908 AH. JULY 7th. 1502 TO JUNE 26th. 1503 AD. 177
passed it by ana turned straight up its water. In this position of our affairs there were eight men of us; Nasir's Dost, Qasim Beg's Qambar-'all, Bayan-qull's Khan-quli, Mlrza Qull Kukulddsh, Nasir's Shaham, Sayyidi Qara's 'Abdu'l-qadus, Khwaja HusainI and myself, the eighth. Turning up the stream, we found, in the broad valley, a good little road, far from the beaten track: We made straight up the valley, leaving the stream on the right, reached its waterless part and, near the Afternoon Prayer, got up out of it to level land. When we looked across the plain, we saw a blackness on it, far away. I made my party take cover and myself had gone to look out from higher ground, when a number of men came at a gallop up the hill behind us. Without waiting to know whether they were many or few, we mounted and rode off. There were 20 or 25; we, as has been said, were eight. If we had known their number at first, we should have made a good stand against them but we thought they would not be pursuing us, unless they had good support behind. A fleeing foe, even if he be many, cannot face a few pursuers, for as the saying is, 'Hal is enough for the beaten ranks.'1
Khan-quli said, ' This will never do ! They will take us all. From amongst the horses there are, you take two good ones and go quickly on with Mlrza Qull Kukulddsh, each with a led horse. May-be you wili get away.' He did not speak ill; as there wa? no fighting to hand, there was a chance of safety in doing as he said, but it really would not have looked well to leave any man alone, without a horse, amongst his foes. In the end they all dropped off, one' by one, of themselves. My horse was a little tired; Khan-quli dismounted and gave me "is; I jumped off at once and mounted his, he mine. Just then they unhorsed' Sayyidi Qara's 'Abdu'l-qadus and Nasir's Shaham who had fallen behind. Khan-quli also was left. It was no time to profer help or defence; on it was gone, at the full speed of our mounts. The horses began to flag; Dost Beg's failed and stopped. Mine began to tire; Qambar-'all got off
* In the Turk! text this saying is in Persian ; in the Kehr-Ilminsky, in ?v"> as though it had gone over with its Persian context of the W.-i-B. from c" tne K.-l. text here is believed to be a translation.
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