From this mountain in the valley of Gók-sú, near the castles (hisár) on the Bosphorus, a kind of lime is obtained which is whiter than snow, cotton, or milk, and cannot be matched in the world.
In the same favourite place of resort, the valley of Gók-sú, a kind of red earth is found, of which jugs, plates, and dishes are made; and the doctors say, that pure water drunk out of vessels made of this earth cures the básuri demeví (blood-shot eyes?).
In the mountains near the town of Uskudár (Scutari), is found a kind of fossil whetstone (kayághán), which breaks in large slabs, and is much used for tombstones.
Beneath the palace known by the name of Ghalatah-seráï, above the suburb of Tóp-khánah, is an iron mine, called the mine of old Islámból, and the ore extracted from it is known by that name all over the world. Not a soul in the universe knew any thing of it till Khizr pointed it out, in the time of king Ferendú, for the building of Ayá Sófiyah; and all the ironwork of that edifice, as well as the iron hoops round the column in Táúk-bázár [Forum Theodosii], were made of iron from Eskí Stámból. The mine was worked till the time of Sultán Báyazíd Velí, who was much pleased with the air and water of the place, and often spent some time there; and having been admonished in a dream by the Prophet, founded a hospital and college on the spot; and having finally made it a school for pages of the seraglio, the mine was abandoned. The humble writer of this remembers, in the time of his youth, when ’Osmán the Martyr was on the throne, there was between the lead-magazine (kúrshúnlí makhzen) and Tóp-kapú a manufactory of Damascus blades, made from the iron of this mine, where Mohamed the Conqueror, who established it, had most excellent blades made. I myself have seen Mustafá, the head sword-maker of Sultán Murád IV., and master of little David, working in that manufactory. It was a large building, outside of the walls, on the sea-shore. Afterwards, when Sultán Ibráhím ascended the throne, Kara Mustafá Páshá became a martyr, and every thing was thrown into confusion; this building was turned into a house for the Jews, by ’Alí Aghá, superintendant of the custom-house, and neither the name, nor any trace of the mine or the sword manufactory, are to be found.
The thirteenth mine is that mine of men, the Good City, i.e. Kostantiniyyeh, which is an ocean of men and beautiful women, such as is to be found no where else. It is said, that if a thousand men die and a thousand and one are born, the race is propagated by that one. But Islámból is so vast a city, that if a thousand die in it, the want of them is not felt in such an ocean of men; and it has therefore been called Káni Insán, a mine of men.
SECTION VIII.
Sieges of Constantinople.
In the forty-third year of the Hijreh (A.D. 663), Mo’áviyyah became Commander of the Faithful; and in the course of his reign sent his commander in chief Moslemah, son of ’Abdu-l-malik, at the head of a hundred thousand men of the Syrian army, with two hundred ships, and two hundred transports laden with provisions, ammunition, &c. from the port of Shám-Tarah-bólús (Tripoli in Syria), and trusting in God, first against the island of Máltah, which at that time was Rodós (Rhodes), and of which they made a conquest almost as soon as they disembarked. They next proceeded to the islands of Istánkóï (Cos), Sákiz (Scio), Medellí (Mitylene), Alimániyah (Lemnos), and Bózjah (Tenedos), which were taken in a few days; and they immediately afterwards laid siege to Kostantaniyyeh, having taken four hundred ships in their passage, and intercepted all vessels laden with provisions coming from the White or Black Sea. The infidels soon sued for peace, on condition of paying the annual tribute of a galley laden with money; and the victorious general returned to Arabia with joy and exultation, carrying with him the impure son of that erring king (királ) Herkíl (Heraclius) as a hostage, with treasures to the amount of some millions of piastres.
Second Siege. In the fifty-second year of the Hijrah of the pride of the world (A.D. 671), Ebú Iyyúb Ansárí, the standard-bearer of the Prophet, and ’Abdullah ibn ’Abbás ibn Zeïd, proceeding with some thousands of the illustrious companions of the Prophet, and 50,000 brave men, in two hundred ships, followed by reinforcements under the command of Moslemah, first carried supplies to the warriors of Islám in garrison at Rodós, and then, casting anchor before the Seven Towers and landing their men, laid siege to Islámból by sea and land. Thus, for six months, did this host, which had the fragrance of Paradise, contend day and night with the infidels. By the wise decree of God. Ebú Iyyúb their leader suffered martyrdom in one of these assaults, by an arrow from a cross-bow: but, according to a sure tradition, he was received into mercy (i.e. he died) of a disorder in his bowels.