THE ITALIAN, FRENCH, AND SPANISH COASTS.
Having passed the city of Venice, we come to Ancona, Bashtia, Manfredonia, Brindisi, Cape Otranto, and Cape St. Maria, where the Gulf of Venice terminates. Turning thence to the west, we pass Taranto, Rossano, Cape Cotrone, Spartivento, and Cape Reggio: opposite which, in the island of Chichlia (Sicily), is Cape Messina; and the space between forms the Strait of Messina, which, like the Strait of Constantinople, is very narrow. Beyond these are Naples, Cape Gaeta, the river Rooma (Tiber), upon which a little farther in the land is the city (of Rome), Pantan, Leghorn, which is in the district of Florence, an independent dukedom bordering on the pope’s dominions. Farther on is the state of Genoa, which is also an independent government, bordering on Milan. In the French dominions are, Savona, Nice, Afwamort, and Marseilles. Perpignan, Davina, Barcelona, Tortosa, Cape Carthagena, Malaga, and Jabl-al-Fat’h (Gibraltar), on the Strait of Sabta, are on the Spanish coast. In the Atlas they are called Catalonia, Aragonia, Valencia, and Andalusia. According to computations in several histories, the Rumelian and European coasts are reckoned to be 8047 miles in length; and the Anatolian, Arabian, and western coasts, 5010 miles: in all 13,057 miles. The principal islands are Sardinia, Corsica, Minorca, Miorca, Ivica, Malta, Crete (or Candia), Cyprus, and Rhodes. In former times all these, except Rhodes, were captured; and how this was done, I have fully explained in my works called the Fezliket Tarikh and the Jehan Nemah. At present they are all, except Cyprus and Rhodes, in the possession of the Infidels; and even the subjugation of Candia has not yet been fully accomplished. God grant that it may soon be effected! Here our Introduction ends: we shall now proceed to our First Part.
PART FIRST.
Concerning the ancient fleets, victories, and naval wars; accounts of which have, for the sake of example, been arranged and collected from historical books. This Part consists of several Chapters.