We arrived on the 4th of August at the city of Ecbatana or _Tauris_[3], which stands in a plain, and is surrounded by an earthen rampart in bad repair. There are high mountains in its neighbourhood, which are said to be the Taurus of the ancients. I here lodged with a very good man, who gave us two sleeping chambers, a convenience we had been long unused to. He was quite astonished how we should have been able to escape the dangers of our journey, as all the roads were blocked up; and on asking him the reason, he told us that Ogurlu Mohammed[4], the eldest son of Uzun-Hassan, had rebelled against his father, and had taken possession of _Sylas_[5] or Persepolis, of which he had appointed his younger brother _Khalil_[6] as governor. Uzun-Hassan had assembled an army to reduce Persepolis and his sons to obedience; but a certain satrap named _Zagarli_ who commanded in the neighbouring mountains, favoured the cause of Ogurlu, and had ravaged the whole country, to the very gates of Tauris, with a body of 3000 horse, owing to which, all the roads were obstructed and unsafe. He farther informed us, that the governor of Tauris had one day issued forth to endeavour to put a stop to the marauders, but had been defeated by Zagarli, with the loss of most of his troops, and had even great difficulty in escaping back to the city. I inquired why the inhabitants of Tauris did not take arms in their own defence, in a time of so much danger; but he answered, although they were obedient to the governor, they were quite unused to war. On learning the state of affairs in this place, I resolved to leave it as soon as possible, that I might get to the king; but I could neither procure a guide, nor prevail on the governor to shew me any favour. By the advice of my landlord I kept myself very much concealed, and employed my interpreter and Augustin of Pavia, whom I had brought with me from Kaffa because he understood a little Persian, to purchase our provisions, in which employment they were exposed to much ill treatment, and were often in hazard of their lives.