Nothing, therefore, was attempted by sea in the reign of Omar. But on his death, Muâvia renewed the petition, and, at his reiterated request, Othmân at last relaxed the ban, on condition that the service should be voluntary. [Sidenote: Cyprus occupied. A.H. XXVIII. A.D. 649.] The first fleet equipped against Cyprus, in the twenty-eighth year of the Hegira, was commanded by Abu Cays as admiral; it was joined by Abu Sarh with a complement of ships manned by Egyptians, and carried a body of Arab warriors from Alexandria. Cyprus was taken easily, and a great multitude of captives carried off. The Cypriots agreed to pay the same revenue as they had done to the Emperor; but, unable as yet to guarantee their protection, the Caliph remitted the ordinary poll-tax. Of Abu Cays we are told that he headed fifty expeditions by land and by sea, but was killed at the last, while engaged in exploring a Grecian sea-port.[447] [Sidenote: Naval victory off Alexandria. A.H. XXXI. A.D. 652.] Three years after the fall of Cyprus, driven now from the harbours of Africa, and seriously threatened in the Levant, the Byzantines gathered a fleet of five or six hundred vessels of war, and defied the Arabs at sea. Abu Sarh was appointed to take up the challenge. He manned every available ship in the ports of Egypt and Africa; and his squadron, though much inferior in weight and equipment to the enemy’s, was crowded with valiant warriors from the army. The Byzantine fleet came in sight near Alexandria. The wind lulled, and both sides lay for a while at anchor. The night was passed by the Moslems in recitation of the Corân and prayer, while the Greeks kept up the clangour of their bells. In the morning, a fierce engagement took place. The Arab ships grappled with their adversaries, and a hand-to-hand encounter with sword and dagger ensued. The slaughter was great on both sides; but the Greeks, unable to withstand the wild onset of the Saracens, broke and dispersed. Constantine, who had been in command, sailed away to Syracuse, where the people, infuriated at the defeat, despatched him in his bath.[448] [Sidenote: Obloquy cast on Othmân in this affair.]