(5.) “Karasser; it is fertile in vineyards.”—Several travellers and authors, such as Aboulfeda, Tavernier, Otter, Golius, Ritter, etc., have represented, that the best wines of the country were to be obtained at Amadia, fifteen miles from Kohrasar—“Karasser”—which Hammer (_Denkschr. d. Kön. Akad. d. Wissensch._, ix) fancifully transfers to Kara-hissar in Armenia. Kohrasar is quite uninhabited and deserted, but the ruins of what were at one time magnificent churches and other edifices, excited the admiration of Tavernier (_Six Voy. en Turquie_, etc., en 1642) and Ainsworth (_Trav. in Asia Minor_, etc., 1842). They indicate the site of the ancient city of Constantine. It is to be deplored that those travellers could not afford the time to explore the locality.—BRUUN. (6.) “the people are warlike”.—The warlike inhabitants of Black Turkey were the Turkomans of the White Sheep, who, under Kara Yelek, their chief, seized upon Amid (Amed, Hamith, Karamid), the capital of Dyarbekr, in Mesopotamia, after the death of Timour; it is now known by the same name as the province, but was called Kara Amid—Amid the black—from the colour of its walls. Many traces of its grandeur are left. The academician, Baïer (_De numo Amid._, 545), shows that it was constructed by Severus Alexander, and fortified by Justinian.—BRUUN. (7.) “Bestan.”—This name is probably intended for Bistan, near the eastern frontier of the pashalik of Soulimanieh. It is now a village of no importance, but near it are the ruins of an ancient castle, also the tumuli known as the Roustan tepe and Shah tepe, in which many objects of antiquity have been found. Judging by its style of architecture, the castle, constructed of bricks, is believed to be of the Sassanian period; but it may have been occupied at a later date, even to the time of Schiltberger, when it was, perhaps, the capital of Kourdistan. The pasha’s residence at Soulimanieh is a modern edifice, having been built towards the end of the 18th century (Ritter, _Die Erdkunde_ etc., xi, 566).—BRUUN. (8.) “Zuchtun.”—The noxious nature of the climate on the eastern sea-board of the Black Sea, has been fully proved by Russian garrisons to their cost, and especially at “Zuchtun” or Soukhoum Kaleh. Near this place stood the ancient Dioscurias, subsequently called Sevastopolis, after an old Roman fortress in the neighbourhood. It was of great strategic importance to the Empire in the reign of Justinian (_Novell. constit._, 28; and Procopius, _De Bell. Goth._, iv, 4), and became a prosperous commercial port after the Black Sea was opened to the Italians. The Genoese established a consulate at Savastopoli, which was maintained until the year 1449 (_Zap. Odess. Obstschest._, v, 809).—BRUUN.