And one night, at midnight, they set fire to the ships, and unfurled
their sails to the wind. And the flames blazed up high, so that it
seemed as if the whole world were a-fire. Thus did the burning ships
come towards the fleet of the pilgrims; and a great cry arose in the
host, and all sprang to arms on every side. The Venetians ran to their
ships, and so did all those who had ships in possession, and they
began to draw them away out of the flames very vigorously.
55
And to this bears witness Geoffry the Marshal of Champagne, who
dictates this work, that never did people help themselves better at
sea than the Venetians did that night; for they sprang into the
galleys and boats belonging to the ships, and seized upon the fire
ships, all burning as they were, with hooks, and dragged them by main
force before their enemies, outside the port, and set them into the
current of the straits, and left them to go burning down the straits.
So many of the Greeks had come down to the shore that they were
without end and innumerable, and their cries were so great that it
seemed as if the earth and sea would melt together. They got into
barges and boats, and shot at those on our side who were battling with
the flames, so that some were wounded.
All the knights of the host, as soon as they heard the clamour, armed
themselves; and the battalions marched out into the plain, each
according to the order in which they had been quartered, for they
feared lest the Greeks should also attack them on land.
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