Note 51 — Chapter IV · OTHER MATERIAL FROM THE CHRONICA UTILIZED BY MARTORELL

And Brother Roger ... thus had ten galleys, and he loaded them with grain at Sciacca and came to Syracuse and waited for a strong wind to come up from the southeast or south. And when the wind came it was so strong that the whole sea began to rage, so that no man who was not so good a mariner as he, dared think of setting sail. He set sail from Syracuse when night had come, and at dawn he entered the Strait of Faro; and it is the greatest wonder in the world that anything can survive in the Strait of Faro when there is a strong wind from the southeast or the south, for the currents there are so powerful and the sea rages so violently that nothing can stand it. And he decided to enter first with his own galley provided with large sails in which there were holes. And when the galleys of the duke saw them, all began to shout and they wished to raise the anchors but they were unable to do so. And thus the ten galleys with Brother Roger entered the harbor of Messina safely and securely, but there was not a man who had on him a dry thread ... and thus Messina was relieved and the next day the duke raised the siege and returned to Catania. Chronica, chap. cxcvi.