be amongst us; and as
soon as he heard the horn, he told us, in short, that we had nothing to
do but to charge them immediately, without loss of time; and, drawing us
up in a line, he asked, if we were resolved? We told him, we were ready
to follow him: so he rode directly up to them. They stood gazing at us,
like a mere crowd, drawn up in no order, nor shewing the face of any
order at all; but as soon as they saw us advance, they let fly their
arrows; which, however, missed us very happily: it seems they mistook
not their aim, but their distance; for their arrows all fell a little
short of us, but with so true an aim, that had we been about twenty
yards nearer, we must have had several men wounded, if not killed.

Immediately we halted; and though it was at a great distance, we fired,
and sent them leaden bullets for wooden arrows, following our shot full
gallop, resolving to fall in among them sword in hand; for so our bold
Scot that led us, directed. He was, indeed, but a merchant, but he
behaved with that vigour and bravery on this occasion, and yet with such
a cool courage too, that I never saw any man in action fitter for
command. As soon as we came up to them, we fired our pistols in their
faces, and then drew; but they fled in the greatest confusion
imaginable; the only stand any of them made was on our right, where
three of them stood, and, by signs, called the rest to come back to
them, having a kind of scimitar in their hands, and their bows hanging
at their backs. Our brave commander, without asking any body to follow
him, galloped up close to them, and with his fusil knocked one of them
off his horse, killed the second with his pistol, and the third ran
away; and thus ended our fight; but we had this misfortune attending it,
viz. that all our mutton that we had in chase got away. We had not a man
killed or hurt; but, as for the Tartars, there were about five of them
killed; how many were wounded, we knew not; but this we knew, that the
other party was so frighted with the noise of our guns, that they fled,
and never made any attempt upon us.

We were all this while in the Chinese dominions, and therefore the
Tartars were not so bold as afterwards; but in about five days we
entered a vast great wild desert, which held us three days and nights
march; and we were obliged to carry our water with us in great leather
bottles, and to encamp all night, just as I have heard they do in the
deserts of Arabia.

I a