rejoicings to be held in Constantinople, sending many presents to his son Mustafà and his captains. After this defeat the King Assambei sent an ambassador to persuade the Venetian rulers to make war on the Turk, since the latter was coming in person against him. And, in addition, he requested artillery from them, which a short time after was sent to Cyprus with their fleet, but arrived too late, after Assambei had come to blows with the Turks, in which action he had suffered a defeat and retired to Tauris, where he was followed by Messer Josaphat Barbaro and the artillery. CHAP. IV. The preparations made by the Turk to go in person against Ussun Cassano and the array of his army in the camp and on the march. The Turk having gained the victory and made himself master of Caramania, perceiving that Ussun Cassano was hostile to him, by giving aid to Pirahomat, in the year 1473 determined to show him that he was not in the least afraid of him. This he had already done in the battle, but he resolved to do more, and make him feel his immense power. Therefore, the following spring, he made preparations for going in person against Ussun Cassano, ordering great musters of men to be made. And when the time for opening the campaign was come, in the above-mentioned year he crossed the Strait of Constantinople, with his whole court, into Asia. On arriving in Cappadocia he halted in a plain near a city called Amasia,[366] the residence of Baiesit[367] Celebi, the eldest son of the Turk. This plain is called Casouasi,[368] which, in our language, signifies the plain of the goose; it can support great armies, and has great resources of water and forage, as there are many towns round it. As this was on the route the Sultan intended to take, it was determined on as the rendezvous for the grand army. Having (as we have already mentioned) ordered all his generals and captains to be prepared, and at the appointed time, with everything in readiness, to appear in this place,—it was done as he commanded. But the Turkish monarch, knowing that this enterprise was of the greatest importance, determined to make all the preparations that the number of his men, the scarcity of necessaries, and the safety of his country and himself required. Therefore, of his three sons, he wished the two elder ones to come on this enterprise, namely, Baiesit the eldest, and Mustafà his second son; the third, by name Gien,[369] remained at Constantinople with good advisers to watch over the safety of his realm. The army being mustered and arranged in this plain of the goose, he resolved on the order it was to hold in the camps and on the road, and the means by which there might be no want of any necessaries or comforts.