arshy ground, walled round with a stone wall, piled up dry,
without mortar or earth among it, like a park, with a little guard of
Chinese soldiers at the doors. Having bought a camel, and agreed for the
price, I came away; and the Chinese man, that went with me, led the
camel, when on a sudden came up five Tartars on horseback: two of them
seized the fellow, and took the camel from him, while the other three
stepped up to me and my old pilot; seeing us, as it were, unarmed, for I
had no weapon about me but my sword, which could but ill defend me
against three horsemen. The first that came up stopped short upon my
drawing my sword; (for they are arrant cowards) but a second coming upon
my left, gave me a blow on the head, which I never felt till afterwards,
and wondered, when I came to myself, what was the matter with me, and
where I was, for he laid me flat on the ground; but my never-failing old
pilot, the Portuguese (so Providence, unlooked for, directs deliverances
from dangers, which to us are unforeseen,) had a pistol in his pocket,
which I knew nothing of nor the Tartars neither; if they had, I suppose
they would not have attacked us; but cowards are always boldest when
there is no danger.

The old man, seeing me down, with a bold heart stepped up to the fellow
that had struck me, and laying hold of his arm with one hand, and
pulling him down by main force a little towards him with the other, he
shot him into the head, and laid him dead on the spot; he then
immediately stepped up to him who had stopped us, as I said, and before
he could come forward again (for it was all done as it were in a moment)
made a blow at him with a scimitar, which he always wore, but, missing
the man, cut his horse into the side of his head, cut one of his ears
off by the root, and a great slice down the side of his face. The poor
beast, enraged with the wounds, was no more to be governed by his rider,
though the fellow sat well enough too; but away he flew, and carried him
quite out of the pilot's reach; and, at some distance, rising upon his
hind legs, threw down the Tartar, and fell upon him.

In this interval the poor Chinese came in, who had lost the camel, but
he had no weapon; however, seeing the Tartar down, and his horse fallen
upon him, he runs to him, and seizing upon an ugly ill-favoured weapon
he had by his side, something like a pole-axe, but not a pole-axe
either, he wrenched it from him, and made shift to knock his Tartar