qual firmness
the efforts of the enemy, and the mutinous spirit of his own soldiers,
had been recalled early in 1656 to assume the vizirat; a fleeting
glimpse of honour, which, though cancelled even before he reached
Constantinople in favour of the Kaimakam Mustapha, subsequently (as
already related) cost him his life from the jealousy of Mohammed
Kiuprili. His successors possessed neither his energy nor his military
skill; and the Venetians, taking courage from the change of commanders,
sallied from Candia, and even ventured, though without success, to
attempt the recovery of Canea. Negotiations for peace, meanwhile, had
been kept on foot almost from the first; but as the Ottoman pride
absolutely refused to listen to any propositions which did not include
the total and unconditional surrender of Candia, no pacification could
be effected; and the war continued to linger till Ahmed-Kiuprili,
secured on the side of Hungary by the peace with Austria, collected all
the forces of the empire, to crush this last fragment of Venetian
dominion in the Levant.

The advanced season of the year when the vizir disembarked in Candia,
and the disorganized state of the forces which he found there, prevented
the immediate commencement of offensive operations; but in the course of
the winter, the arrival of the contingents of Egypt and Africa, as well
as of a squadron with fresh troops from Constantinople, raised his army
to between 40,000 and 50,000 effective men; and on the 20th of May 1667,
the trenches were once more opened in form on the western side of the
city, while 300 pieces of cannon, thundering from the Ottoman lines,
covered the approaches of the pioneers.[16] Of the seven[17] great
bastions which formed the principal defences on the land side, those of
Panigra, Bethlehem, and Martinengo, were the chief points of attack; the
vizir himself taking post opposite the first, while the Beglerbeg of
Anatolia and the Pasha of Egypt were stationed against the Bethlehem and
the Martinengo. The assault, as on former occasions, was conducted
chiefly by the slow process of sap and mine; but the superior skill of
the Christian engineers, enabled them frequently to explore and
countermine the works of the enemy; and the mining parties were thus
surprised and blown into the air, while murderous combats took place
under ground, from the accidental rencounters of the soldiers employed
in these subterranean galleries. The garrison, which had at