Part 21 (1/2)

By this time we had proceeded so to find the Russians back to back under every bush, did not knohat course to pursue, when the decision was soon made for us by the appearance of the serdar, who, followed by his cavalry, was seen retreating in all haste from before the enemy It was evident that his enterprise had entirely failed, and nothing was left for the whole army but to return whence it came

I will not attempt to draw a picture of the miserable aspect of the serdar?s troops; they all looked harassed and worn down by fatigue, and seemed so little disposed to rally, that one and all, as if by tacit consent, proceeded straight on their course ho back But as ree were raised those of our commander He so talked of his prowess, of the wound he had received, and of his intended feats, that at length, seizing a spear, he put his horse at the full gallop, and overtaking his own cook, asthe best of his way to his pots and pans, darted it at him, in the exuberance of his valour, and actually pierced hiirdle

Thus ended an expedition which the serdar expected would have given hilory and of Muscovites? heads; and which, the chief executioner flattered hi for the re its total failure, till, he had ingenuity enough to discover ratulation

Surrounded by a circle of his adherents, ast who, when a ht be sent to hier, and the first words which the serdar said, uponbefore him, were, ?Where is Yusuf? Where is his wife??

It i on one of e of their an to roll his eyeballs about, and to twist up his rossest and eance upon hi and everybody in the least connected with him; and whilst he expressed a total disbelief of aave me to understand, that if I was found to have been in the sree an accessory to his escape, he would use all his influence to sweep my vile person from the face of the earth

I afterwards heard that he had sent a party ofbefore hied to them; to take possession of their property, and to burn and destroy whatever they could not bring away: but the sagacious and active youth had foreseen this, and had taken his measures with such prudence and promptitude, that he had completely baffled the tyrant

He, his wife, his wife?s relations, his own parents and faround behind theration into the Russian territory It had fully succeeded, as I afterwards heard, for they were received with great kindness, both by the government and by their own sect; lands were allotted, and every help afforded them for the re-establishment of their losses

CHAPTER XLII

He proceeds to the king?s carand scale

I returned to my chief full of apprehension at the threat which I had received; and knowing how very tenacious all our great men are of power over their own servants, I did not fail ie which the serdar had entertained me with He became furious, and I had only to fan the flame which I had raised in order to create a quarrel between the me than I had confidence in the ability of the chief executioner to protect ht it best for all parties that I should retire from the scene, and craved my master?s permission to return to Tehran

Pleased with an opportunity of showing the serdar that no body but himself could control his servants, he at once assented to ive rand vizier touching the late expedition, and particularly in what light I was to place his own individual prowess

?You yourself were there, Hajji,? said he to me, ?and therefore can describe the whole action as well as I could We cannot precisely say that we gained a victory, because, alas! we have no heads to show; but we also were not defeated The serdar, ass that he is, instead of waiting for the artillery, and availing himself of the infantry, attacks a walled toith his cavalry only, and is very ates, and fire at hi, and retires in disgrace Had I been your leader, things would have gone otherwise; and as it was, I was the only man who came hand to hand with the enemy I ounded in a desperate manner; and had it not been for the river between us, not a man of them would have been left to tell the tale You will say all this, and asrand vizier, and to the different men in office, and an _arizeh_ (a memorial) to the Shah, he ordered me to depart; I found the Shah still encah the autu to Tehran near at hand I presented rand vizier?s levee, with several other couriers, from different parts of the empire, and delivered my dispatches When he had inspected mine, he called me to him, and said aloud, ?You are welcome! You also were at Hamamlu? The infidels did not dare to face the _Kizzil bashes_, eh? The Persian horseman, and the Persian sword, after all, nobody can face

Your khan, I see, has been wounded; he is indeed one of the Shah?s best servants Well it was no worse You must have had hot work on each bank of the river?

To all of this, and much more, I said ?Yes, yes,? and ?no, no,? as fast as the necessity of the re looked upon as a man just come out of a battle The vizier then called to one of his mirzas or secretaries, ?Here,? said he, ?you must make out a _fatteh nameh_ (a proclamation of victory), which must immediately be sent into the different provinces, particularly to Khorassan, in order to overawe the rebel khans there; and let the account be suited to the dignity and character of our victorious monarch We are in want of a victory just at present; but, recollect, a good, substantial, and bloody victory?

?Howtowards me

?_Bisyar, bisyar,_and ereeable that I should say

?Put down fifty thousand,? said the vizier coolly

?Howfirst at the vizier, then at me

?Write ten to fifteen thousand killed,? answered the reat distance It is beneath the dignity of the Shah to kill less than his thousands and tens of thousands Would you have his must be drinkers of blood, and slayers of men, to be held in esti nations Well, have you written??

said the grand vizier

?Yes, at your highness?s service,? answered thefros of Moscovites (who fires!) dared to appear in arms to the number of fifty thousand, flanked and supported by a hundredfire and brimstone; but that as soon as the all-victorious arave up their souls; whilst prisoners poured in in such vast numbers, that the prices of slaves have diminished 100 per cent in all the slave-rand vizier ?You have written well