that
preceded or followed the king, all covered with velvet or cloth of gold,
and all carrying two or three gilded banners. Many men afoot ran before
the king, carrying skins of water with which to sprinkle the road to
prevent dust from annoying him; and no one was allowed to approach the
coach on horseback by two furlongs.

[Footnote 208: The sling in the text appears to have been a _slung_
musquetoon, or small cannon, mounted in that manner to avoid
recoil.--E.]

Having gone before a-horseback, as before mentioned, I hastened to the
tents, to await the king's arrival. The royal encampment was walled
round, half a mile in circuit, in form of a fortress, with high screens
or curtains of coarse stuff; somewhat like Arras hangings, red on the
outside, the inside being divided into panes or compartments, with a
variety of figures. This inclosure had a handsome gateway, and the
circuit was formed into various coins and bulwarks, as it were; the
posts which supported the curtains being all surmounted with brass tops.
The throng was very great, and I wished to have gone into the enclosure,
but no one was allowed, even the greatest of the land having to sit down
at the gate. At length I was admitted, but the Persian ambassador and
all the nobles were refused. At this gate, and for the first time, I was
saluted by the Persian ambassador as I passed, by a silent _salam_.

In the midst of this enclosure, there stood a throne of mother-of-pearl,
borne aloft on two pillars, under cover of a high tent or pavilion, the
pole of which was headed by a golden knob, the roof being of cloth of
gold, and the ground covered by carpets. When the king came near,
several noblemen were admitted, together with the Persian ambassador;
all of us making a kind of lane, the ambassador being on one side, and I
on the other. As the king came in, he cast his eye on me, whereupon I
made him a reverence, to which he answered by bowing and laying his hand
on his breast. Turning to the other side, he nodded to the Persian. I
followed close at his heels till he ascended the throne, every one
calling out, _joy, health, and good fortune_. The king then called for
water, with which he washed his hands, and then retired into an interior
tent, to join his women, who had entered by another gate to their own
quarters; there being about thirty divisions with tents within the royal
inclosure. His son I saw not. All the noblemen now retired to their
quarters, which