GUNPOWDER. , 175 



found of quenching it. We are told, some of their castellated 

 cats, (a covered shed, occasionally fixed on wheels, and which 

 had crenelles and chinks, from whence the archers could dis- 

 charge their arrows ; it was used for covering soldiers employed 

 in filling up the ditch, preparing the way for the moveable tower, 

 or mining the wall ; sometimes under the cover of this machine 

 the besiegers worked a small kind of ram,J were set on fire, but 

 the flames were extinguished. The Greek fire was thrown 

 thrice in the night from the petrary, and four times from a large 

 cros-bow : the blaze lighted by this composition was inextin- 

 guishable by water. Geoff ry de Vinesaiif, who accompanied 

 Richard I. to the crusade, says of it, " with a pernicious stench, 

 and livid flame, it consumes even flint and iron, nor could it be 

 extinguished by water ; but by sprinkling sand upon it the vio- 

 lence may be abated, and vinegar poured upon it will put it out." 

 To these, some add urine, and even oil. 



The following is a translation of some ancient lines, descrip- 

 tive of the general opinion of its properties : 



** May the fiend fly away with this odious Greek fire ! 

 " Not water to quench it, but sand we require; 

 ' Then vinegar's acid its influence must lend us, 

 " And lye in its turn too must help to defend us. 



" The Pagans alone by this pest are protected, 

 " * Gainst the Christians alone are its perils directed : 

 " By the Pagans 'tis armed by most foul incantation. 

 " Oh ! save us, kind Saviour, from such conflagration !" 



From other descriptions it appears, this composition was of 

 an unctuous and viscid nature, sticking to the objects against 

 which it was directed. In land engagements and sieges, it was 

 projected by the machines of the times, and at sea by hand, en- 

 closed in vessels or phials, in which it was also kept and trans- 

 ported; it was likewise sometimes fastened to the heads of 



