CHAPTER IV.

_Of the Expeditions of the Capudans from the time of Khair-ad-din Pasha till that of Pialeh Pasha._

THE EXPEDITIONS OF MOHAMMED PASHA.

After the death of Khair-ad-din Pasha, the vezier Mohammed Pasha was made capudan, and held that office for two or three years, when he was presented with the governorship of Roumelia. He was afterwards appointed grand vezier, and performed the functions of that office at Scutari.

THE CAPTURE OF TRIPOLI BY SENAN PASHA.

On Mohammed Pashas being made capudan he went on an expedition against Tripoli (West), which was formerly in the possession of the Tunisian kings, the Beni Hefs: but about A.H. 916 (A.D. 1510) the Spaniards, taking advantage of the supineness of the reigning monarch, Mohammed Ben Hassan, the nineteenth king of that dynasty, who was immersed in pleasure, captured the castles of Vahran, Bajaiah and Tripoli. The last of these places had now been forty-two years in their possession, when his majesty, wishing to reduce it, invited Tourghoudjé Beg, (who formerly had the sanjak of Karli-Eili [Acarnania], but had now on some account gone to Moghreb, where he remained two years,) under whose direction Senan Pasha, A.H. 958 (A.D. 1551) sailed with twenty galleys, and besieged and took the castle. Tourghoudjé Beg had been promised the governorship of it for his life, but Senan Pasha gave it to Khadem Mourad Agha. Tourghoudjé Beg, however, subsequently received it from the emperor in person, and held it till he was murdered it Malta eleven years afterwards.

EXPEDITION OF PIRI REIS TO THE EASTERN OCEAN.

Notwithstanding Soleiman Pasha had, when he reduced Aden, left a garrison in that city, the people joined the Portuguese, the masters of India, turned away their faces from submission, and delivered up the fortress to the infidels. To recover it, Piri Pasha, the capudan of Egypt, (son of the sister of Kemal Reis, and author of the Bahria,[44]) was sent from Suez with a fleet; and leaving the Red Sea, proceeded by the straits of Babelmandel to Aden, against the fortress of which he planted his artillery, and having taken it by storm, left in it a considerable garrison provided with the necessary means of defence. Davoud Pasha, the governor of Egypt, having represented to the sultan the importance of the service rendered by Piri Reis, the latter received in recompense lands to the value of one hundred thousand aspres.

SECOND EXPEDITION OF PIRI PASHA TO THE EASTERN OCEAN.

Piri Pasha, the capudan of Egypt, left Suez A.H. 959 with a fleet of thirty sail, consisting of galleys, bashderdés, golettas, and galleons; and proceeding to Aden by Jedda and Babelmandel, sailed thence towards Ras-al-had, passing Zaffar and Shedjer. On his route he was overtaken near Shedjer by a storm, in which several of his barges were destroyed. With the remains of his fleet he attacked Muscat, a fortress in the Persian Gulf, in the country of Oman, which he took, and made the inhabitants prisoners. He then laid waste the islands of Ormuz and Barkhet. On his arrival at Bassora he heard that the fleet of the vile infidels was advancing towards him; a report which was confirmed by the infidel capudan whom he took at Muscat, and who now advised him to remain no longer in his present situation, on account of the impossibility of escaping by the strait of Ormuz. The pasha, being unable to clear the whole of his fleet, departed before the arrival of the infidels, with three galleys, his private property. One of these he lost near Bahrein, and with the remaining two returned to Egypt. Of the vessels left at Bassora, Kobad Pasha, the governor of that city, offered the command to Ali Beg, a beg of Egypt, and a commander in the army; who, however, refused it, and returned by land to Egypt: and the vessels, thus abandoned, were soon destroyed. The pasha of Egypt, apprised of these events, seized and imprisoned Piri Reis on his arrival at Cairo, and sent information of the circumstance to the Sublime Porte, whence he immediately received an order to put to death the admiral, who was beheaded accordingly in the divan of Cairo. He left immense riches, which were confiscated to the treasury. The inhabitants of Ormuz, from whom he had extorted large sums of money, came to complain of his exactions and crave an indemnity; but no attention was paid to their demands, and the gold was put into gilt vases and sent to Constantinople. Piri Reis composed a work on navigation, in which he has given a description of the Mediterranean. This is the only work of the kind of any authority amongst the Moslems.

EXPEDITION OF MURAD PASHA TO INDIA.

The Sublime Porte now entrusted the command of the fleet to Murad Beg formerly governor of the sanjak of Katif, and ordered him to remain at Bassora, with the vessels already in his command, consisting of five galleys and one goletta. Shortly after, he quitted Bassora, at the head of a fleet of fifteen galleys and two barges, (one of his galleys having sunk,) and directed his course towards Egypt. Near Ormuz he met the infidels’ fleet, which he immediately attacked, and a desperate engagement ensued, in which Soleiman Reis, (the Capudan Reis,) Rajab Reis, with a great number of men, obtained the palm of martyrdom, and many others were wounded. The infidels did considerable damage to the Moslem ships, which, unable to sustain the continual fire of the enemy, escaped by night. One of their vessels, which was left behind, was driven ashore near Lar, and captured by the infidels, part of the crew escaping and the rest being made prisoners. The remainder of the fleet returned to Bassora, whence tidings of the sad event were immediately communicated to the Sublime Porte.

ACCOUNT OF SEIDI ALI, CAPUDAN.

Seidi Ali Ibn Hosein, whose poetical appellation was Katebi, besides being famed for his poetical productions, was celebrated for his works on navigation and astronomy, as well in prose as in verse. He was author of a work called _Mohit_, (the Ocean,) on the Indian Ocean, and of another called the _Merat al Kainat_, (the Mirror of Creation,) treating of the science of the astrolabe, of squares, circles, and sines. He was moreover the translator of a work called the Fat’hia. There has never been his equal in the arsenal. He served with the late sultan, Soleiman Khan, at the capture of Rhodes, and afterwards in Moghreb, and other places with Khair-ad-din Pasha, Senan Pasha, and many others. His father and grandfather having held the office of governor of the arsenal ever since the capture of Constantinople, the science of navigation descended to him as a legacy; and it was on this account that Sultan Soleiman Khan, about the end of the year 960 (A. D. 1553), rewarded him with the post of capudan of Egypt, and ordered him to bring to Cairo the vessels which were lying at Bassora.

EXPEDITION OF SEIDI ALI TO THE EASTERN OCEAN.

In the month of Moharrem (December), A. H. 961 (A. D. 1553), the Capudan Seidi Ali, following the orders he had received, left Aleppo and proceeded to Bassora by way of Mousul and Baghdad. Favourable winds now began to blow, and the capudan, in order to avail himself of them, hastened to equip the five[45] barges that were lying there. Mustapha Pasha, the governor of Bassora, and a distinguished seaman, was absent from the city when Seidi Ali arrived; having been ordered by the Porte to sail with a frigate to Ormuz, and was at this moment on his way thither. Being informed that the infidels had only four ships, he immediately communicated the intelligence to Seidi Ali, who thereupon embarked his troops and quitted Bassora early in the month of Shaban (July), and joined Mustapha Pasha near Ormuz. Passing Abadan, Desboul, and Shutar, and coasting Harek and Katif in the neighbourhood of Lahsa, they arrived at Bahrein, where they had an interview with the governor, Murad Reis. Here the sailors, by sinking leathern bottles about eight fathoms into the sea obtained fresh water. They sailed hence to old Ormuz, Barkhet and Ormuz; after which the sherif Mustapha returned to the Porte. Seidi Ali then passed the coast of Zaffar, and early on the morning of the fortieth day, which was the tenth of Ramazan, met the infidels near the city of Khourfekan. Their fleet consisted of four immense barges, three large galleons, six Portuguese guard-ships, and twelve golettas.

THE ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN SEIDI ALI AND THE PORTUGUESE.

The Moslems immediately hoisted their colours, weighed anchor, and got in readiness all their warlike machines. With flags hoisted and sails spread, and looking in confidence to the Supreme Being, they set up Mohammedan shouts, and commenced an attack, the fierceness of which baffles description. By the favour of God, their fire struck one of the Portuguese galleons, which was wrecked on the island of Fak-al-asad. They fought bravely till night-fall, when the capudan hoisted the lights. The infidels however fired a gun as the signal of retreat, and fled to Ormuz. Thus, by the favour of God, the victory was left to the Moslems, who, favoured by the winds, departed next day for the city of Khourfekan, where the troops took in a supply of fresh water, and after seventeen days’ sailing, arrived in the neighbourhood of Muscat and Kalat.

SECOND EXPEDITION OF SEIDI ALI, AGAINST THE CAPUDAN OF GOA.

On the morning of the 26th of Ramazan the captain of Goa, the son of the governor, left the harbour of Muscat, and with his barges, guard-ships, and galleons, with their mainsails spread and colours flying, sailed against the Moslems, who, still trusting in God, remained near the shore prepared for battle.

The enemy’s barges first came up, and attacked the galleys, when a sharp fire was opened on both sides, and a furious engagement ensued. The infidels then began to shower down their hand-grenades from the maintops upon the galleys, one of which and a barge which was near it they burnt by throwing a bomb into the galley. Five barges and as many galleys were driven ashore and lost. Another barge was driven ashore by the violence with which the wind beat against it, and was lost. At length the sailors and the troops on both sides were exhausted, the former being unable to pull at the oars, and the latter to work the guns any longer; they were therefore obliged to cast anchor: but even in this position they fought for some time with springs to their cables. They were finally obliged to abandon their boats. Elmshah Reis, Kara Mustaffa, and Kalfat Mumi, the commanders of the lost galleys, and Durzi Mustaffa Beg, the Commander of the volunteers, with about two hundred Egyptian soldiers, reached the shore in safety, and afterwards returned to the fleet, bringing with them many Arabs to the assistance of the Moslems. The infidels also recovered the men who were in their barges which had been driven ashore. This battle was even greater than that between Khair-ad-din and Andrea Doria. Few soldiers are known to have ever been engaged in such a fight. At last, when night approached, a strong gale began to blow, and each of the barges threw out two stream anchors; but the men on board were so overcome with fatigue, that they were obliged to stand out from the shore, and sail before the wind. In this way they came to the coast of Barjash, where, finding plenty of sea, they succeeded in reaching Bender Shehbar in Mekran. Here they took in water, and by the direction of a pilot, reached Bender Goader; the governor of which, Malek Dinar Oghli Jelal-ad-din, came to examine the state of their fleet, and represented to the sultan the necessity of sending supplies: in consequence of which, fifty or sixty vessels with provisions were sent out, and joined them before they reached Ormuz.

THE RESULT OF SEIDI ALI’S EXPEDITION TO THE INDIAN OCEAN.

From Bender Goader the capudan again sailed with nine vessels for the Indian Ocean, and directed his course towards Yemen. For a few days the weather was favourable, and they had arrived in the neighbourhood of Zaffar and Shedjer, when the westerly winds began to blow, and they were overtaken by the storm called _the Elephant_, before which they scudded, being unable even to carry the foresail. Compared with this, a storm in the Mediterranean is as insignificant as a grain of sand: day could not be distinguished from night, and the waves rose like huge mountains. Their vessels were thus greatly injured, and they were obliged to throw overboard a great part of their ammunition and stores. In this way they drifted before the wind for ten days, during which time it rained incessantly, and there was no appearance of daylight. The sailors here saw immense fishes, of the length of two galleys; at which their spirits rose, because they consider them animals of good omen. They also saw sea-horses, huge serpents, tortoises as large as millstones, and sea-weed. After having been detained a long time, they at last approached the bay of Chekd.

ACCOUNT OF A WHIRLPOOL.

Suddenly the colour of the sea became changed to a whitish hue, and the sailors began to cry out. The cause of their alarm was what in the Indian Ocean is called a whirlpool, a thing very common about Gerdefoon on the Ethiopian coast, and in the bay of Chekd near Sind. It is stated in maritime works that ships getting into one of these must inevitably perish. Having sounded, and found they had only five fathoms water, they took in their sails. Towards morning the wind fell a little, and they sent up an able seaman to the mast-head, who descried a temple on the land. Soon after they passed Kormian, Mangalore, and Somnat, and came very near Div; but the latter place being in the hands of the infidels, they did not show their sail that day, but made the best of their way. Again the wind increased, and the helms became quite unmanageable: the boatswain’s whistle could not be distinguished from the whistling of the wind, and no one could walk the decks. They were also obliged to shut up most of the troops in the holds. In short, the horrors of this day were comparable only to those of the resurrection. At length they reached the coast of Guzerat, in India, when the sailors suddenly cried out that a hurricane was before them; upon which they dropped anchor; but the sea was so heavy that the ships were nearly upset. The galley-slaves broke their chains, and all the men, stripping themselves naked, began to provide themselves with barrels and leathern bottles for their escape. Some of the anchors, however, broke; and thus the vessels escaped the hurricane. This occurred at a place between Div and Daman. Towards afternoon the weather became somewhat fairer, which enabled them to proceed to the port of Daman in the district of Guzerat, where they anchored about two miles from the shore. For five days the hurricane continued to blow with great violence, and was accompanied with incessant rains. The vessels had now shipped much water; and three of them, losing their anchorage, drifted ashore; but all on board landed in safety. When the storm had somewhat abated, they succeeded in gaining the harbour of Daman, where they gave the guns and ammunition, of the wrecked vessels in charge to Malek Asad, governor of Daman, and one of the emirs of Sultan Ahmed, the king of Guzerat. Malek Asad then cautioned them not to go to the castle of Sert, as the fleet of the infidels was about to attack it. Hearing this, most of the men, who had already suffered such hardships, landed, and entered the service of Malek Asad; whilst others of them, after heaping reproaches on the capudan, seized the boats, in which they reached the shore, and proceeded overland to Sert. Seidi Ali, with the remaining vessels and men, directed his course to Sert, which, sometimes sailing, and sometimes availing himself of the assistance of the oars, he reached in five days: a period of three months, in which he underwent thousands of difficulties, having elapsed since he left Bassora. The Moslems at this place were rejoiced to see them, for the country of Guzerat was at this time in a very disturbed state. Here also several untoward events befell them: the supplies for the troops were exhausted; the ammunition and stores of the vessels were consumed; the vessels themselves were much injured; and their return to Egypt was considered quite impossible. Under these circumstances, most of the men entered the service of the king of Guzerat, and the ships were left empty. The capudan, having received from the governor of Sert, an undertaking that the value of the arms and other effects which were left with him should be sent to the Sublime Porte, set out by land for Constantinople on the first of Moharrem, A.H. 962 (A. D. 26th November, 1554), accompanied by fifty attendants. Having travelled through India and Persia, after an absence of four years, he arrived at Constantinople in the month of Rajab, 964 (A. D. May, 1557). Shortly afterwards he was admitted to the royal presence at Adrianople, and had an addition of eighty aspres made to his salary; whilst all his companions were promoted in Egypt; and the royal order was issued that they should be paid their four years salary which was in arrear. The capudan then wrote an account of his voyages and travels, which he entitled, “The Adventures of Seidi Ali.” From this work the foregoing particulars are extracted.

THE EXPEDITION OF SENAN PASHA.

In 959 the Capudan Senan Pasha went to sea with one hundred and twenty vessels, the command of which he held till the end of 960. He died in 961, and was buried at Scutari. The poet Sahari has thus commemorated the period of his death:

Fate at last gives up the body to decay, even should it be that of Noah the pilot.

Whenever the huge leviathan Death draws a breath, the ocean seems but a drop to him.

To his friends Senan was another Joseph; to his enemies he was a dart.

Come, Sahari, let us offer up a prayer for him; “May God make glad his pure spirit!”

The invisible Spirit has revealed the time of his death. “The capudan has joined the Divine Mercy.”

THE APPEARANCE OF TORGHUDJEH BEG.

Torghudjeh was the son of a rayah called Veli, and was born at a village in the neighbourhood of Seroloz, of the sanjak of Mantesheh. Being of a brave spirit, at an early age he excelled in archery and wrestling. He afterwards applied himself to navigation, in which he acquired considerable fame, and was made capudan of a privateer. On one occasion, as he was oiling his vessel, Oghlan, an infidel captain, fell upon him, and carried him prisoner to Genoa. On this account Khair-ad-din Pasha sailed against the Genoese with a fleet, threatening that if they did not give up Torghudjeh he would spoil all their villages: whereupon they immediately released him. The pasha also in a divan spoke so highly of him, saying, Torghudjeh was braver than himself, that they gave him a galley. After this he was in numerous engagements with Khair-ad-din Pasha in the south, by which he became rich, and increased the number of his ships to twenty-five, with which he began to cruise about. Having obtained information of the position of Senan Pasha, who was then at sea, he came out to meet him from the south. On their approach they saluted each other; but the salute from Torghudjeh’s ships being much louder than that of Senan Pasha, the latter suspected him; and artfully representing to the Porte that his not joining him was a proof of disaffection, and that to subdue him would be a difficult matter, recommended that he should be called to the capital. Thither Torghudjeh immediately proceeded with eight vessels, and made offers of submission. With him also came his brave companions in arms, Ghazi Mustaffa, Oluj Ali, Hassan Keleh, Mohammed Reis, Sanjakdar Reis, Deli Jafar, and Kara Kazi, to each of whom a fanar,[46] and a stipend of seventy or eighty aspres were allotted. Both before and after his journey to the Sublime Porte, Torghudjeh was engaged in several memorable battles; a few of which we shall mention.

THE OCCURRENCE AT JARBA.

Whilst Torghudjeh was a capudan of the volunteers, he was on one occasion lying in a harbour called Kantar, in the island of Jarba, where he intended to oil his ships, amounting to eighteen, when Jeghaleh, a Venetian commander, came down upon him with a hundred and fifty vessels, blocked up the entrance to the harbour, threw overboard their ballast, and sat down to enjoy themselves; conceiving, that when Torghudjeh had exhausted his stock of provisions, they could take him and his ships without any effort. They even wrote to Genoa, saying they had secured the pirate Torghudjeh and his ships; and several of their gentlemen fitted out a vessel, and with the intention of taking a voyage of pleasure, sailed towards Jarba. Torghudjeh, on his part, trusted in God, by whose providence there was in the neighbourhood a small river, navigable by boats, which

emptied itself into the sea. He therefore set his men to work, and cut a canal two miles in length, by which he conveyed his vessels to sea. He left a tent which he had pitched on the shore, and the infidels supposed he was safe in it. He then proceeded to a place about sixty miles distant, where he completed the oiling of his vessels, and again put out to sea. On his way he met the gentlemen on their voyage of pleasure, and took them prisoners. When the infidels found out that Torghudjeh had made his escape, thinking he had carried his ships overland, they were confounded, and declared that he must be a magician.

CAPTURE OF INFIDEL VESSELS.

Torghudjeh now became the drawn sword of Islamism, and a brave and famous corsair. He frequently attacked the infidels ships, and destroyed their barges. He once met, at Mania, two barges, laden with corn from Salonica, bound to Venice, which he seized, showing no quarter to those on board. But his feats of this sort are numerous.

THE VISIT OF TORGHUDJEH TO MOGHREB, AND THE INVITATION TO HIM FROM THE EMPEROR.

On one occasion, when this chief was beg of Carli-Eili (Acarnania), he met a Venetian barge, the captain of which, not supposing Torghudjeh to be the principal capudan, and desirous of availing himself as much as possible of the wind, which was then in his favour, neglected to lower his sails, (a mark of respect always shown to great capudans,) or offer any presents. At this, Torghudjeh Beg took umbrage, and began to fire upon the barge from the three ships that were with him. The wind having fallen, she was soon taken; but the capudan having lost one of his brave companions in the conflict, put every one of the infidels to the sword, and burnt the barge. The Venetian ambassador at the Porte, on hearing of this circumstance, went to Rustam Pasha, and lodged a complaint against Torghudjeh. Rustam Pasha, considering Torghudjeh as the enemy of his brother, bore him great hatred, and obtained permission to send a chiaoush to have him summoned to the Porte. Torghudjeh, however, aware of his purpose, sailed with all his vessels to Moghreb, where he remained two years an outlaw. When the capture of Western Trabalos became necessary, the late Sultan Soleiman Khan, whom he had offended, from motives of policy promised him safety, and sent him a copy of the holy book (the Koran) and a golden sword, with a promise that if he should succeed in reducing Trabalos, he should enjoy the begler-begship of that place during his life. The Capudan Senan Pasha was sent with a fleet, and by the direction of Torghudjeh, Trabalos was taken; but its government was given to Senan Pasha; which offended Torghudjeh, who immediately weighed anchor, and directed his course towards Moghreb. He was followed by all the capudans, whose orders were to obey his commands. Senan Pasha being thus left alone, Torghudjeh directed them to return, and some of them with great difficulty reached the Porte.

THE EXPEDITION OF TORGHUDJEH TO BASTIA.

In some historical works it is recorded that, in A. H. 960, Torghudjeh took the command of one hundred and twenty galleys, and sailed to Novocacia. Afterwards, in the month of Rajab, 961, he sailed up the gulf, and besieged Bastia, a Spanish castle on the Italian coast. After many attempts, he was on the point of taking it, when four thousand horse and three thousand infantry came to the assistance of the besieged, and repulsed the Moslems several times. At length, by the favour of God, on the seventh of Ramazan, the abject wretches outside the walls were defeated, and the infidels inside were obliged to fly and abandon the castle. The Moslems allowed forty or fifty of the principal inhabitants their liberty, but put all the others into chains. With the wealth which they found in the castle, and about seven thousand prisoners, they then sailed to Avlona, in the neighbourhood of which the Albanian rebels, by the aid of the governor Ahmed Beg, were vanquished both by sea and land, and rewarded according to their demerits. The Moslems now returned to the Porte with riches far exceeding what they had anticipated. The emperor, who duly appreciated merit, offered Torghudjeh, in addition to his office of capudan, the begler-begship of Algiers. Rustam Pasha, however, prevented his obtaining the latter post, insinuating that Torghudjeh having acquired wealth abroad, had no wish to be employed in the service of the Sublime Porte; and in consequence the sanjak of Carli-Eili (Acarnania) was given to him; but this he declined to accept. The emperor then determined to go out against him, and had actually taken horse for that purpose, when Torghudjeh came out to meet his sovereign, and in person petitioned for the governorship of Trabalos. This was granted him, and he immediately proceeded to Trabalos west, and held his office till he was slain at Malta.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] His entire name is مصطفي بن عبد الله حاجي خليفه Mustaffa Ben Abdullah Haji Khalifeh. He was also called كاتب چلبي Katib Chelebi.

[2] To this work, and more especially to the invaluable “History of the Ottoman Empire,” by J. Von Hammer, the translator is principally indebted for this biographical notice of the author.

[3] A compendious work on Geography, published at Constantinople, A. D. 1732.

[4] _Aker sū dekermenler_: mills moved by running water.

[5] Probably Citadini.

[6] Azabs are the militia of Turkey.

[7] The name of the castle is not given, but it is probable it was Kafa.

[8] _Sakalaba._ The countries to the north of the Black Sea, as Poland, Russia, &c.

[9] This is a chronogram. The letters of the word _shafakat_, a favour, make up the number 880.

[10] Sultan Mohammed Khan, the conqueror of Constantinople, died at Mal-dipa, A. H. 886, A. D. 1481.

[11] A species of light-sailing vessels.

[12] Levend; a sort of volunteers who serve in the Turkish navy.

[13] Kili, the ancient Lycostomos, a town on the northern mouth of the Danube.

[14] One of the Sultan’s titles.

[15] In the original the date is 970; but this is evidently a mistake, as may be seen below; or by consulting the author’s chronological tables.

[16] Cantemir in giving an account of this expedition doubts whether it was the king of France who assisted the Venetians on this occasion, because the Turks call all the European nations Franks; but our author generally distinguishes France by the name of _Fransa_.

[17] _Rafezi_, the Mohammedan sect of the Shiites, or followers of Ali, which chiefly prevails in Persia. The Turks consider them heretics.

[18] In the original _surkh ser_, red heads, a term of contempt applied by the Turks to the Persians.

[19] The first chapter of the Koran.

[20] The Grand-master.

[21] His name _Keman-Kesh_ signifies an archer.

[22] _Khotba_ is an harangue read by the mullahs in the mosques, in which the reigning prince is mentioned and prayed for.

[23] _Sanjak_, the standard given to governors of districts under begs.

[24] A _yūk_ is one hundred thousand aspres, or a thousand dollars.

[25] مدجل This name is frequently given throughout the work to the Andalusian Moors; but I have never seen it used by any other author, nor can I discover its origin. The only instance in which a similar word occurs is in the following passage in Don Quixote: “The Moors of Arragon are in Barbary called Tagarins; and those of Grenada go by the name of _Mudajares_.”—Story of the Captive.

[26] The name by which Khair-ad-din is generally called in European histories.

[27] _Chiaoush_, a messenger of the Porte.

[28] See p. 43.

[29] Literally, _to rub his face on the threshold_.

[30] _Irakin_, the name given to two countries, one of which, generally called Irak Arabi, is Babylonia; and the other, Irak Adgemi, or Persian Irak, is a large province of Persia.

[31] _Istakbal_, a ceremonious procession to meet any great man.

[32] _Bashderdé_, a commanders galley.

[33] Rashid had been supplanted by his brother Hassan, and applied to Khair-ad-din for assistance in regaining his kingdom. Khair-ad-din, eager to add Tunis to his other possessions, induced Rashid to accompany him to Constantinople, under the pretence of obtaining the aid of the Ottoman arms. On their arrival there, Khair-ad-din communicated his designs to the sultan, who immediately gave orders for the preparation of a fleet. Rashid already considered himself restored to his kingdom; but just as the fleet was about to sail, he was seized by the command of the sultan, and was never after heard of. Such was the _provision_ made for him at the Sublime Porte!

[34] _Tabor_, a Polish word, signifying a wall or fence made with the baggage, carriages, &c.

[35] _These islands._ In the text the word is جزاير by which also Algiers is called; but it being also the form of the Arabic plural of جزيره an island, and the Turkish plural, جزيره لر occurring a little after, I am inclined to think that the islands of Majorca, Minorca, &c. are meant.

[36] In the original it is Majorca, but from the context this appears to be a mistake, which indeed might easily be made, the difference between [Arabic:] and [Arabic:] being small. Hammer in his “_Geschichte des Osmanischen Reichs_,” in a note on this event makes it Minorca.

[37] Literally “_rubbed his face against the royal stirrup_.”

[38] Literally, “_the battle market having been kept hot from morning till afternoon_.”

[39] _Merted_, probably Zea.

[40] _Sam_, a sort of Simmoom.

[41] According to Rycaut, Prevesa had just been taken by the Patriarch Grimmanus, who had the command of the Pope’s galleys. The grand fleet had left this place before Khair-ad-din’s arrival.

[42] _Bikli_, “the moustached.”

[43] The numerical value of مات رئس البحر is 953.

[44] A work on navigation, of which further mention is made below, p. 72.

[45] If these are the barges mentioned at p. 72, this should of course be read _fifteen_.

[46] _Fanar_, a small vessel.