This created a revulsion of feeling in my favour—the assembly having been a little annoyed at the colonel's statement about the neutrality of Great Britain. "Well," I said, "you will probably have an ally in Austria." "An ally in Austria!" said the colonel; "no, certainly not. There are more Slavs than Magyars in the Emperor Francis Joseph's dominions. However, Andrassy, a Hungarian, is at the head of affairs, and by all accounts he rules the emperor. Perhaps Andrassy may prevent Austria from allying herself with Russia against us." "We shall have to fight our own battles this time," continued the colonel; "and, please God, we will win." An old Imaum, who was seated in a corner, now put in a word, and said that if there were a war, he too would go at the head of the Imaums. I had observed this same propensity for fighting amidst other Mohammedan priests. In fact in Asia as in Europe the most bellicose members of society are often those gentlemen whose profession is that of peace.[15] "We shall have Yakoob Khan of Kashgar with us," observed the Caimacan. "No we shall not," replied the colonel; "the Russians have stirred up a quarrel between Yakoob and the Chinese, so as to prevent him giving us any assistance." "Will any other Mohammedan states help you?" I inquired. "Yes, all of them will fight for Islam." "Russia is large," continued the officer, "but she will have to divide her forces. She will have to be on her guard against the Khivans, Bokharians, and Turkomans in Asia, she must also protect herself against a rising of the Poles in Europe." The Caimacan, now rising from the divan, walked with me to a small house in the neighbourhood which was reserved for the use of travellers. There were very few Armenians in Sileh, the population being made up almost entirely of the followers of the Prophet. The ancient city is nearly a mile from the present site, and tradition tells us that it was built upon the so-called mound of Semiramis. I found the castle in a very dilapidated state, the wall round it bore signs of having been constructed from the ruins of some very ancient edifice; here and there were heavy blocks of marble and other broken débris which had been let into the sides of the enclosure. According to the inhabitants, there is a secret passage leading from the citadel to a small square several hundred yards below the hill; this is very likely the case, for although now a third-rate town, Sileh was once a city of considerable military importance. Whilst I was looking at the antiquities, Osman had been engaged in buying some tea and sugar, the supply which I had brought from Constantinople being almost entirely exhausted, the tea and sugar having gone more rapidly than the other provisions. On my remarking this to Radford, I was informed that Osman had a sweet tooth, and had declared that tea was good for his stomach. I called the Turk to my side.