TURKISH CAMP. 
299 
Not a sentinel was visible ; nor any precautions whatever, against 
surprise from enemies, with whom the desert then swarmed, 
and whose modes of warfare were usually in the style of “ the 
jungle,” by tiger springs. On my remarking, to those who rode 
with me, on the scattered lines of the camp, they easily ex¬ 
plained so anti-military a confusion, by reminding me that the 
pasha’s army was principally made up of bodies of men collected 
from distinct tribes, and used to perfect liberty of cantonment; 
hence, it was not surprising to see their tents, formed of the 
humblest materials, pitched in any convenient fashion round the 
equally unpretending canvas-dwellings of their natural chiefs. 
After some circuitous windings amongst these irregular divisions, 
we at last arrived at the kiahya’s pavilion. It was green, the 
sacred Moslem colour, and stood in the centre of the camp, 
guarded by two pieces of cannon : I believe the whole artillery 
of the armament! 
The commander received us with every mark of respect; 
rising from his cushion on my entrance, and placing me near 
him on a similar seat. The tent was crowded with officers and 
attendants, standing in ranges on the sumptuous carpet that 
covered the hot sandy earth, while the sides of the place were 
hung with a beautiful chintz. The scymetar, pistols, and other 
glittering arms of the kialiya were suspended over his head, on 
the pole against which he sat. This sort of trophy in that 
situation, had a wild martial effect; something like what we 
might have expected in the tent of Cyrus the younger, when 
marching along the banks of this very river, at the head of 
similar barbarians, to the fatal plain of Cunaxa, But the com¬ 
mander before me, certainly had no resemblance to the youth 
and fire of the Persian prince; neither did I see any warriors in 
Q Q 2 
