The setting sun looked down upon thirty thousand dead and dying strewn over the Valley of Veristhorne, but lying in gory heaps where the last desperate flower of that splendid army of thirty thousand veterans that the Earl of Meldritch had proudly led into Wallachia a few months before and amongst them almost all his leading officers. “Give me leave,” says Captain Smith, in his account of the affair, “to remember the names of my own countrymen in these exploits, that, as resolutely as the best, in the defense of Christ and his Gospel ended their days; as Baskerfield, Hardwicke, Thomas Milmer, Robert Molineux, Thomas Bishop, Francis Compton, George Davison, Nicholas Williams and one John, a Scot, did what men could do; and when they could do no more left there their bodies, in testimony of their minds. Only Ensign Carleton and Sergeant Robinson escaped.” These men were members of Smith’s company and their captain lay among them where he had fallen covered with wounds. But he was not quite dead. The Turks and Tartars going over the field in search of spoils were attracted to him by the superiority of his armor. This led them to believe that he was a man of rank, and finding that he still lived they carried him into their camp with a view to preserving his life for the sake of ransom. His hurts were tended and he was nursed with care. When sufficiently recovered to travel, he was sent down to the slave market at Axopolis. Here Smith was put up to auction together with a number of other poor wretches who had escaped death on the field of battle to meet with a worse fate, perhaps, at the hands of cruel masters. Our hero fetched a good price, as much on account of his vigorous appearance as because there seemed to be a prospect of profit in the purchase if he should turn out to be a nobleman as was suspected. He was bought by the Pasha Bogall and sent by him as a present to his affianced at Constantinople. Smith tells us that “by twenty and twenty, chained by the necks, they marched in files to this great city, where they were delivered to their several masters, and he to the young Charatza Tragabigzanda.” XII. SLAVERY AND A SEA-FIGHT John Smith is delivered to the Lady Charatza, his future mistress--He falls into kind hands and excites the Turkish Maiden’s interest--Her mother intervenes and he is sent to an outlying province--He finds a brutal master and is subjected to treatment “beyond the endurance of a dog”--He slays the cruel Timariot and escapes upon his horse--Wanders about for weeks and at length reaches a Christian settlement--Adventures in Africa--A trip to sea with Captain Merham--The Britisher fights two Spanish ships and holds his own--Smith renders good service in the fight and employs one of his novel “stratagems”--Return to England.