ns, violators of peace
and alliance, have deserved the misery which they have brought upon
themselves by their own folly and pride, his majesty, the emperor, is
determined to defend, to the utmost, the possessions of a land,
conquered in a lawful war, in spite of the threats and fearless of the
strength of your unnatural alliance."

In a short time I had an army of forty thousand men ready for the coming
war: among these were eight thousand horsemen and two thousand riflemen.
The emperor, old as he was, determined to follow this campaign; his
eagerness and ambition were so great, that neither his wife's
representations nor mine were effective enough to induce him to abandon
this intention.

In this state of affairs, I was made somewhat uneasy from mistrust of
the Tanaquitians. I feared that, impatient of their unaccustomed
slavery, they would take the first opportunity to throw off their yoke,
and go over to the enemy. I did not deceive myself; for immediately
after the declaration of war, we heard that full twelve thousand
Tanaquitians in complete armor, had marched for the enemy's encampment.
Thus were we occupied at once with four mighty foes.

In the beginning of the month Kilian, we commenced our march. From a
spy, we learnt that the united troops had already besieged the fort
Sibol in Tanaqui, on the borders of Kispusianania. On our arrival before
the place, they abandoned the siege and prepared to meet us. The battle
took place in a dale near the fort, and is to this day called the
"Sibolic battle."

The Arctonians, who formed their left wing, made great havoc among our
cavalry; and, supported by the rebellious Tanaquites, fell furiously on
our right; a moment longer and the fate of the conflict would have been
determined. I detached a body of riflemen to engage the attention of the
enemy, and allow the cavalry to recover; this movement was very
effective; the men handled their guns well, and the enemy hastily
abandoned their ground, under a terrific shower of balls. Meanwhile,
the Kispusiananians on the other side pressed our infantry very hard;
six hundred Quamites were down: some killed, others mortally wounded.
The recovered cavalry now rushed upon them impetuously, broke their
ranks, and, unresisted, slaughtered them by thousands.

The Alectorians, who formed the reserve, gave us the greatest trouble,
for when our soldiers would attack them, they flew into the air, whence
they shot on our heads their p