_ 95 _ and there he was also killed. By now the ship was lying so low that it resembled a bridge rather than a ship. It was covered all over, from the prow, through the deck, to the poop, in bodies, arms and legs, both ours and the enemy’s for during the fight they had boarded the ship four times and been thrown out each time. On that day all of our men were so brave and did such extraordinary things that it seems only those who witnessed it could believe it. At last, when there were only a handful of our men left alive, all of them badly wounded, the Roumeliotes boarded the ship, and began to shout: “You vermin, run below deck otherwise we’ll put you to the sword”. Some of our men did so, but others dared to stay above, as soon as the Roumeliotes had boarded the ship, more than a hundred of them went below deck to steal whatever they could find, for there was nobody to defend it. Since the hull was full of water, the added weight of all these men sank it further until it rested on the sand, although the poop, prow and deck remained above water, as a result whoever stayed on top was saved, but all those who went below both Roumeliote and Portuguese, drowned. When Meliquia’s saw that the ship had settled on the sand he came at once and saved our men, who numbered 19. All of them were so badly wounded that they
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