of the true Mussulmans. Then Sinan Bassà, turning to the army, exhorted them all, saying that they had often before routed larger armies and gained more important battles than these;[512] telling them that they should stand firm, as he who was destined to die would perish even if he fled, and he who was not destined to fall would not do so even if he fought on; and that as male wethers are proper for sacrifices, so ought they to fight for their sovereign. “Let us avenge our friends, whom these dogs have slain at the first outset, whose corpses, if they could speak, would cry, ‘Slay, slay’; if you conquer you will receive great rewards from our ruler, and obtain great fame, as many of you who are now of low rank will be promoted.” They all replied, saying: “God give long life to our sovereign; may the whole earth be subjected to him; and let him who does not submit be put to death. Forward! forward!” Having marched, therefore, and the two armies having met, the Circassians resisted our attack with great courage and daring, each side repulsing the other in turn several times from the third hour till noon, numbers being slain. At last the Circassians were routed, while our troops were highly elated with the victory and immense booty; the Mamelukes fled to Cairo, pursued by some of our men. The others returned to Gazzara with Sinan Bassà, stuffing with straw the heads of the dead chiefs, while the others they fixed to the palm trees in memory of the battle. The great monarch sent two hundred Solacchi to meet Sinan Bassà, and request him to ride forward and meet him in a certain place. But not finding the Bassà, they set out on their return. On the march, numbers of them died, and being again attacked by the Arabs, all but six were killed. These rejoined the great monarch and reported that they had heard nothing of Sinan or of his army. The Sultan hearing this rose up in a great fury to march to the rescue of the valiant Greeks; but just then there arrived some Moors with the news of the rout of Algazeli by the Turkish troops, who had returned in triumph to Gazzara. The Moors were rewarded for their tidings, and the emperor was in the highest spirits; marching from Damascus he came to Peneti, where the two hundred Solacchi were slain, which place he sacked and burnt. He then went to Jerusalem, but had a great deal of rain and bad weather on the road, which caused much suffering and the death of many. In Jerusalem the monarch bestowed much money on the poor of the city, and also made offerings of good rams; so that the sacrificing priests were satisfied with his bounty. Proceeding on the route to Gazzara they arrived at a fearful gorge,[513] where only two horses could advance abreast. The Arabs had seized the defile and had collected huge stones above to roll down when the Sultan was passing; they had also numerous archers. The monarch having heard this, ordered the artillery and the arquebuses to be prepared; but when the need came