210

THE DECLINE AND FALL

chap, seven thousand prophets should not have com-lxmh. p e jj e( j jj|, n Relieve that such a work, in soshort a time, could have been accomplished bythe infidels.

Succour The generosity of the Christian princes wasoffour tory cold and tardy; but in the first apprehension ofshlp8, a siege, Constantine had negotiated, in the islesof the Archipelago, the Morea, and Sicily , themost indispensable supplies. As early as thebeginning of April, five* great ships, equippedfor merchandise and war, would have sailedfrom the harbour of Chios , had not the windblown obstinately from the north.“ One of theseships bore the imperial flag; the remaining fourbelonged to the Genoese; and they were ladenwith wheat and barley, with wine, oil, and vege-tables, and, above all, with soldiers and mari-ners, for the service of the capital. After a te-dious delay, a gentle breeze, and, on the secondday, a strong gale from the south, carried themthrough the Hellespont and the Propontis : butthe city was already invested by sea and land;and the Turkish fleet, at the entrance of theBosphorus , was stretched from shore to shore, inthe form of a crescent, to intercept, or at least torepel, these bold auxiliaries. The reader whohas present to his mind the geographical picture

1 It is singular that the Greeks should not agree in .the number ofthese illustrious vessels : thereof Ducas, the four of Phranza andLeonardos, and the two of Chalcocondyles, must be extended to the•mailer, or confined to larger size. Voltaire , in giving one of these•hips to Frederic III , confounds the emperors of the East and West.

a In bold defiance, or rather in gross ignorance, of language andgeography, the president Cousin detains them at Chios with a south,and wafts them with a north wind.