The adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan/02

CHAPTER II — Hajji Baba commences his travels—His encounter with ‎the Turcomans, and his captivity
Osman Aga, my master, was now on a journey to Meshed, ‎the object of which was to purchase the lamb-skins of ‎Bokhara, which he afterwards purposed to convey to ‎Constantinople for sale. Imagine a short squat man, with a ‎large head, prominent spongy nose, and a thick, black beard, ‎and you will see my fellow traveller. He was a good ‎Mussulman, very strict in his devotions, and never failed to ‎pull off his stockings, even in the coldest morning, to wash his ‎feet, in order that his ablutions might be perfect; and, withal, ‎he was a great hater of the sect of Ali, a feeling he strictly kept ‎to himself, as long as he was in Persia. His prevailing passion ‎was love of gain, and he never went to sleep without having ‎ascertained that his money was deposited in a place of safety. ‎He was, however, devoted to his own ease; smoked ‎constantly, ate much, and secretly drank wine, although he ‎denounced eternal perdition to those who openly indulged in ‎it.‎

The caravan was appointed to collect in the spring, and we ‎made preparations for our departure. My master bought a ‎strong, ambling mule for his own riding; whilst I was ‎provided with a horse, which, besides myself, bore ‎the kaliân (for he adopted the Persian style of smoking), the ‎fire-pan and leather bottle, the charcoal, and also my own ‎wardrobe. A black slave, who cooked for us, spread the ‎carpets, loaded and unloaded the beasts, bestrode another ‎mule, upon which were piled the bedding, carpets, and kitchen ‎utensils. A third, carrying a pair of trunks, in which was my ‎master's wardrobe, and every other necessary, completed our ‎equipment.‎

The day before our departure, the prudent Osman had taken ‎precaution to sew into the cotton wadding of his heavy turban ‎fifty ducats, a circumstance known only to him and me, and ‎these were to serve in case of accidents; for the remainder of ‎his cash, with which he intended to make his purchases, was ‎sewn up in small white leather bags, and deposited in the very ‎centre of the trunks.‎

The caravan being ready to depart consisted of about five ‎hundred mules and horses, and two hundred camels, most of ‎which were laden with merchandize for the north of Persia, ‎and escorted by about one hundred and fifty men, composed ‎of merchants, their servants, and the conductors of the ‎caravan. Besides these, a small body of pilgrims bound to the ‎tomb of Imâm Reza at Meshed joined the caravan, and gave a ‎character of sanctity to the procession of which its other ‎members were happy to take advantage, considering in what ‎high estimation persons bound upon so laudable a purpose as ‎a pilgrimage are always supposed to be held.‎

Every man on these occasions is armed, and my master, who ‎always turned his head away whenever a gun was fired, and ‎became pale at the sight of a drawn sword, now appeared with ‎a long carbine slung obliquely across his back, and a crooked ‎sword by his side, whilst a pair of huge pistols projected from ‎his girdle; the rest of his surface was almost made up of the ‎apparatus of cartouch-boxes, powder-flasks, ramrods, &c. I ‎also was armed cap-à-pie, only in addition to what my master ‎carried, I was honoured by wielding a huge spear. The black ‎slave had a sword with only half a blade, and a gun without a ‎lock.‎

We started at break of day from the northern suburb of ‎Ispahan, led by the chaoûshes of the pilgrimage, who ‎announced our departure by loud cries and the beating of their ‎copper drums. We soon got acquainted with our fellow ‎travellers, who were all armed; but who, notwithstanding their ‎martial equipment, appeared to be very peaceably disposed ‎persons. I was delighted with the novelty of the scene, and ‎could not help galloping and curvetting my horse to the ‎annoyance of my master, who in a somewhat crabbed tone, ‎bid me keep in mind that the beast would not last the journey ‎if I wore it out by unseasonable feats of horsemanship. I soon ‎became a favourite with all the company, many of whom I ‎shaved after the day's march was over. As for my master, it is ‎not too much to say that I was a great source of comfort to ‎him, for after the fatigue of sitting his mule was at an end, I ‎practised many of the arts which I had acquired at the bath to ‎do away the stiffness of his limbs, by kneading his body all ‎over, and rubbing him with my hands.‎

We proceeded without impediment to Tehran, where we ‎sojourned ten days to rest our mules, and to increase our ‎numbers. The dangerous part of the journey was to come, as a ‎tribe of Turcomans, who were at war with the king of Persia, ‎were known to infest the road, and had lately attacked and ‎plundered a caravan, whilst at the same time they had carried ‎those who composed it into captivity. Such were the horrors ‎related of the Turcomans, that many of our party, and my ‎master in particular, were fearful of proceeding to Meshed; but ‎the account he received of the enormous price of lamb-skins at ‎Constantinople was so alluring, that, in spite of everything, he ‎resolved not to be frightened out of his prospect of gain.‎

A chaoûsh had long been collecting pilgrims at Tehran and ‎its vicinity, in the expectation of the arrival of our caravan, and ‎as soon as we made our appearance, he informed us, that he ‎was ready to join us with a numerous band, a reinforcement ‎which he assured us we ought to receive with gratitude, ‎considering the dangers which we were about to encounter. He ‎was a character well known on the road between Tehran and ‎Meshed, and enjoyed a great reputation for courage, which he ‎had acquired for having cut off a Turcoman's head whom he ‎had once found dead on the road. His appearance was most ‎formidable, being in person tall and broad-shouldered, with a ‎swarthy sunburnt face, ornamented by a few stiff hairs by way ‎of beard at the end of a bony chin. Clad in a breastplate of ‎iron, a helmet with a chain cape flapping over his shoulders, a ‎curved sword by his side, pistols in his girdle, a shield slung ‎behind his back, and a long spear in his hand, he seemed to ‎bid defiance to danger. He made such boast of his prowess, ‎and talked of the Turcomans with such contempt, that my ‎master determined to proceed under his immediate escort. The ‎caravan was ready to depart a week after the festival of the ‎New Year's day, and after having performed our devotions ‎at the great mosque of the congregation on the Friday, we ‎went to the village of Shahabdul Azim, whence the whole ‎body was to proceed the next day on its journey.‎

We advanced by slow marches over a parched and dreary ‎country, that afforded little to relieve the eye or cheer the heart. ‎Whenever we approached a village, or met travellers on the ‎road, our conductors, made invocations of Allah and of the ‎Prophet in loud and shrill tones, accompanied by repeated ‎blows with a leather thong on the drums suspended to their ‎saddle-bow. Our conversation chiefly turned upon the ‎Turcomans, and although we were all agreed that they were a ‎desperate enemy, yet we managed to console ourselves by the ‎hope that nothing could withstand our numbers and ‎appearance, and by repeatedly exclaiming, 'In the name of ‎God, whose dogs are they, that they should think of attacking ‎us?' Every one vaunted his own courage. My master above the ‎rest, with his teeth actually chattering from apprehension, ‎boasted of what he would do, in case we were attacked; and, to ‎hear his language, one would suppose that he had done ‎nothing all his life but fight and slaughter Turcomans. The ‎chaoûsh, who overheard his boastings, and who was jealous ‎of being considered the only man of courage of the party, said ‎aloud, 'No one can speak of the Turcomans until they have ‎seen them—and none but an "eater of lions" (at the same time ‎pulling up his moustaches toward his ears) ever came unhurt ‎out of their clutches. Saadi speaks truth when he sayeth, "A ‎young man, though he hath strength of arm, and the force of ‎an elephant, will kick his heel ropes to pieces with fear in ‎the day of battle."'‎

But Osman Aga's principal hope of security, and of faring ‎better than others in case we were attacked, was in the ‎circumstance of his being a follower of Omar; and, by way ‎of proclaiming it, he wound a piece of green muslin round his ‎cap, and gave himself out as an emir, or a descendant of the ‎Prophet, to whom, as the reader may guess, he was no more ‎allied than to the mule upon which he rode.‎

We had proceeded in this manner for several days, when the ‎chaoûsh informed us, in a solemn and important manner, that ‎we were now approaching to the places where the Turcomans ‎generally lie in wait for caravans, and directed that we should ‎all march in a compact body, and invited us to make ‎preparations for a desperate resistance in case we were ‎attacked. The first impulse of my master was to tie his gun, ‎sword, and pistols on one of his baggage mules. He then ‎complained of an affection in the bowels, and so abandoning ‎all his former intentions of engaging in combat, wrapped ‎himself up in the folds of his cloak, put on a face of great ‎misery, took to counting his beads, ever and anon repeating ‎the prayer of Staferallah, or 'God forgive me,' and, thus ‎prepared, resigned himself to his destiny. His greatest ‎dependence for protection he seemed to have placed upon the ‎chaoûsh, who, among other reasons for asserting his ‎indifference to danger, pointed to the numerous talismans and ‎spells that he wore bound on his arms, and which, he boldly ‎maintained, would avert the arrow of a Turcoman at any time.‎

This double-bladed sword of a man, and one or two of the ‎boldest of the caravan, rode ahead, at some distance, as an ‎advanced guard, and every now and then, by way of keeping ‎up their courage, galloped their horses, brandishing their ‎lances, and thrusting them forward into the air.‎

At length, what we so much apprehended actually came to ‎pass. We heard some shots fired, and then our ears were struck ‎by wild and barbarous shoutings. The whole of us stopped in ‎dismay, and men and animals, as if by common instinct, like a ‎flock of small birds when they see a hawk at a distance, ‎huddled ourselves together into one compact body. But when ‎we in reality perceived a body of Turcomans coming down ‎upon us, the scene instantly changed. Some ran away; others, ‎and among them my master, losing all their energies, yielded ‎to intense fear, and began to exclaim, 'Oh Allah!—Oh ‎Imâms!—Oh Mohammed the prophet; we are gone! we are ‎dying! we are dead!' The muleteers unloosed their loads from ‎their beasts, and drove them away. A shower of arrows, which ‎the enemy discharged as they came on, achieved their ‎conquest, and we soon became their prey. The chaoûsh, who ‎had outlived many a similar fray, fled in the very first ‎encounter, and we neither saw nor heard any more of him. ‎The invaders soon fell to work upon the baggage, which was ‎now spread all over the plain.‎

My master had rolled himself up between two bales of ‎goods to wait the event, but was discovered by a Turcoman of ‎great size, and of a most ferocious aspect, who, taking him at ‎first for part of the baggage, turned him over on his back, ‎when (as we see a wood-louse do) he opened out at full ‎length, and expressed all his fears by the most abject entreaties. ‎He tried to soften the Turcoman by invoking Omar, and ‎cursing Ali; but nothing would do; the barbarian was ‎inexorable: he only left him in possession of his turban, out of ‎consideration to its colour, but in other respects he completely ‎stripped him, leaving him nothing but his drawers and shirt, ‎and clothing himself with my master's comfortable cloak and ‎trousers before his face. My clothes being scarcely worth the ‎taking, I was permitted to enjoy them unmolested, and I ‎retained possession of my case of razors, to my no small ‎satisfaction.‎

The Turcomans having completed their plunder, made a ‎distribution of the prisoners. We were blindfolded, and placed ‎each of us behind a horseman, and after having travelled for a ‎whole day in this manner, we rested at night in a lonely dell. ‎The next day we were permitted to see, and found ourselves ‎on roads known only to the Turcomans.‎

Passing through wild and unfrequented tracts of ‎mountainous country, we at length discovered a large plain, ‎which was so extensive that it seemed the limits of the world, ‎and was covered with the black tents and the numerous flocks ‎and herds of our enemies.‎