There are besides, some hundred thousand great and holy men buried at Brússa. Many of their tombs I visited and said a Fátihah in remembrance of their noble spirits, but I do not know their names. In remembrance of those whom I have named, I said the Súra Yass, and recommended myself to their favour and assistance. I began my travels with visits to many great Saints, and said a Fátihah on behalf of all the Faithful. Health to you, and God’s mercy upon them all! During forty days and nights I enjoyed all kinds of pleasure at Brússa, and with my companions took leave of our friends on the 20th of Safer 1050; Okjí-zadeh Aghá accompanied us as far as the bridge of Nilúfer, from whence we reached Modania in four hours. Here we sent back our horses, embarked in a light boat, were tossed about by a stormy sea, and at last reached Bozborún with the greatest difficulty at the end of twenty-four hours. It was formerly a good harbour but was neglected because it did not afford sufficient shelter. There is a khán and a small mosque, some bakers and búza seller’s shops, and no other trace of good buildings, but it is surrounded with fine gardens. The walls of the mosque are covered with inscriptions by passengers complaining of this wretched place, there is no possibility of saying a word for it, because all who reach this point storm-beaten, have the same cause of complaint. The inscriptions are in different languages, all lamenting or cursing this place of Bozborún. One cannot refrain from laughing at some of these odd inscriptions, which are both in prose and verse. I was obliged to wait here two days, which I spent with ten or fifteen gay companions walking amongst the gardens and vineyards, which lie to the East, and eating pears. We walked about three thousand paces into the district of Armúdlí belonging to Brússa, from whence a Súbáshí is established here. It derives its name from the quantity of pears (Armúd) which grow on all the hills, in the valleys, gardens and vineyards. It is a village of three hundred neat houses, faced with brick, a mosque, a bath, three mesjíds, a khán and ten shops, the air is very pleasant. We spent a night here, and in the morning the boatmen advised us to make haste because the wind was favourable,which, God be praised, carried us out of this sad whirlpool of Bozborún. At cape Bábá-borún at the foot of Kátirlí-tágh we said a Fátihah in honour of Bábá Sultán, and beat up towards Constantinople. We arrived at last at Agios Stephanos (St. Stefano) which is ruled by a Súbáshí, under the Bostánjí-báshí of Constantinople, and by a guard of janissaries (Yassakjí Kúllúghí), it is in the district belonging to the Mollá of Eyyúb. In the time of the Infidels it was a large town, which was ruined at the siege of the Arabs by Omar Ibn-ul-azíz in the Khalifat of Súleimán Ibn Abd-allah. It is now a large Greek village of five hundred houses faced with brick. It has a convent, some small streets and two churches. We disembarked here and passed the night, walking next day along the sea shore for three hours to the garden of Iskander Chelebí, which belonged to the Defterdár of Sultán Selím II., who having died without children, the garden became an Imperial one. There is an Ustá or master with two hundred Bostánjí. The Muftí Hossein Efendí, who had been accused by his enemies of ambitious and dangerous schemes was first exiled to this place by Sultán Murád IV. and was afterwards seized by the Bostánjí-báshí, strangled and buried here. He is the first Muftí in the Ottoman history, who like the martyrs of Kerbela died a violent death; he could repeat forty thousand Fetwas by heart. We took horse here and rode along the shore in sight of our ship advancing by the aid of oars, with our baggage.
Thus returned I, poor Evliya, on the 25th Safer of the year 1050, to Constantinople, went the same day to my paternal house, and kissed the hands of my father and my mother. My father crossing his hands said: “Welcome, welcome, traveller of Brússa!” I was astonished to hear this as I had not told anybody where I was going to, but my father said: “In the night of A’shúra the 10th of Moharrem, when I was anxious about thy being lost, I performed many efficacious prayers, and read the Suna (Ena Atainak) a thousand times. The same night I saw in my dream that thou wast gone to Brússa to implore Emír Sultán’s assistance in thy travels. That same night I gave thee leave to go this journey, which may God bless! but now, my son, sit thee down, touch my left ear with thy right hand, and hear my paternal advice.” I did so, and he gave me many moral maxims, and much good advice on the manner of my travels, enjoining me to compose a faithful and detailed account of them; when he had finished he gave me a strong box on the ear, concluding his lesson with a Fátihah. I kissed my father’s hand, who then gave me twelve valuable books and two hundred well-coined ducats to provide for my travels, and gave me leave to set out for whatever place I liked. I then also kissed the hands of twelve great Sheikhs, and to my unspeakable joy obtained their blessings on my undertaking. This gave me great satisfaction, and the same week in the first days of Rebí-ul-evvel, I agreed with one of my relations Kúl Oghlí Mohammed Reis for a voyage to Ismíd (Nicomedia).