But Arch-duke Ferdinand, on the other side, returned to Ferdinand his Father, with the deserved Laurel of Victory, having performed an Exploit, not only of great Advantage for the present, but of much greater Benefit to future Ages, by the Example it gave; for hereby he made the Turks to know that if they proceeded on to press upon Cæsar, he wanted neither able Soldiers, nor expert Commanders to chastise their Insolency.
Yet the Turks of those Borders did not carry it with any great Modesty; for, while Haly was yet encamped at Sigeth, our Men had scaled the Walls of Gran, and taken the City, having a Castle near it of the same Name, where they got a great deal of Booty, and carried away the Inhabitants, being mostly Women and Children.
A Messenger was sent immediately to Haly, to acquaint him of the Loss; who coming into his Presence, by the very Consternation of his Countenance portended some great Mischief to have happened to them. The Bassa presently asked him, how Things went? and what was the Cause of his great Fear? Sir, says he, the Enemy hath taken and plundered Gran; which great Blow occasions my Grief. A Blow, Fool, says the Bassa! tell me of a Blow when I have lost my Genitals (to which he pointed with his Hand) that shew me to be a Man. Thus did he scoff at the Consternation of the Messenger, not without the Laughter of the By-standers, and undervalued the Loss of Gran, which was easily recoverable.
Moreover, in Croatia and the adjoyning Countries, several Inroads were made by both Parties, and each side did alternately suffer for their over-boldness and supine Security. Let me give you an Instance, which, as it gave me joy, will not, I dare say, be unpleasant, to you to hear of. It happened, indeed, some what before the Passage at Sigeth lately mentioned; but in Writing an Epistle, I do not strictly observe the Order of Time.
News was brought to Rustan, from those Parts, that a certain Confident of his, whom he highly esteemed, and called Cousin, had fallen upon a Party of Christians, as they were celebrating a Wedding, and being at a sufficient Distance, as they thought, from the Turks, counted themselves secure; when behold this bold and unwelcome Guest, with Armed Forces, came in upon them, spoiled their Mirth, slew some, and took some Prisoners, among whom was the unfortunate Bridegroom, with his un-bedded Spouse: Rustan did much rejoyce at this Exploit, and in all Companies highly commended the Stratagem of his Kinsman, for performing it.
A pitiful Case, you will say, rather to be lamented than related: But these are the Tragical Sports of insolent Fortune; yet Revenge followed him at the Heels, Rustan’s Laughter was soon turned to Sadness: For a little while after one of the Deli’s, or mad Sparks, a sort of furious Horsemen among the Turks, so called by their outragious Boldness, came post to him out of Dalmatia, and told him, that a parcel of Turks had made an Excursion into the Enemies Country, and had got great Booty, but seting no bounds to their Avarice, they, at last were encountered with a Party of Christians, Dragoons or Musketeers, who totally routed them, slew many Sanziacks, and among them his Achillean Cousin, lately so much extolled by him. This sad News made Rustan burst out into Tears, so that his fit of Laughter was justly requited. But hearken to the close of the Story, which is not unpleasant: When this Dalmatian Trooper, who brought the News, was asked by the Bassa, in the Divan, How many were there of you? He answered, above two thousand five hundred: And how many of the Christians? I think, says he, they were not above five hundred, unless there were more of them in ambush, as we suspected. Fie for Shame, said the fretting Bassas! what! a regular Army of Mussulmans (so they call the Men of their own Religion) to be beaten by so small a handful of Christians! You are goodly Warriors indeed! fit to eat the Sultan’s Bread, are, you not? The blunt Fellow, nothing dismay’d, replied, you are quit beside the Cushion; did I not tell you that we were beaten by Musketeers? ’Twas the Fire defeated us, not the Valour of our Enemies. We had come off Conquerors, if we had contested by Valour only; but who can fight against Fire, the fiercest of Elements? and what Mortal can stand, if the very Elements fight against him? This bold Answer of his, being as saucily pronounced, made the By-standers ready to burst out into a Laughter, though on this sad occasion to them.
This Matter did very much raise my Spirits, which were quite sunk at the Remembrance of the former Mis-hap of the Marriage-Feast. This Story informs us, that our Pistols and Carbines, which are used on Horseback, are a great Terror to the Turks, as I hear they are to the Persians also; for once, there was a Fellow that persuaded Rustan, when he accompanied his Prince in a War against Persia, to arm two hundred Horse of his Domesticks with Pistols: For those, said he, will be terrible to our Enemy, and will also do great execution upon them. Rustan hearkned to his Counsel, and furnished out a Party, as advised; but, before they had marched half way, their Carbines or Pistols were ever now and then out of Order; one thing or other was broke or lost, and scarce any Body could mend them: Hereupon this Party was useless. The Turks were also against this Armature, because it was slovenly (the Turks, you must know, are much for cleanliness in War); for the Troopers Hands were black and sooty, their Cloaths full of Spots, and their Case-boxes that hung by their Sides made them ridiculous to their Fellow-Soldiers, who therefore jeered them, with the Title Medicamentarii, or Mountebank Soldiers; hereupon they apply themselves to Rustan, complaining of this broken, useless Armour, which could do no Service against an Enemy, and entreating to have their usual Weapons again, their Bows and Arrows; which, are readily granted them.
The mention I made a while ago of things acted in the Confines of Hungary, gives me occasion to tell you, what the Turks think of Duels, which amongst Christians is accounted a singular Proof of personal Valour. There was one Arslambeg, a Sanziack, that lived in the Frontiers of Hungary, who was very much famed for a robust Person; he was very expert at the Bow; no Man brandished his Sword with more Strength, or was more terrible to his Enemy. Not far from him there dwelt one Uliber, a Sanziack also, who was emulous of the same Praise; and this Emulation (heighten’d, perhaps, by other Motives) at length occasioned Hatred and many bloody Combats between them. It happened thus, Uliber was sent for to Constantinople; upon what occasion I know not. When he came thither, and the Bashaws had asked many Questions of him, in the Divan, concerning other Matters, at last they demanded how he and Arslambeg (Arsla signifies a Lion in Turkey) came to fall out? Hereupon he makes a long Narration of the Grudges between them, with their Causes and Progress; and to put a fairer Gloss on his own Cause, he added, that once Arslambeg had laid an Ambush, and wounded him treacherously: And that, said he, he needed not have done, if he would have shewed himself worthy the Name he bears; for I have often challenged him to fight Hand to Hand, and never shun’d to meet him in the Field. The Bashaws, much offended, thus replied, How durst thou challenge thy Fellow-Soldier to a Duel? What, was there never a Christian to fight with? Do not both of you eat your Emperor’s Bread? And yet, forsooth, you must go about to take away one another’s Lives! What Precedent had you for this? Don’t you know, that whoever of the two had died, the Emperor had lost a Subject? Whereupon, by their Command, he was haled to Prison, where he lay pining many Months, and was, at last, with Difficulty, released; yet with the loss of his Reputation.
Among us Christians, many who have never come in sight of a public Enemy, draw their Swords upon one another, and think it a brave and honourable Thing. What shall a Man do in such a Case, when Vice usurps the seat of Virtue, and that which deserves Punishment, is counted noble and glorious? But to return, I know you are inquisitive, and therefore give me leave to acquaint you with the public Entrance, which the King of Cholchos made into this City. His Kingdom is by the River Phasis, in a Creek or Bay of the Euxine Sea, not far from Mount Caucasus. His Name is Dadianus, a Man of a tall Stature and grateful Countenance, but of a rough-hew’n Disposition, as some say. He came with a great Train, but in a very Thread-bare, and old-fashion’d Garb. The Italians, at this Day, call the Colchians Mingrelians: They are some of that People, inhabiting between the Caspian Gates, (called by the Turks, Demit capi, i. e. Iron Gates,) and the Potic and Hyrcanian-Seas: They are at this Day called Georgians; whether from that sort of Christian Religion, which they profess, or whether that be their ancient Name (which seems most probable,) is not fully determined. The Albanians and Iberians are reckoned a Part of them. The Cause of his coming is uncertain: Some say, he was sent for by the Turk; for, when he makes Wars upon the Persian, if the Colchians and the People of that Tract join with him, they may give him notable Assistance. But the vulgar and more credible Opinion was, that he came to desire the Assistance of some Gallies against his Neighbour, the Iberian, who had slain his Father; which if he could obtain, then he would become Tributary to the Sultan. For, you must know, that there is an old and inveterate Hatred between the Colchians and the Iberians. Once there were some Overtures of Accommodation between them, and a Conference was had thereupon, between great Numbers of both Nations. At this Meeting, they began, first, to try who should be the greatest Drinkers; in which Contest, the Colchians, fell fast asleep. The treacherous Iberians made use of this Opportunity, and hurried away honest Dadianus as yet snoring, into a Chariot, and shut him up Prisoner in a high Tower, as if he had been lawful Prize taken in War. To revenge this Injury, and to recover their King, the Colchians levied an Army of 30,000 Men, who were commanded by the Wife of the captive King, a Woman of great Spirit, and not unskill’d in Horsemanship, or handling of Arms. The Commanders, in this Army, wore huge and unwieldy Coats of Mail, and were also armed with Swords and Spears pointed with Iron. They had also amongst them, a party of Musketeers, a strange sight in that Country. As for the common Soldiers, they had no Arms, but Arrows, or Stakes burnt at one end, or great wooden Clubs. Thus they rode on Horseback, without Saddle or other Furnture.
This rude and discomposed Multitude, drew near to the Place where their King was in Custody, but were soon terrified with the Discharge of a few Guns from the Castle, and ran back a full Mile; but then taking Heart, on they came again, but were repulsed with the like Noise as before. Dadianus, perceiving help so near, cut his Bedcloaths into a kind of Ropes, and so let himself down by Night, through his Window, and fled to his own People. This Stratagem of their King, and the successful Issue of it, is highly praised by that People, even to this very day.