrogant petulance then turned to insolence; he jeered at the fears of the veterans, and told the Council of the information he had received from two spies, Kara Kodja and Kara Djali, Barbary corsairs, whom he had sent to reconnoitre the Christian fleet in Corfu; according to them it was so inferior in strength and numbers that it would have difficulty in resisting the attack of the Turks. Ali, however, did not know that this enumeration had been made while the vanguard of D. Juan de Cardona and the rearguard of the Marqués de Santa Cruz had been detached at Tarento with some other ships, and that, consequently, there only remained at the moment seventy galleys in the fleet of the League. Thus the confidence of both Generalissimos, Ali Pasha and D. John of Austria, was founded on the same error; D. John supposed that the galleys of Aluch Ali had separated themselves from the Turkish fleet, and were on their way to Algiers or Tripoli; and Ali Pasha, not reckoning on the ships of D. Juan de Cardona, or those of the Marqués de Santa Cruz, and in his ignorance of naval matters, which was great, failed to appreciate the importance of the six galliasses which old Mahomet Scirocco so much feared.

The discussions became embittered, until there was contention among the Ottoman leaders, to which Aluch Ali put an end by saying, "Silence, I am ready, because it is written that the youth of a Captain Pasha has more weight than my forty-three years of fighting. But the Berbers have made sport of you, Pasha! Remember this when the peril draws nigh."

Having said this with impassive Oriental gravity, Aluch Ali left to prepare his fleet. Then everyone was for Ali Pasha; but he, more for appearance than from fear or............