On the 16th of Dhu’l hijja he passed over to Scutari, as we have already observed; and on the 17th he commenced his march with such troops as were there waiting for him, and which were composed of various kinds. On reaching Nicomedia (in Bythinia) the feudatory troops which composed his right wing began to represent that they belonged, properly, to the army of Romeili, and asked if they were to be paid wages if they continued in conjunction with the army of Anatolia. A firmán was immediately issued which assured them that they should. On arriving on the confines of Erzerúm, he was joined by the followers of the late Delí Hasan, along with their leader Karah Kásh Ahmed, who all swore fealty to the Ottoman government, pretending at least to have repented of their misconduct and rebellion. In a few days more he was joined by several others, particularly by the beglerbeg of Erzerúm, Gusháh Sefer (a very brave man, and remarkably well skilled in horsemanship, who was raised to dignity and honour from the humble situation of serving in the imperial kitchen) with four thousand men, well armed, whom he had collected in the greatest haste. The active Ahmed Páshá, beglerbeg of Wán, with three or four thousand veterans, met the grand army in the plains of Pas. On the 15th of Jemadi II., the whole of the Moslem army reached Kurus, when they halted for ten days, in order to give time for other troops to join the royal standard, and for the return of Karah Kásh Ahmed, who had been sent out on a depredatory excursion. Sháh Abbás, when he heard of the advance of the Osmánlís, removed his troops from Reván and from Akcha Kalla, where they had been posted, and retreated. This information had no sooner reached the Moslem camp, than Sefer Páshá addressed the commander-in-chief for permission to advance with a party of veterans and intercept the sháh in his retreat. “His army was comparatively small,” said Sefer, “and if you advance with the grand army in the ordinary way, to my support, I am not without hopes, if you agree to my proposal, of being able to bring the sháh bound in fetters before you.” Such was the heroic language of Sefer Páshá, but the serdár was deaf to all his entreaties. He pretended to be waiting for the arrival of Karah Kásh; and even when Karah Kásh did arrive, he was as far as ever from complying with Sefer Páshá’s proposal. Thus, by delay and hesitation, the enemy was not only allowed to withdraw to a greater distance, but had time afforded them for preparing to offer a more formidable resistance; whilst the grand army by this procedure, was exposed to greater danger, to more difficulties, and to a less chance of success.