Fourth talisman. At Seraglo-Point there was a triple-headed brazen dragon, spitting fire, and burning all the enemy’s ships and boats whichever way they came. Fifth talisman. There were also, near the same place, three hundred and sixty-six lofty columns bearing the figures of as many marine creatures; a White sun fish (_khamsín bálighí_) for example, which, when it uttered a cry, left not a fish of that kind in the Black Sea, but brought them all to Makedún, where all the people got a good bellyful of them. The sixth talisman was, that, during all the forty days of Lent, all kinds of fish were thrown ashore by the sea, and caught without any trouble by the people of Rúm (Turkey). All these talismans having been overthrown by the great earthquake on the night of the prophets birth, the columns which bore them still lie strewed like a pavement along the Seraglio-Point, from the Selímiyyeh Kóshk, to the castle of Sinán Páshá, and are manifest to those who pass along in boats. Though upset they still retain their talismanic virtues, and every year bring many thousand fishes to the shore. There were also twenty-four columns round Islámból, each bearing a talisman. All could be visited by a man in one day, provided it was a day of fifteen hours: now the longest day at Islámból, from sun-rise to sun-set, is fifteen hours and a half. That city is situated in the middle of the fifth climate, and therefore enjoys excellent air and water. SECTION VII. _Concerning the Mines within and without the City of Kostantín._ By God’s will there was anciently a great cavern in Islámból, below the Sultán’s mosque (Sultán jámi’-sí), filled with sulphur, nitre, and black powder, from which they drew supplies in time of need. Having, by the decree of heaven, been struck by lightning in the time of Kostantín, or, according to our tradition, at the time of the taking of the city by the conqueror, all the large buildings over the cavern were blown up, and fragments of them scattered in every direction; some may still be seen at Uskudár (Scutari), others at Salájak búruní, and Kází kóï (Chalcedon); one large piece, particularly, called the Kabá-tásh, and lying in the sea before the chismehler tekkiyeh, to the north of the village of Funduk-lí, near Tóp-khánah, was probably thrown there when the city was blown up. In the neighbourhood of the castle of Kúm-búrghaz, half a days journey from the Seven Towers, to the south of Islámból, a fine white sand is found, in great request among the hour-glass makers and goldsmiths of Islámból and Firengistán (Europe). Near the privy-garden of Dáúd Páshá, outside of the Adrianople-gate, there are seven stone quarries, which appear to be inexhaustible. It is called the stone of Khizr, because it was pointed out by that prophet for the construction of Ayá Sófiyah.