Yet Poland seemed lost beyond all hope. Sobieski’s troops scarcely amounted to 30,000 men, and there was now no chance of uniting them to the Pospolite. ♦The Sultan takes Kaminiec,♦ The Grand General flew to Kaminiec to reinforce and provision the garrison; but he was obliged to leave it to its fate, for the governor, who belonged to the king’s party, refused to admit any of his force. Kaminiec was the only great fortress which Poland possessed. Its natural position--defended on one side by the river Smotrycz, and on the other by an inaccessible cliff--was very strong; and the Poles constantly boasted that God, who built it, would alone be able to take it. Yet so skilful were the Turkish miners, after their long experience in Candia, that it surrendered within a month. The consternation at Warsaw was fearful. The king assembled the Pospolite at Golemba, near the capital; but his one aim was to conclude peace on any terms. ♦And advances on Leopol.♦ The Sultan, sending on an advanced guard to besiege Leopol, the capital of Russia, encamped at Buczacz, where amongst the Podolian mountains he enjoyed his favourite pastime of hunting. Meanwhile Sobieski had not been idle. A large body of Tartars had passed into Volhynia in support of the Turks, and, after loading themselves with spoil and with a vast train of captives, prepared to beat a retreat. Hovering always on their rear, Sobieski struck a blow whenever it was practicable, and finally caught them in a defile at Kalusz, in the Carpathian mountains. ♦Victory of Sobieski over the Tartars.♦ After a great carnage he dispersed them, recovered the spoil, and liberated nearly 30,000 Polish captives. ♦His attack upon the Sultan’s camp.♦ He then formed the daring plan of a night attack on Mahomet’s camp. By swift and silent marches he approached unperceived, and burst with his cavalry on the imperial tents. For a moment the quarters of the Sultanas were in imminent danger; but the arrival of succours put an end to the raid. ♦Peace of Buczacz.♦ With his small force Sobieski could do no more than harass the Turkish army, yet it was with indignation that he heard that the king had concluded a peace at Buczacz (October 18th). Michael concealed the terms as long as he could; and this increased the suspicions of the Grand General that they were dishonourable to the country. At length it was found that Podolia, the Ukraine, and Kaminiec had been ceded to the Porte, and that the king had consented to pay an annual tribute of 22,000 ducats. In return for this the Vizier withdrew his army from Polish soil; but he established a vast military camp with 80,000 men at Kotzim, on the Dniester, to overawe the vanquished nation. By this treaty, which he had no power to make without the sanction of the republic, the king of Poland reduced himself to the condition of a vassal of the Sultan.