"--_Savary_.
[129] That they knew the secret of the Greek fire among the Mussulmans
early in the eleventh century, appears from _Dow's_ account of Mamood I.
"When he at Moultan, finding that the country of the Jits was defended by
great rivers, he ordered fifteen hundred boats to be built, each of which
he armed with six iron spikes, projecting from their prows and sides, to
prevent their being boarded by the enemy, who were very expert in that
kind of war. When he had launched this fleet, he ordered twenty archers
into each boat, and five others with fire-balls, to burn the craft of the
Jits, and naphtha to set the whole river on fire."
[130] The Greek fire, which was occasionally lent by the emperors to their
allies. "It was," says Gibbon, "either launched in red-hot balls of stone
and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and
tow, which had deeply imbibed the imflammable oil."
[131] See _Hanway's_ Account of the Springs of Naphtha at Baku (which is
called by _Lieutenant Pottinger_ Joala Mookee, or, the Flaming Mouth),
taking fire and running into the sea. _Dr. Cooke_, in his Journal,
mentions some wells in Circassia, strongly impregnated with this
inflammable oil, from which issues boiling water. "Though the weather," he
adds, "was now very cold, the warmth of these wells of hot water produced
near them the verdure and flowers of spring.
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