Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 1, 1851).djvu/292

98 built a second time—not a single soldier had the courage to scale the naked hill to take possession.

The prince has now German and Italian cannon-founders, who cast cannon and other pieces of ordnance, and iron cannon balls such as our own princes use; and yet these people, who consider that everything depends upon rapidity, cannot understand the use of them, nor can they ever employ them in an engagement. I omitted also to state, that they seem not to comprehend the different kinds of artillery, or rather I should say, what use to make of them. I mean to say, that they do not know when they ought to use the larger kind of cannon which are intended for destroying walls, or the smaller for breaking the force of an enemy's attack. This has occurred on several occasions, but especially at the time when the Tartars were said to be on the point of besieging Moscow, for on that occasion the officer to whom the command was deputed, to the amusement of a German bombardier, ordered one of the largest cannons to be placed under the gate of a fortress, where it could scarcely be brought in the space of three days, and with only one discharge of it he would have blown the gate to pieces.

There is a great difference and variety of conduct amongst men in fighting as well as in other things. The Russian, for instance, when he once takes flight, thinks there is no safety beyond what flight may obtain for him; and if he be pursued or taken by the enemy, he neither defends himself nor asks for quarter. The Tartar, on the contrary, if he be thrown from his horse and stripped of all his weapons, and be even very severely wounded, will generally defend himself with his hands, feet, and teeth, when and how he can, as long as he has any breath in his body. The Turk, when he finds himself beyond the reach of all help, and has no hope of escaping, suppliantly begs pardon, and throwing down his arms, holds out his hands to his conqueror joined together ready for binding, and hopes that by captivity he may secure his life.