een brought by the Emperor
himself from the German highlands. Ill-luck attended them from the
outset: a storm, no unusual phenomenon with November coming on, drove
the ships back into shelter at Corsica. At length the seas subsided,
and the fleet, picking up allies as it went along, cautiously hugged
the land as far as Minorca, where the mistral, the terror of seamen,
rushed down upon the huge armada--masts strained, yards cracked, sails
were torn to rags, and there was nothing for it but to row--row for
their lives and for Charles. They were but seven miles from Port
Mahon, yet it took half the night to win there--an endless night which
the panting crews never forgot.

In the bay of Palma, at Majorca, the fleet was assembled. There were
the Emperor's hundred sailing vessels carrying the German and Italian
troops, commanded by such historic names as Colonna and Spinosa; there
were Fernando Gonzago's Sicilian galleys, and a hundred and fifty
transports from Naples and Palermo; there were the fifty galleys of
Bernadino de Mendoza, conveying two hundred transports with the arms
and artillery, and carrying the corps of gentlemen adventurers,
mustered from the chivalry of Spain, and including one only who had
climbed up from the ranks--but that one was Cortes, the conqueror of
Mexico. Over five hundred sail, manned by twelve thousand men, and
carrying a land force of twenty-four thousand soldiers, entered the
roads of Algiers on October 19, 1541.

[Illustration: SIEGE OF ALGIERS, 1541.

(_From a map in the British Museum._)]

At last the great Emperor set eyes upon the metropolis of piracy. On
the rocky promontory which forms the western crest of the crescent
bay, high up the amphitheatre of hills, tier upon tier, in their
narrow overshadowed lanes, the houses of the Corsairs basked in the
autumn sun, crowned by the fortress which had known the imperious
rule of two Barbarossas. On the right was the mole which Spanish
slaves had built out of the ruins of the Spanish fort. Two gates
fronted the south and north, the Bab Az[=u]n and Bab-el-W[=e]d.

Avoiding the promontory of Cashina, the galleys, with furled sails,
drew up before the low strand, backed by stretches of luxuriant
verdure, south of the city, and out of range, at the spot which is
still called the "Jardin d'essai." A heavy swell prevented their
landing for three days, but on the 23rd, in beautiful weather, the
troops disembarked. The Berbers and Arabs, who ha