Chinese soldiers at the door. Having bought a camel, and agreed
for the price, I came away, and the Chinese that went with me led
the camel, when on a sudden came up five Tartars on horseback. Two
of them seized the fellow and took the camel from him, while the
other three stepped up to me and my old pilot, seeing us, as it
were, unarmed, for I had no weapon about me but my sword, which
could but ill defend me against three horsemen. The first that
came up stopped short upon my drawing my sword, for they are arrant
cowards; but a second, coming upon my left, gave me a blow on the
head, which I never felt till afterwards, and wondered, when I came
to myself, what was the matter, and where I was, for he laid me
flat on the ground; but my never-failing old pilot, the Portuguese,
had a pistol in his pocket, which I knew nothing of, nor the
Tartars either: if they had, I suppose they would not have
attacked us, for cowards are always boldest when there is no
danger. The old man seeing me down, with a bold heart stepped up
to the fellow that had struck me, and laying hold of his arm with
one hand, and pulling him down by main force a little towards him,
with the other shot him into the head, and laid him dead upon the
spot. He then immediately stepped up to him who had stopped us, as
I said, and before he could come forward again, made a blow at him
with a scimitar, which he always wore, but missing the man, struck
his horse in the side of his head, cut one of the ears off by the
root, and a great slice down by the side of his face. The poor
beast, enraged with the wound, was no more to be governed by his
rider, though the fellow sat well enough too, but away he flew, and
carried him quite out of the pilot’s reach; and at some distance,
rising upon his hind legs, threw down the Tartar, and fell upon
him.
In this interval the poor Chinese came in who had lost the camel,
but he had no weapon; however, seeing the Tartar down, and his
horse fallen upon him, away he runs to him, and seizing upon an
ugly weapon he had by his side, something like a pole-axe, he
wrenched it from him, and made shift to knock his Tartarian brains
out with it. But my old man had the third Tartar to deal with
still; and seeing he did not fly, as he expected, nor come on to
fight him, as he apprehended, but stood stock still, the old man
stood still too, and fell to work with his tackle to charge his
pistol again: but as soon as the Tartar saw the pistol away he
scoured, and left my pilot, my champion I called him afterwards, a
complete victory.
By this time I was a little recovered. I thought, when I first
began to wake, that I had been in a sweet sleep; but, as I said
above, I wondered where I was, how I came upon the ground, and what
was the matter. A few moments after, as sense returned, I felt
pain, though I did not know where; so I clapped my hand to my head,
and took it away bloody; then I felt my head ache: and in a moment
memory returned, and everything was present to me again. I jumped
upon my feet instantly, and got hold of my sword, but no enemies
were in view: I found a Tartar lying dead, and his horse standing
very quietly by him; and, looking further, I saw my deliverer, who
had been to see what the Chinese had done, coming back with his
hanger in his hand. The old man, seeing me on my feet, came
running to me, and joyfully embraced me, being afraid before that I
had been killed. Seeing me bloody, he would see how I was hurt;
but it was not much, only what we call a broken head; neither did I