'The island of Sömbeki'
em Selected Stories of Seyahatname de Evliya Çelebi (1611-1682),
"This time we went to the castle of Erceki. This is a quadrangle castle in the seaside, in Rahiyye in the land of Mentese. It has a beautiful harbour which has the capacity for two hundred ships. In the harbour, cold water flows coming from the mountains. We went 8 miles far from that harbour. When we reached the foreland Kadirga, Rodos appeared. (...)
The island of Sömbeki was conquered by Suleyman Khan in 928. It consisted of three castles previously but now it is a castle in the form of Malta away from the sea. It has private soldiers. The people living on that island are very valiant. They wear black hats. They swim very well and take out sponge in ten fathoms. They find goods as if they have put themselves in the ships which have sunk. They do not let their daughters get married to a person who cannot dive as deep as ten fathoms. They take olive oil into their mouth and they release it when they dive into the sea. Then there come out bubbles, so that even a needle is seen very clearly at the bottom of the sea. Any pirate ships cannot reach their ships. Their women wrap themselves in white turban as dressing. This island does not have any vineyards or gardens. Its water is cistern."
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