"The Moors saw, from my manoeuvre, how important it was for them to seize the ground which I had intended to clear, and, contrary to my expectation, established themselves on it the same evening without my being able to hinder them, keeping themselves always well hidden behind the bamboos, where they had nothing to fear from my artillery, and still less from my musketry. Like me they worked at night, and, having as many prisoners or other workmen at their command as they wanted, I saw, with regret, next morning the progress which they had made opposite me. I could not dislodge them without risking everything. Weak as I was, I thought it wiser not to hazard anything more in sorties, but to hold myself always on the defensive. "Sheikh Faiz Ulla (that was the name of the Moorish general) sent me one of his men next day with a present and proposals of peace, the first condition of which was, of course, that I should quit his country, and as, since the dry weather had set in, a very large and dangerous bank had formed in the river seven or eight leagues below me, he offered me one or two thousand workmen to assist in making a passage for my boats. The shocking treachery used by the Moors being well known to me, I refused to accept his offers except on his furnishing me with hostages for his good faith. He first proposed himself, but with such a strong escort that it was not difficult to see that it was a trap which he was setting for me, so as to seize and massacre us. After many debates between our emissaries, he consented to come to my _bajarow_, he and his servants, and that all of them should serve as hostages until I was quite out of the domains of his master.