Part 9

On the same night the Infidels in the fortress, made an immense noise by shouts and fireworks, which was caused by the arrival of ten thousand Cossacks, who came by the Tanais to the assistance of the castle, and did not cease firing all night, so that seven hundred men were killed. The next day the Tátár Khán and the Páshá of Silistra placed watches on the shore of the Tanais to prevent further reinforcement of the Infidels, foraging parties were sent out, the trenches opened in seven places, and on the side of the monument of Yogúrdí-Baba pushed to the edge of the ditch. The camp of the Moslims was out of reach of the cannon-shot from the castle. Next day Hossein Páshá, prepared twelve large cannon for the attack in the trench of Yogúrdí-Baba; and at the same time the Admiral Seyawúsh Páshá landed troops from a hundred boats, who entered the trenches from the side of the water tower. These boats (firkata), guarded the side of Úlúton, Deriton, Kánlijah, Uzegí and the island of Timúr. Above the water tower the troops of Anatoli with eight large guns, and ten regiments of janissaries entered the trenches; at those on the south was posted the troops of Karamania with six regiments; on the western suburb of Tayák, the governor of Silistra Canán Páshá led ten regiments of janissaries, one of armourers, and one of artillerymen, with ten large guns in the trenches. In short the castle was battered on seven sides by seventy large and small cannon, and the Infidels firing on their side, a terrible contest ensued during seven hours till daybreak, with an incredible noise and roaring. In the morning seven hundred martyrs were found, whose goods were consigned to the revenue. The fire was renewed, and the houses of the town dashed to pieces, but the walls having been strongly built by the Genoese, continued to resist. This lasted seven days, during which the Commander-in-chief continually made the round of the trenches, encouraging the Moslim warriors with words and presents, and carrying every thing on with deliberation. Several breaches being opened some volunteers ascended one of them, without order, and planted the Ottoman banner on the wall, which being seen by the Cossacks, they rushed on in superior numbers, and crushed many of them by throwing down a leaden basket. The rest, however, defended their post so well on the walls, that in the end the Ottoman banner was planted on seven places, and the Mohammedan prayer proclaimed. The Infidels getting new strength and rushing on like a herd of swine, with the cry “Ne bose,” drove back the Moslim victors, so that many standards and bodies remained on the breaches, and the victors solaced themselves with the idea that the conquest was predestined for another day. For ten days more the Infidels were kept in continual anxiety. Four thousand Cossacks who came to the assistance of the fortress in forty boats (firkata) were attacked by Canán Páshá, who brought his guns to bear upon them so completely, that more than a thousand men perished, and the Moslíms made an immense booty, which was some comfort for the hardships they had to struggle with. They rejoiced in the idea that the general assault was near, because of all the towers of the town there now remained but one, all the rest having been levelled with the dust by the seventy pieces of artillery. But the Infidels now intrenched themselves underground like so many Ferháds, and again fortified themselves in such a manner, that whenever an attempt was made to overwhelm them by a mine, they averted it, and threw the earth dug up for an intrenchment into the river. They were most able miners also, and continued to make mines even underneath the river, with resined boats. Thus they stopped the Ottoman army for the space of forty days, during which, notwithstanding great vigilance, many thousand Infidel Cossacks found means to enter the Castle by throwing themselves naked into the Tanais, and swimming across under water with a reed in their mouths; their arms and ammunition were put into leathern jacks, which they threw behind them while swimming, and thus relieved the fortress. To prevent this the Moslims shut the Tanais with a wall of stakes impenetrable even to fish, and by this means got great riches from the Infidels, who now having lost all hope of succour continued the war underground, killing a great number of the besiegers. A rumour began to spread that the Czar of Russia was coming with twenty thousand men, and this rumour, though it was only an invention of the enemy, caused a great deal of disturbance. A great council of war of all the commanders and officers was assembled to take into consideration, that though there was now no walls left, yet it had hitherto been found impossible to take the Castle; that a sedition of the janissaries, who are not obliged to continue above forty days in the trenches, was to be feared; that the winter was drawing near, when the Sea of Assov freezes, when all communication would be intercepted, and no safety for the fleet after the day of Kássim (S. Demetrius); that there would be no shelter nor provisions for the army, the country of the Infidels being on the north, and the salt steppes of Heihát on the east and south. After a long consultation, in which all these topics were touched upon, Canán Páshá and Piále Aghá, the Kiaya of the Arsenal, proposed to fix the general assault for the next morning. The Fátíhah being read on this resolution, great joy was spread in the Ottoman camp; seven thousand swords, two thousand shields, two thousand muskets, five thousand bows, forty thousand arrows, six thousand halberds, five thousand granades, and many thousand other articles of arms were distributed amongst the army, the cannons fired from seven sides and the shout of Allah raised so that it filled the steppes of Kipchák. The Moslims rushed into the castle and penetrated into the inmost recess of it, where they hoisted the banner and proclaimed the prayer of Islám.

The guns were now silenced, and the swords alone were clashing. During seven hours and a half the Mussulmáns were raging in the castle like wolves amongst sheep, and stained with blood like butchers. It was a complete victory to which none can be compared excepting those of Kossova and Mohacs. The rest of the Infidels hidden beneath the ground, now set fire to the mines, and sent by that means great numbers of the Moslim besiegers to Heaven; others shot them from the loopholes so that they were in great distress. It being now near sunset, and the victors being exhausted by fatigue and hunger, were called on to retire by the Chaúshes, who admonished them to leave the end to the next day. They carried an immense deal of booty with them, arms of all kinds and three thousand heads of Infidels, besides one thousand and sixty prisoners. A general salute was fired, and the martyrs buried, after the funeral prayer was said over them. The wounded and maimed received pensions, and were given into the hands of the surgeons. Those who brought heads received a reward of a hundred piastres, and those who had made prisoners were allowed to keep them. Chelenks, ziámets, timárs, and all kind of military rewards were distributed, and the property of seven hundred janissaries who were killed was made over to the revenue. Of the troops on the seven sides of the attack one thousand two hundred men became martyrs and ascended to Heaven. On this night the Infidels made incredible efforts to repair the works of the castle, by raising walls and digging ditches, opening loopholes and pointing guns. The foundations of the castle resembled the wall of Gog and Magog, to the great consternation of the Moslims, who solaced themselves, saying: “Man proposes and God disposes,” recommending their business to God. They continued the war, but not with the same unanimity, though not with less zeal than before. A great council of war was held, under the consideration that there now remained only forty days to Kássim (S. Demetrius). The result of the council was, that Geraï-Khán, with seventy thousand regular troops, and eight hundred thousand horse, was ordered to ravage the provinces of Russia. So they did, and this Tátár army returned on the 14th day to the Ottoman camp at Assov, with forty-five thousand prisoners and two hundred thousand horses as booty, besides a great number of valuable things, pelisses, rich cloth, &c. By this arrival, the hearts of the Moslims were comforted, and those of the Infidels afflicted, when they saw the triumphal procession with the prisoners fettered, and the crosses upset. Since the time of Jenguíz Khan the Tátárs had not made a richer booty. This sight raised a howl among the Infidels in the castle, who pierced the skies with their lamentations. The same night seventy Infidels, hungry and sad, left the castle, and were brought into the presence of the Commander-in-Chief, Hossein Páshá. Some of them embraced the Islám, and received presents, then were sent altogether to the castle of Khoros Kermán near Assov.

By this immense booty every thing became immensely cheap in the Ottoman camp, so that a horse was sold for one piastre, a girl for five, and a boy for six piastres. The safe return of the Tátár army was celebrated by a triple salute of muskets and guns, and the whole camp illuminated during the night. But winter drawing near, a new council was held, all the seniors of the regular troops and of the Tátárs agreed, and signed unanimously a petition of three hundred signatures of Vezírs, and officers of all ranks, saying: “that for this year it was impossible to take the castle, that one of the Russian Capitals had been laid waste, that seventy thousand Infidels had been taken prisoners, and more than one hundred thousand destroyed by the sword.” At the same time two of the prisoners, who had been instructed accordingly, were sent back into the castle to say; “that if the Turks had intended to take the castle, they might have taken it in a month, but their object was to pillage the Russian countries, and to return with a rich booty, which they had now accomplished.” The same night as the messengers went off to Constantinople there was such a hard frost that all the Moslim warriors thought they could not stand it, and by this specimen found out that the salt steppe of Heihát was as unmerciful as the Black Sea. At last the despair of conquering the castle becoming general, the whole army at once resolved to raise the siege. The trumpets were sounded, the artillery and ammunition embarked and carried to Bálisíra, where the fleet was lying at anchor. The army returned by different ways, some by sea and some by land, to Constantinople; some by the desert of Kipchák in six days and nights to the river Kúbán, to Circassia, Taman and Crimea; some through the steppes (Heihát), returned by the north into their native country Circassia. When the Imperial fleet weighed for Constantinople I got permission, from the Commander-in-Chief Hossein Páshá, to accompany the Khán of Crimea into his country, and the Imperial fleet sailed, trusting in God, through the sea of Assov.

JOURNEY TO THE CRIMEA.

I left Assov in company with the army of Geraï Khán of eighty thousand men, and twenty thousand Infidels of Moldavia and Valachia, and crossed the Tanais with them, which disembogues at the end of the sea of Assov. The water being shallow in the great Don, it was passed by eight hundred thousand horsemen without the least difficulty, the water reaching only to the stirrups. The Tátárs tied their jacks and luggage to the tails of their horses, and in the space of twenty-one hours, the whole army reached the opposite steppes of Heihát.

At the station of Búrebaí, opposite to the western side of Assov, a branch of the Don flows in its way to the sea of Assov, where it disembogues in three different channels; as it runs through reeds for a great distance, it is not very sweet: the complexion of the inhabitants on its shores is yellow, and they have a kind of excrescence or crop on the neck. The whole army halted here, as on a pleasant flowery meadow, and three hundred horses were slaughtered and eaten up that evening. It was here that I ate horseflesh for the first time. Though I belonged to the Tátár Khán, yet I lived with Kiá Beg of the tribe of Mássúrlí, who have their Yúrds (encampments) in Crimea; the district of Mankis Eli on the side of Gozlava is their Yúrd. Their horses are extremely fat, and their flesh can hardly be distinguished from roes’ flesh, and is easy to digest. Next morning the kettle-drums beat, and after a march of nine hours we arrived at the river Sud, which the whole army crossed, and halted on the other side, but the ground being extremely marshy, one hundred horses and fifty slaves were lost in the marshes. This river issues from the western mountains of Russia and here enters the sea of Assov. The name Sud or milk-river is derived from its whitish colour, which it contracts from the different metallic strata over which it passes in its course. It is not good for drinking, and causes crops or swellings on the necks of those who drink of it. There are seventy cultivated towns and villages on both sides of this river, but they are not very flourishing on account of the depredations of the Crimea Tátárs. These places all belong to the Russians.

We left this place and came to the river Mús, a large river which we passed over with the greatest difficulty at this cold season, the arms being all put in leather jacks. It is fresh water like that of the Don, Dnieper, and Danube, and contains excellent fish. It comes from the northern mountains of Russia. We crossed it, and next day when the Kettle-drums were beaten for departure, the snow had fallen three cubits deep. We slept that night on the snow of the field of Kipchák, and arrived next day at the station of Búrúmbaí; here we slept again on the snow, and on the following day after sixteen hours ride, reached the frontier of Crimea.

The moment we entered the castle of Orághzí, Kara Rejíb Aghá, the Courier of the great Vezír Kara Mustafa Páshá, with twenty horsemen arrived from Constantinople, and after having heard the sad story of the impossibility to take Assov, took letters from the Khán, and returned to Constantinople. I poor Evlíya entered the town of Bágcheseraï with the Khán, and was assigned a house there on the borders of the valley of Chúrúksú (rotten water) where I quietly passed the winter without travelling one step. But the Khán to prevent the Infidels sending reinforcements to the castle of Assov, made three excursions with between forty and fifty thousand horsemen even up to the guns of Assov, bringing back prisoners. His Vezír (the Kalgha Sultán) made also three expeditions into the interior of Russia, and returned with ten thousand slaves and a great deal of booty to Crimea. In the beginning of spring came Hassan Aghá the Chamberlain of the Sublime Porte bringing to the Khán twelve thousand ducats as boot-money, and an Imperial diploma commanding him to be ready to take the field, with the commencement of the fine season, against Assov. The Khán received the orders with all signs of submission and duty, the horses were put to feed in the meadows for forty days, after which the army broke up again to return to Assov, the garrison of which, weighing all the hardships of siege, their losses, and the impossibility of holding the fortress finally against the Ottoman power, abandoned it and fled with their arms and effects to different other Castles.

The Tátár Khán having arrived on the border of the river Sud, heard of the flight of the garrison from some prisoners he had taken, and made the greatest possible haste to reach the fortress. He found it empty, not only of men, but also of animals, neither dog, cat nor mouse being seen; only one Genoese tower remained standing. The Tátár Khán then sent the welcome news to Constantinople. On the eleventh day some Russian spies coming from Constantinople were taken and brought before the Tátár Khán. They confessed freely and openly, that there were forty spies at the Port, who, having been aware of the immense preparations of the Ottoman Army, had given notice to the garrison to leave the Castle, and that arriving there themselves, they had fallen into the hands of the Tátárs. These three spies were beheaded. On the 13th day of this month the Ottoman army arrived with great pomp, commanded by Chowán Kapújí-báshí Vezir Mohammed Páshá, and found the fortress empty. They ascribed it at first to some infernal stratagem of the Infidels, and waited three days, on the fourth day Moslim prayer was proclaimed, and all the Moldavians and Valachians were commanded to work on the foundations and to build them anew. They dug three days till they came to springs of water; the ships were all busy carrying stones from an old Convent in the island of Timúrlenk, and the work of building was begun. In one month two towers were finished, stronger than the former Genoese towers, and the histories of Crimea record the date of its building and name of the builder. It was declared the seat of a Sanjak Beg belonging to the government of Kaffa, a Begler-Beg was left as commander with twenty regiments of Janissaries, six regiments of artillerymen, ten regiments of armourers, seven thousand Tátárs, seven Sanjak Begs, and twelve Alaï Begs, with twenty-six thousand men; seventy large guns on the bulwarks, and three hundred small ones on the border of the ditch. The complete repair and fitting out cost the sum of five thousand purses. During its building the Tátárs made seven inroads into Russia, and returned with from fifteen to twenty thousand prisoners to the Ottoman camp, so that the prisoners were sold for no more than ten piastres each. At last the King of the Moscovites imploring pardon and crying out, Amán! Amán! (pardon O Family of Osmán!) sent ambassadors to Constantinople. The building being nearly finished, the Commander-in-Chief Mahommed Páshá returned to Constantinople, and the rest of the army got permission to return to their homes. I again followed the tribe of Mássúrlí, and came with them to Crimea. We took our pleasure for twenty days in Bágcheseraï, then got permission from the Khán to return to Constantinople, with a present of a purse of piastres, three slaves, a sable pelisse, and a caftán. The Kalgha Sultán and Núr-ud-dín Sultán (the two first dignities of the Tátár court) and fourteen Aghás, gave me a slave each, so that I had a number of slaves and four purses of money; to these slaves I added the eighteen which I had acquired on my travels from Trebisonde to Mingrelia and Abaza, took leave of the Khán and all the great men, and mounted on the horses of the Kalgha-Sultán, began my journey in company with some friends, who remained with me till we arrived at Káchidere. There we parted, all my friends returned to Bágcheseraï, and I continued my way to the south for the space of six hours to Báliklava.

_Description of the Castle of Báliklava._

Prevented by warlike expeditions from visiting with leisure the curiosities of Crimea, I dare not give a description of it; such is also the case with the castle of Báliklava. Having embarked here with three hundred persons on board of the Shaika of Úchelí Sefer Reis, I slept on board, troubled by heavy dreams; on the next day I went on shore, to do away the evil of the night by some alms, and next day got clear of the port in an evil hour, succeeded, as the text of the Korán says, by worse days. One day and one night we went straight before the wind, and were then about the middle of the Black Sea. The mountains of Báliklava and Súlúyár had disappeared, neither were those of Sinope and Amassra to be seen, and we were tossed about without well knowing where we were going to. All at once an easterly gale sprung up with thundering clouds, at the appearance of which the boatmen changed colour, and began to wring their hands; they looked at the compass, and then on each other, and already made up their minds to lose their souls. An old sailor said to them; “Lads (Dais!) don’t you see the forerunners of a tempest, what are you afraid of? Lower the topmast with the sail.” This they did, but the ship going too heavy, they threw the bags, mats, casks and trunks that were on deck into the sea; they stowed two hundred young prisoners below (Enbár) and closed the hatches. Thus the ship was lightened, but still terribly tossed by the effect of the currents. Verse:—

“If in the storm my bark drives on the strand, What shall I do? none can the winds command.”