e indebted for this curious particular to the
Dynasties of Abulpharagius, p. 116; but it is needless to prove the
identity of Estachar and Persepolis, (D'Herbelot, p. 327;) and still
more needless to copy the drawings and descriptions of Sir John Chardin,
or Corneillo le Bruyn.]

[Footnote 32: After the conquest of Persia, Theophanes adds,
(Chronograph p. 283.)]

[Footnote 33: Amidst our meagre relations, I must regret that D'Herbelot
has not found and used a Persian translation of Tabari, enriched, as he
says, with many extracts from the native historians of the Ghebers or
Magi, (Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 1014.)]

The flight of Yezdegerd had carried him beyond the Oxus, and as far
as the Jaxartes, two rivers [34] of ancient and modern renown, which
descend from the mountains of India towards the Caspian Sea. He was
hospitably entertained by Takhan, prince of Fargana, [35] a fertile
province on the Jaxartes: the king of Samarcand, with the Turkish tribes
of Sogdiana and Scythia, were moved by the lamentations and promises of
the fallen monarch; and he solicited, by a suppliant embassy, the more
solid and powerful friendship of the emperor of China. [36] The virtuous
Taitsong, [37] the first of the dynasty of the Tang may be justly
compared with the Antonines of Rome: his people enjoyed the blessings
of prosperity and peace; and his dominion was acknowledged by forty-four
hordes of the Barbarians of Tartary. His last garrisons of Cashgar and
Khoten maintained a frequent intercourse with their neighbors of the
Jaxartes and Oxus; a recent colony of Persians had introduced into China
the astronomy of the Magi; and Taitsong might be alarmed by the rapid
progress and dangerous vicinity of the Arabs. The influence, and perhaps
the supplies, of China revived the hopes of Yezdegerd and the zeal
of the worshippers of fire; and he returned with an army of Turks to
conquer the inheritance of his fathers. The fortunate Moslems, without
unsheathing their swords, were the spectators of his ruin and death.
The grandson of Chosroes was betrayed by his servant, insulted by the
seditious inhabitants of Merou, and oppressed, defeated, and pursued by
his Barbarian allies. He reached the banks of a river, and offered his
rings and bracelets for an instant passage in a miller's boat. Ignorant
or insensible of royal distress, the rustic replied, that four drams of
silver were the daily profit of his mill, and that he would not suspend
his