“At six o’clock in the morning the Turkish camp was thrown open, but the avidity of the soldiers was checked by a dreadful sight: women every where lay slaughtered on the ground, some with their infants yet clinging to them. These were of a class very different from the camp followers of a Christian army. The Turks had slain their wives rather than suffer them to fall into the hands of the enemy. The children they had spared, and five or six hundred were collected and brought up in the Christian faith by the Bishop of Neustadt. A vast booty rewarded the victors, for the Turks, economical in peace, were magnificent in war, and rich armour, valuable dresses and furniture, and splendid tents were found in abundance; and a crowd of merchants were there who had converted the camp into a mart for all the luxury of Asia. A golden stirrup which the Vizir had lost was brought to Sobieski. ‘Carry it to the queen,’ he said, ‘and tell her, that he to whom it belonged is vanquished.’ One striking circumstance occurred amid the general misbehaviour of the Turks. Twenty–three janissaries were left in charge of the Vizir’s magazines, which were lodged in a villa belonging to the Emperor. They fled not with the rest, and were found there on the 14th, two days after the battle, when they slew those who first attempted to force the place, and only surrendered to the king in person, retaining their arms and baggage.”[19] There is extant an original letter from Sobieski to his queen, on the evening after the battle, which cannot but be interesting. “From the Vizir’s Tent, Midnight, Sept. 13. “Only joy of my soul, charming and well–beloved Mariette! “God be for ever praised! He has given our nation the victory—a triumph such as past ages have never beheld. All the artillery, the whole camp of the Mussulmans, with infinite riches, are become our prey. The approaches toward the city, the fields around us, are covered with the dead infidels, and the survivors flee in consternation. Every moment our men bring in camels, mules, and sheep, which belonged to the enemy, besides a multitude of prisoners. We have also a great number of deserters, mostly renegades, well equipped and mounted. The victory has been so sudden and extraordinary, that both in the city and our camp the alarm did not all at once subside; every instant the enemy’s return was dreaded. In powder and ammunition he has left us the value of a million florins. “This very night I have witnessed a spectacle which I had long desired to see. Our baggage–train set fire to the powder in several places; the explosion resembled the judgment day, but no one was hurt. On this occasion I remarked how clouds are formed in the atmosphere. But, after all, it is a bad job; there is above half a million lost. “The Vizir in his flight has abandoned every thing, all but his horse and the dress he wore. I am his heir; the greater portion of his riches has become mine.