_ 66 _ armed, and by signs they told him that they would cut off all their heads. The Moors were continually at work in their ships, making preparations for what they hoped to do, while our men were doing the same, making pads of ropes and cables for patching their ships if cannon-balls holed it. Each boat was fitted with pavisades and a camelo put aboard each one, and throughout the ship were placed barrels of water as precaution against fire; the Captain-in-Chief’s strong warning to all the Captains was that they should beware of fire above all else. In the tops were brave men with many darts, lances and stones they would throw in the attack. He ordered also that rope ends would be thrown in the attack. He ordered also that rope ends should be thrown outside all the Moorish ships and should be hauled in if they found themselves in danger of fire, because he feared that some Moorish ships were provided with inflammable materials to set fire to ours. He told the Captains to order anchors to be carried to the large Moorish ships if they dared to fight. He did this before anyone, for he grappled with the ship named Meril. All our men made ready as was necessary, with all
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy