PROGRESS OF SIEGE OF MESHED. 383 Ameer, whilst acknowledging how much the Shah had owed to foreign assistance, was of opinion that foreign intervention in the affairs of Persia had been stretched to the utmost limits which were compatible with the dignity of the government, and he therefore would not avail himself of this mode of bringing the rebellion to an end. He is even reported to have said that it would be better for Persia that the inhabitants of Meshed should be brought back to their duty through the loss of twenty thousand men, than that that city should be won for the Shah through foreign interference. The siege of Meshed went on with variable fortune : at one time the army met with a severe check in at- tempting to carry one of the gates of the place ; at another time the besiegers had the advantage in a combat with the troops of the besieged, whose sortie they repulsed. In the meantime the Turkomans, being left unopposed, gathered a rich harvest of spoil throughout Khorassan ; not a caravan could pass to or from Herat in safety, and the Khorassan villages far and near were plundered by these ruthless marauders. At the close of the year 1849 a fresh detachment of troops from Tehran arrived before Meshed ; but its commander, instead of joining the force of Prince Sultan Murad, thought proper to pitch his tents at a distance from those of the rest of the besieging army. This mistake was at once perceived and taken advantage of by the Salar, who sallied in force from the city and inflicted great loss on the newly-arrived detach- ment ; and then returned to within the walls. In con- sequence of the retreat of the Salar, the leader of the detachment, with the vanity never absent from a Persian, claimed to have gained a victory. Up to this time the
