_ 46 _ Item: There are many buttresses all around the walls of the city which have a further protective low wall with battlements. On this protective wall there is no artillery. On the outside of this same wall there is a ditch all round it which fills and empties with the river. The ditch is deep but not very wide and always contains water. Item: The fortress and the encircling walls are very well watched over at night at certain points and especially at the gates, by a captain and soldiers. The captain has been there for three years and never leaves the fortress except when he is called by the Pasha on important business. Item: The city has four gates, which are each guarded with men-at-arms in four watches per day. They are opened at day-break and closed while it is still daylight. The gates are located north, south, east and west. On Fridays, when everyone is in the mosque, the gates remain closed until they come out. Item: Basra appears to have better artillery because Turks are braggarts and put it all at the entrance to the pontoon bridge which has the chain. On the ground, resting on planks, they placed the following pieces of artillery: two espalhafatos, one lião, one espera, two cameletes, a large camelo, two small cannons, one falcão and another espera which is broken. It burst on the day I entered Basra.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTg0NzAy