"My
Departure, Sir, Gives Me Much Distress; But Since You Judge It Proper, I
Make No More Objections, And Am Ready To Obey Your Orders.
Wherever I may
go, I shall speak of your great power and goodness, and the honours I
have received
From your majesty, and shall exhort all the princes of
Christendom to join their forces with you against the common enemy." My
speech pleased the king, and he answered me kindly according to his
wonted manner. After retiring from this andienqe, the king sent some
Persian robes to the patriarch and me, made of fine stuff and very
beautifully ornamented, and presented each of us with a horse and some
money to assist us during our journey.
We remained two days at Tauris after the kings departure, and set out on
the 10th of June to rejoin the court, which was then encamped in a
pleasant spot among excellent pastures and plenty of fine wells; about
twenty-five miles from Tauris. We remained there till the pastures were
eaten bare, and then marched about fifteen miles farther. On the 27th of
June the king gave us our final audience, at which he gave us presents
for our respective sovereigns; that is to say, to the patriarch for the
Duke of Burgundy; to myself for the republic; and to one Marcus Ruffus,
who had come with an embassy from the prince of Muscovy. The presents
consisted in certain pieces of workmanship made in the European fashion,
two swords, and certain ornaments for the head, which are usually
fastened to bonnets. There were two Persian ambassadors in the audience-
chamber, one of whom was destined on a mission into Russia. At length the
king turning towards the patriarch and me, addressed us nearly as follows:
"You will return with all speed to your masters, and will tell them and
all the other Christian princes from me, that I have used all diligence
in taking the field to make war on the Turks, as it had been concerted
between them and me. The emperor of the Turks is at present in
Constantinople, and will make no enterprize of importance this year. As
for myself, I propose sending one part of my army to reduce my rebellious
son, and another against the Turkish generals, while I shall remain here
at hand, to act against the enemy as occasion may require." He gave
orders, both to us and to his own ambassadors, to report this to all the
princes of Christendom. I did not receive these orders with more
satisfaction than I had done the former; but I had no means of escape and
must necessarily obey. Wherefore, having taken our leaves, we prepared
for our departure, and were unexpectedly commanded to remain till next
day. In the mean time, he conveyed a great part of his infantry during
the night to the other side of a mountain. Next morning early, the
_Ruiscasson_, or conductor of ambassadors, carried us to the top of the
hill, as meaning to confer with us on some important subject, and on the
appearance of the Persian infantry under march, he pointed them out to us
as if he had been surprised at seeing so many additional troops coming to
the royal camp. The better to favour this deception, some of his slaves
exclaimed as astonished, that there were a great many soldiers, and that
at least 10,000 were coming to reinforce the army. But we easily saw
through the contrivance, and were certain that these pretended new troops
were merely the ordinary royal escort, which had only changed their
position to impose upon us. After this little comedy, the _Ruiscasson_
gave us the royal letters for our masters, and we returned to our tents.
From the information of M. Josaphat and others, the military force of
this king cannot exceed 20,000 cavalry, some of whom have wooden bucklers
about eighteen inches long. Others have a kind of cuirasses made of very
thin plates of steel, which they wear over their ordinary habits. Their
usual arms are bows and arrows, and cimeters, while some have small
leathern targets covered with silk, and others carry helmets and
cuirasses. Their horses are beautiful and vigorous, and very numerous. In
regard to the manners of the Persians, and the state of the kingdom, I
shall mention what I know of these subjects as occasion may offer during
the recital of my travels; but I do not think it proper to weary my
readers with any lengthened detail.
SECTION V.
_Journey of Contarini from Persia, through Georgia and Mingrelia, to the
city Phasis._
Being entirely ready to depart on the 1st of July, we took leave of M.
Josaphat Barbaro in his tent, when we mutually shed tears in sincere
grief at our separation. Having recommended myself to the protection of
God, I mounted on horseback, and began my journey, accompanied by the
patriarch of Antioch, Marcus Ruffus the Muscovite, and the two Persian
ambassadors, intending to return by way of Phasis, which is under the
dominion of Uzun-Hassan. To this route we were advised by certain birds
of bad augury, who were omens of the terrible dangers we had to encounter
in the sequel. Coming to the villages of the catholic Armenians, formerly
mentioned, we were well received by their bishops, and attended the mass
regularly during three days that we had to remain here, laying in a stock
of provisions for the journey. From thence we came to the frontiers of
Georgia, travelling through plains interspersed with hills, and arrived
on the 12th of July at _Typsi_[1], which is subject to the king of the
Georgians. This city stands upon a hill, at the foot of which runs the
river _Tigre_, and it is defended by a good castle on the summit of an
eminence. It was formerly a celebrated place, but is at present almost
utterly ruined, though beginning to revive, and contains many good
catholics.
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