270 THE HEIGHTS OF PHALKKK. 



thought sufficient to take it by a coup de main but he was mistaken. 

 After an hour or two wasted in unsuccessful attacks,, the Seraskier did 

 us the honour to make his appearance in person, attended by two or 

 three thousand infantry, and five or six hundred horse ; and, from his 

 gesticulations, easily observed by the telescope, we judged him to be in 

 no very good humour. 



It is curious to observe the way in which the Turks attack a tam- 

 bouri. The bairakdars, or banner-men, taking advantage of the 

 slightest rising ground between them and the object of attack, throw 

 themselves on their bellies, their standards in their hands, and their 

 ataglians in their mouths, to be ready in case of a sortie ; wriggle along 

 till they get perhaps within a few feet of the tambouri, then suddenly 

 erecting their flags, they plant them firmly in the ground, still keeping 

 their bodies under cover ; so that you find yourselves on a sudden, by 

 magic, as it were, surrounded by a forest of the enemy's colours, set up 

 by invisible hands. The main body then sends forward small detach- 

 ments, as if to try the temper of the besieged. They advance with loud 

 shouts of " Allah! Allah ackbar! Alillullah!" and nervous people 

 might be excused for feeling some little alarm, at their discordant yells. 

 Fortunately, however, for the defenders of tambouria, the fall of a few 

 of the foremost discourages the rest, and they return to the main body. 

 The attack is renewed in the same way; and so the affair is kept up for 

 hours, and frequently without the loss of a single man on the side of 

 the attacked; whereas, a tolerably determined charge of the whole force 

 would prove immediately successful; as the wall, being uncemented, 

 would instantly give way to the foot, or the butt of a gun. But, as the 

 Turks say, when any suggestion is thrown out to them, " Inshallah, 

 Buckallem," which means " Please God, we shall see," words ever in 

 the mouth of a mussulman : and while they are waiting till it please 

 God for them to see, the opportunity of availing themselves of an offered 

 advantage, it is already gone by. On this occasion, neither the presence 

 of the Pacha of many titles and three tails, nor his " Ana sena sickdems," 

 and " Pesivencklerris," (favourite Moslem oaths; in the first of which, 

 the abuse is levelled, not against the individual addressed, but against 

 his mother), produced the desired effect. The little tambouri held its 

 own , and many a bold Albanian was sent to behold the beard of the 

 Prophet, (on which, by the bye, is eternal oil of roses ; that is, if the 

 creed be true), by the fatal fire of the men of Crete. Five or six hours 

 passed in these desultory attacks, when, during one of their most for- 

 midable charges, an individual was observed to snatch a standard from 

 the ground, and run towards the tambouri, shouting, " Eimai Romaics ! 

 Eimai Romaics!" " I am a Greek! I am a Greek!" He cleared the 

 wall of the tambouri at a bound, and alighted unhurt, amidst the asto- 

 nished Cretans, although he had been exposed, during the whole of his 

 run, to a double fire. We were for some time too much occupied, to 

 pay much attention to our new visitor, as the Delhi's now rode forward 

 to the attack, followed by a dense body of foot. At this crisis, the little 

 battery on our left showered its grape amongst the red caps with such 

 effect, that, after leaving a hundred or two of their best and bravest men 

 on the ground, the whole body, horse and foot, Bairackdars and all, 

 made their way back to their master, with all the speed they could ; and 

 we had the satisfaction to see the Seraskier clap spurs to his steed, and 

 gallop off in the direction of Athens. The Cretans spread themselves 



