they would silence it by striking off his head. He was therefore advised to make his escape, disguised in a Persian dress. But he wisely repelled the idea, knowing well that if there was danger within the city, there was far more danger without. The governor, however, whose case was exceedingly different, had already fled, disguised as a peasant; and the terrible moment was most anxiously expected when the assault should be given and the place carried by storm. On the approach of night Hanway made the necessary preparations for receiving the invaders, whom it would have been impossible to resist, and retired to his chamber, where, having performed his devotions, he delivered himself up to sleep. A smart but irregular fire of musketry awakened him at four o'clock in the morning. This was followed by a short silence; and a few minutes after, shouts, wild merriment, and the loud beating of drums announced the triumph of the insurgents, and the fall of the city.
It was not long before two of the rebel chiefs at the head of a party of men arrived at the house of our traveller, demanding his merchandise, and informing him that the forty bales which he had despatched towards Meshed were already in their hands. They engaged, however, as soon as their government should be established, to pay for whatever they now seized upon, and only required, they said, a short credit. Hanway, like the ancient sophist, was thoroughly persuaded that there was no disputing with a man who commanded forty legions, and therefore, without vain opposition, suffered them to appropriate to themselves whatever they thought proper, excepting one hundred and sixty gold crowns, which he succeeded in concealing about his person. The Persians appeared exceedingly well satisfied when they had, as they supposed, gained possession of all his property; for they are well-bred thieves, who rob, as it were, with a kind of honorable regret and
