The Curious Collection Of Old Cannon Had All Been Removed By The Turks,
But One Iron Piece Remained, Which, Being Almost Worthless As Metal, Had
Been Left Behind When The Bronze Guns Had Been Shipped To
Constantinople.
This was a great curiosity, as it somewhat resembled a
hand-bell about five feet in length; the bell which formed the mouth to
receive the ball was only two feet in length, although the muzzle was
sufficiently wide to admit the stone projectile of nineteen inches
diameter.
The portion which resembled the handle of a bell was the
continuation which formed the narrow chamber for the powder; this was
about three feet long and eight inches thick*. (*These measurements are
from memory, excepting the diameter of muzzle, which I took on the
spot.) There were no trunnions to this singular old gun, but it may have
been lashed to some lever which could be raised or depressed, and it was
evidently intended for firing into shipping from the fort walls, to
command the harbour at a short range. It had been cast with concentric
rings, which I examined carefully, as at first I imagined they had been
wrought-iron shrunk on to the casting: this was not the case, but the
extra thickness of metal at the rings added sufficient strength. The
large stone shot, formed of a peculiarly hard metamorphous rock (a
conglomerate of matter that had been fused by heat), were to be seen in
various positions within the fortress.
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