30 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
on their departure were provided by him with an 
escort of ten troopers. 
Timur resolved to hide himself in a more secluded 
part of the wilderness, until his friends should have 
time to rally round his standard. In consequence of 
this determination, he wandered with his few followers 
in those trackless wilds for two days and two nights ; 
at length, almost famished with hunger and sinking 
with fatigue, they reached a ruined and deserted vil- 
lage, where they could find neither food nor water. 
Undismayed at his gloomy prospects, the prince ordered 
a well to be dug, which supplied them with tolerable 
water, and by the produce of the chase they con- 
tinued to maintain themselves in this desolate habi- 
tation for upwards of a month. Aly Beg Ghurbany, 
chief of the Turkomans, having at length been in- 
formed that Timur was in the desert secretly col- 
lecting troops for the purpose of plundering those by 
whom he had been so hospitably entertained, sent 
a party to surprise and make him prisoner: they 
accordingly attacked him and his companions in the 
night within the ruined village, and captured them 
all. Timur was taken to Aly Beg’s house and 
treated with the most humiliating indignity, being 
confined with his wife for nearly two months in a 
filthy chamber where oxen were stalled. They were 
moreover deprived of common necessaries and covered 
with vermin. 
The prince finally resolved to escape from his de- 
grading captivity or perish in the attempt. He at first 
endeavoured to tamper with his guards ; but, finding 
