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Alberto Scotto. Gio. Falier. Capt. Pocopani, and other Italian gentlemen and soldiers, and many natives. Mustafa was now encamped before Nicosia, and the first thing the Turks did when they were united in their camp was to begin to ride up to the fortress to invite the defenders to skirmish, but the Collateral would allow no one to go out, but once only when Captain Cortese, a Stradiot, was taken prisoner; and the Turks, seeing the citizens did not intend to come out to skirmish, began to build forts. The first was built on the hills of St Maria, 130 paces from the Podocataro bastion, run up with the greatest possible haste, and with little hindrance from within, although from the curtain between the Podocataro and Caraffa bastions, and from the front of the bastion itself, we tried with pieces of 80 to prevent its completion, but it was made by night in spite of our fire. From this fort were attacked the houses, and part of the platforms of the curtains, with small loss of life. The second fort was set at St George of Magnana, and from this too the houses were bombarded : we were forced to give up defending them, though beyond destroying the houses little damage was done. The third was on the hillock called Margheritti, between the Costanzo and Podocataro bastions. The fourth was in the middle of the hill or mount Tomandia. From these forts they could not properly bombard the walls, but they pushed on from them, and came up to the ditch, and to the borders of the old city, and thence with trenches to the bases of the four bastions Podocataro, Costanzo, Davila and Tripoli, about which they planted four other forts, very handy and only 80 paces from the ditch. From these with pieces of 60 they kept up for four days running a brisk fire from morn to night, except for four hours from mid-day, when they rested on account of the excessive heat, and also to let the guns cool. Mustafa, seeing that the artillery did not answer his expec- The Siege of Nicosia 171

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