The
arquebusier, the musketeer, and the bombardier looked carefully to the
state of their weapons, ammunition, and equipments; the sailor sharpened
his pike and cutlass; the officer put on his strongest casque and his
best-wrought cuirass; the stewards placed supplies of bread and wine in
convenient places, ready to the hands of the combatants; and the surgeons
prepared their instruments and bandages, and spread tables in dark and
shaded nooks, for the use of the wounded.
While these preparations occupied their subordinate officers, the chiefs
of the armament repaired to the flag-ship to learn the final resolution
and receive the last instructions of Don John of Austria. Some of these
went for the purpose of combating that resolution and objecting to those
instructions; for that eagerness to fight, which pervaded the soldiers
and sailors, was not unanimously shared by their leaders. Veniero,
although he had been hitherto very desirous of meeting the enemy, was
now anxious and dispirited. Doria and Ascanio de la Corgnia reminded
their young commander that the Turk, who was evidently bent upon
fighting, had a convenient harbor and arsenal behind him at Lepanto;
while for the fleet of the League, far from accessible ports, a disaster
implied total destruction. Some of their colleagues ventured to advise
Don John to retire while it was still in his power to do so.
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