The people of the caravan blessed me, and requested I would give them a guard to protect them against my followers, and to escort them through the dangerous places. I then made two more marches on the road to Khurasān; when the caravan arrived at Kārshy, Amyr Musā, the governor of the fortress, sent for the leaders of the caravan, and asked them about me, they replied, “we saw the Amyr Timūr in the desert, with his whole army; he was going on to Herat, at the invitation of the Prince of that country, and he was making long marches in order to arrive there quickly.” When the governor heard this intelligence, he immediately came out of the fort with seven thousand horse, pitched his tents in the plain of Bimragh, and commenced feasting and carousing; before leaving the fort, Amyr Musā appointed his son Muhammed Beg to the command of it, and strengthened the fortifications. He also sent off an express to Amyr Hussyn with the good news; previous to this time, the Amyr had sent a reinforcement to Kārshy, of five thousand horse, but the commander of these troops being also off his guard, halted at the village of Ghashūn. ----- Footnote 82: Latitude 37,30, Longitude 85, East. Footnote 83: See Institutes, page 95. CHAPTER XXI. As soon as I had obtained information of the state of Kārshy, honour instigated me to draw the sword of revenge from its scabbard, and to go and subdue the fortress; at this time my spies informed me, that the garrison consisted of only two thousand men, but that the other ten thousand were encamped in two divisions in the vicinity. I therefore summoned all my chiefs, and asked their advice, whether we should proceed to Khurasān, or return and endeavour to take Kārshy; they replied, “if we go to Khurasān, we shall all be made prisoners, and our people will be dispersed; let us call on God to assist us, and return towards Kārshy, please God we shall be victorious:” as this advice appeared to me good, I determined to make the attempt. But when my soldiers heard that there were twelve thousand of Amyr Hussyn’s troops, in or near the fort, they were afraid: I therefore determined to select three hundred and forty warriors, whose courage I had often experienced,[84] and with them to make a forced march against the fortress, whether successful or not. On this subject I sought an omen in the Korān, and the following verse opened; “he assists whom he pleases, for he (God) is all powerful and all wise;” from this verse I derived hopes of success; I therefore made the requisite arrangement of my troops, and at night, placing my trust in Providence, commenced my march with three hundred and forty warriors.