Mien1 and Bangala,2 in India, who was powerful in the number of his subjects, in extent of territory, and in wealth, heard that an army of Tartars had arrived at Vochang, he took the resolution of advancing immediately to attack it, in order that by its destruction the grand khan should be deterred from again attempting to station a force upon the borders of his dominions. For this purpose he assembled a very large army, including a multitude of elephants (an animal with which his country abounds), upon whose backs were placed battlements or castles, of wood, capable of containing to the number of twelve or sixteen in each. With these, and a numerous army of horse and foot, he took the road to Vochang, where the grand khan's army lay, and encamping at no great distance from it, intended to give his troops a few days of rest. As soon as the approach of the king of Mien, with so great a force, was known to Nestardín,3 who commanded the troops of the grand khan, although a brave and able officer, he felt much alarmed, not having under his orders more than twelve thousand men (veterans, indeed, and valiant soldiers); whereas the enemy had sixty thousand, besides the elephants armed as has been described. He did not, however, betray any signs of apprehension, but descending into the plain of Vochang, took a position in which his flank was covered by a thick wood of large trees, whither, in case

1 By P. Gaubil (or his commentator, P. Souciet), De Guignes, Grosier and D'Anville, Mien has been considered as the name of the country of Pegu, but it is plainly meant for the Birmah country, or, as we usually term it, the kingdom of Ava, which nearly borders on the province of Yun-nan, whilst the other lies far to the southward, and is unconnected with any part of the Chinese territory. The name by which the Birmahs call their own country is Myam-ma; by the Chinese writers it is named Mien-tien.

2 In the Basle edition the words are, "rex Mien et rex Bangala," implying two confederated sovereigns, but the whole context shows that only one personage is intended, who might at that period have styled himself king of Bangala as well as of Mien, from the circumstance of his having conquered some eastern district belonging to Bengal, from which the country of Ava is separated only by forests.

3 This name, which in Ramusio's version is Nestardin, is elsewhere written Neschardyn, Noscardyn, and Nastardyn; which are all corrup tions of the common Mahometan name of Nasr-eddin.

This we may presume to be the plain through which the Irabatty, (otherwise written Irawaddy,) or great river of Ava runs, in the upper part of its course.

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273 of a furious charge by the elephants, which his troops might not be able to sustain, they could retire, and from thence, in security, annoy them with their arrows. Calling together the principal officers of his army, he exhorted them not to display less valour on the present occasion than they had done in all their preceding engagements, reminding them that victory did not depend upon the number of men, but upon courage and discipline. He represented to them that the troops of the king of Mien and Bangala were raw and unpractised in the art of war, not having had the opportunities of acquiring experience that had fallen to their lot; that instead of being discouraged by the superior number of their foes, they ought to feel confidence in their own valour so often put to the test; that their very name was a subject of terror, not merely to the enemy before them, but to the whole world; and he concluded by promising to lead them to certain victory. Upon the king of Mien's learning that the Tartars had descended into the plain, he immediately put his army in motion, took up his ground at the distance of about a mile from the enemy, and made a disposition of his force, placing the elephants in the front, and the cavalry and infantry, in two extended wings, in their rear, but leaving between them a considerable interval. Here he took his own station, and proceeded to animate his men and encourage them to fight valiantly, assuring them of victory, as well from the superiority of their numbers, being four to one, as from their formidable body of armed elephants, whose shock the enemy, who had never before been engaged with such combatants, could by no means resist. Then giving orders. for sounding a prodigious number of warlike instruments,. he advanced boldly with his whole army towards that of the Tartars, which remained firm, making no movement, but suffering them to approach their entrenchments. They then rushed out with great spirit and the utmost eagerness to engage; but it was soon found that the Tartar horses, unused to the sight of such huge animals, with their castles, were terrified, and wheeling about endeavoured to fly; nor could their riders by any exertions restrain them, whilst the king, with the whole of his forces, was every moment gaining ground. As soon as the prudent commander perceived this unexpected disorder, without losing his presence of mind, he instantly

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adopted the measure of ordering his men to dismount and their horses to be taken into the wood, where they were fastened to the trees. When dismounted, the men, without loss of time, advanced on foot towards the line of elephants, and commenced a brisk discharge of arrows; whilst, on the other side, those who were stationed in the castles, and the rest of the king's army, shot volleys in return with great activity; but their arrows did not make the same impression as those of the Tartars, whose bows were drawn with a stronger arm. So incessant were the discharges of the latter, and all their weapons (according to the instructions of their commander) being directed against the elephants, these were soon covered with arrows, and, suddenly giving way, fell back upon their own people in the rear, who were thereby thrown into confusion. It soon became impossible for their drivers to manage them, either by force or address. Smarting under the pain of their wounds, and terrified by the shouting of the assailants, they were no longer governable, but without guidance or control ran about in all directions, until at length, impelled by rage and fear, they rushed into a part of the wood not occupied by the Tartars. The consequence of this was, that from the closeness of the branches of large trees, they broke, with loud crashes, the battlements or castles that were upon their backs, and involved in the destruction those who sat upon them. Upon seeing the rout of the elephants the Tartars acquired fresh courage, and filing oft by detachments, with perfect order and regularity, they remounted their horses, and joined their several divisions, when a sanguinary and dreadful combat was renewed. On the part of the king's troops there was no want of valour, and he himself went amongst the ranks entreating them to stand firm, and not to be alarmed by the accident that had befallen the elephants. But the Tartars, by their consummate skill in archery, were too powerful for them, and galled them the more exceedingly, from their not being provided with such armour as was worn by the former. The arrows having been expended on both sides, the men grasped their swords and iron maces, and violently encountered each other. Then ir an instant were to be seen many horrible wounds, limbs dismembered, and multitudes falling to the ground, maimed and dying; with such effusion of blood as was dreadful to

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behold. So great also was the clangour of arms, and such the shoutings and the shrieks, that the noise seemed to ascend to the skies. The king of Mien, acting as became a valiant chief, was present wherever the greatest danger appeared, animating his soldiers, and beseeching them to maintain their ground with resolution. He ordered fresh squadrons from the reserve to advance to the support of those that were exhausted; but perceiving at length that it was impossible any longer to sustain the conflict or to withstand the impetuosity of the Tartars, the greater part of his troops being either killed or wounded, and all the field covered with the carcases of men and horses, whilst those who survived were beginning to give way, he also found himself compelled to take to flight with the wreck of his army, numbers of whom were afterwards slain in the pursuit.

The losses in this battle, which lasted from the morning till noon, were severely felt on both sides; but the Tartars were finally victorious; a result that was materially to be attributed to the troops of the king of Mien and Bangala not wearing armour as the Tartars did, and to their elephants, especially those of the foremost line, being equally without that kind of defence, which, by enabling them to sustain the first discharges of the enemy's arrows, would have allowed them to break his ranks and throw him into disorder. A point perhaps of still greater importance is, that the king ought not to have made his attack on the Tartars in a position where their flank was supported by a wood, but should have endeavoured to draw them into the open country, where they could not have resisted the first impetuous onset of the armed elephants, and where, by extending the cavalry of his two wings, he might have surrounded them. The Tartars having collected their force after the slaughter of the enemy, returned towards the wood into which the elephants had fled for shelter, in order to take possession of them, where they found that the men who had escaped from the overthrow were employed in cutting down trees and barricading the passages, with the intent of defending themselves. But their ramparts were soon demolished by the Tartars, who slew many of them, and with the assistance of the persons accustomed to the management of the elephants, they possessed

themselves of these to the number of two hundred or more. From the period of this battle the grand khan has always chosen to employ elephants in his armies, which before that time he had not done. The consequences of the victory were, that he acquired possession of the whole of the territories of the king of Bangala and Mien, and annexed them to his dominions.

CHAPTER XLIII.

OF AN UNINHABITED REGION, AND OF THE KINGDOM OF MIEN.

LEAVING the province of Kardandan, you enter upon a vast descent, which you travel without variation for two days and a half, in the course of which no habitations are to be found. You then reach a spacious plain,1 whereon, three days in every week, a number of trading people assemble, many of whom come down from the neighbouring mountains, bringing their gold to be exchanged for silver, which the merchants who repair thither from distant countries carry with them for this purpose; and one saggio of gold is given for five of silver. The inhabitants are not allowed to be the exporters of their own gold, but must dispose of it to the merchants, who furnish them with such articles as they require; and as none but the natives themselves can gain access to the places of their residence, so high and strong are the situations, and so diffi

1 This must be understood of the plain at the foot of the Yun-nan mountains, already spoken of, from whence the river is said to be navigable to Ava.

2 In consequence of the strict regulations of the Chinese with respect to the admission of strangers within the bounds of the empire, it be comes necessary for the purposes of trade or exchange of commodities, that fairs or markets should be held on the frontiers, where the merchants arrive at stated times with their goods. "The principal article of export from Ava," says Symes, "is cotton. This commodity is transported up the Irrawaddy in large boats, as far as Bamoo, where it is bartered at the common jee or mart, with Chinese merchants, and conveyed by the latter, partly by land and partly by water, into the Chinese dominions." (P. 325.) Thus also at the village of Topa, near Sining, on the borders of Shen-si; "On y trouve," says Du Halde, presque tout ce qu'on peu souhaiter de marchandises étrangères et de la Chine, diverses drogues, du saffran, des dattes, du caffé, &c.”— Tom. i. p. 40.