flames, shipwrecked, and swallowed up by the waves, or wounded, and perish by arms. There was one galley which, owing to the rashness of our men, presented its side close to the enemy; and thus, set in flames by the fire flung on board, admitted the Turks, who rushed in at all parts. The rowers, seized with terror, leapt into the sea; but a few soldiers who, from their heavier arms and ignorance of swimming, remained through desperation, took courage to fight. An unequal battle raged: but, by the Lord's help, the few overcame the many, and re-took the half-burnt ship from the beaten foe.
"Another, meanwhile, was boarded by the enemy, who had gained the upper deck, having driven off its defenders; and those to whom the lower station had been assigned strove to escape by the aid of the rowers. It was truly a wonderful and piteous struggle: for, the oars being thrust in different directions by the rush of the Turks, the galley was driven hither and thither. Our men, however, prevailed; and the foes rowing above were thrust off by the Christians and yielded. In this naval conflict the adverse side lost both a galley and a galliass with the crews; and our men, unhurt and rejoicing, achieved a glorious and solemn triumph. Drawing the hostile galley with them to the shore, the victors exposed it to be destroyed by our people of both sexes who met it on land. Then our women seized and dragged the Turks by the hair, beheading them, treating them with every indignity, and savagely stabbing them; and, the weaker their hands, so much the more protracted were the pains of death to the vanquished, for they cut off their heads, not with swords but with knives. No similar sea fight as fatal had ever been seen; no victory gained with so much peril and loss."
The other action was one of galleys with forts :—
"Meanwhile the Pisans, and others skilled in naval tactics, to whom the siege of the town on the sea side had been committed, erected a machine upon the galleys in the form of a castle with bulwarks, so that it might overtop the walls and afford an easy means of throwing darts. Moreover, they made two ladders with steps, by which the summit of the walls might be gained. They then covered all those things, and the galleys, with extended hides, that they might be protected from injury, either by iron or by any missile whatsoever. All being prepared, the besiegers approached the 'Tower of the Flies,' which they attacked furiously with the discharge of cross-bars and darts. Those within manfully resisted, with neither unequal vigour nor unequal success; for when our men slew any of them, they were not slow in retaliating. And in order the more heavily to crush us, or the more easily to drive us off, about two thousand Turks went out of the city to their galleys, to aid the besieged in the tower by harassing the Pisans on the opposite side. But our picked warriors, having advanced their engines as well as they could to the tower, some began to throw at the tower great grapnels and whatsoever came to their hands, as wood, or masses of stone, or showers of darts; others, according to their position, were not slow to carry on a naval conflict with those at sea. The battlements yielded to the grapnels thrown against the tower, and were broken down. The tower, indeed, was assailed with wonderful and insupportable fury, one party succeeding another when fatigued, with untiring energy and invincible valour. The darts flew with a fearful noise in all directions, and larger missiles hurtled through the air. The Turks drew back in time, for they could no longer carry on the fight. And now, having raised the ladders for scaling the tower, our men hastened to ascend; but the Turks, perceiving that the critical moment was at hand, resisted with great valour, and threw down upon our people masses of stone of large size, to crush them, and throw them off the ladders. Next they flung Greek Fire upon the castles, which we had erected, and which were set in flames; and those within it, realising this, were forced with disappointed hopes to descend and retire. But meanwhile there was immense slaughter of the Turks
