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 “I saw many ships anchored at the harbor as well as many small boats. A view better than this could be seen only from in front of the tents put up by the governor’s representative at a higher altitude to benefit from cooler air and overlooking the sea. The representative stayed in the tent until the heat of the day was gone; he was not able to bear the heat elsewhere…
As soon as we stepped on land we took the direction to the house of the French consul who had sent his military attaché to the harbor for he had seen, watching through his window at home located in the hills tot eh left of the town, that there was a European in the ship anchoring. This kind attitude of the French gentlemen toward foreigners was displayed stronger for there were only very few Europeans living in the town…
Sattalia was one of the most important cities of the Ottoman Empire and contains many old buildings as can be easily inferred from its fortifications. It has two city gates, one on the land side and the other on the seaside. Although Sattalia is not very big its hinterland is very large and there are many pleasant woods there and also other orchards that will flourish if they are taken good care of. The entry to the harbor was close to the walls and in this area were a few houses including that of the consul. Entering the city at this point one gets into street that gets steeper and at the end of this street is a gate with the cross of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In addition to many buildings downtown there are also a few churches now used as mosques by the Turks.
I drew a picture of the gulf landscape as seen from where I was. Seen in the right part of the picture are the mountains of Sattalia. At the mouth of the harbor is a tower in ruins and surrounded with the sea all around…”
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