In pursuit of this odd sort of game, it was our hap to meet with about forty Tartars:  whether they were hunting mutton as we were, or whether they looked for another kind of prey, I know not; but as soon as they saw us, one of them blew a kind of horn very loud, but with a barbarous sound that I had never heard before, and, by the way, never care to hear again.  We all supposed this was to call their friends about them; and so it was; for in less than half a quarter of an hour, a troop of forty or fifty more appeared at about a mile distance; but our work was over first, as it happened.

One of the Scots merchants of Moscow happened to be amongst us; and as soon as he heard the horn, he told us, in short, that we had nothing to do but to charge them immediately, without loss of time; and, drawing us up in a line, he asked, if we were resolved?  We told him, we were ready to follow him:  so he rode directly up to them.  They stood gazing at us, like a mere crowd, drawn up in no order, nor shewing the face of any order at all; but as soon as they saw us advance, they let fly their arrows; which, however, missed us very happily:  it seems they mistook not their aim, but their distance; for their arrows all fell a little short of us, but with so true an aim, that had we been about twenty yards nearer, we must have had several men wounded, if not killed.

Immediately we halted; and though it was at a great distance, we fired, and sent them leaden bullets for wooden arrows, following our shot full gallop, resolving to fall in among them sword in hand; for so our bold Scot that led us, directed.  He was, indeed, but a merchant, but he behaved with that vigour and bravery on this occasion, and yet with such a cool courage too, that I never saw any man in action fitter for command.  As soon as we came up to them, we fired our pistols in their faces, and then drew; but they fled in the greatest confusion imaginable; the only stand any of them made was on our right, where three of them stood, and, by signs, called the rest to come back to them, having a kind of scimitar in their hands, and their bows hanging at their backs.  Our brave commander, without asking any body to follow him, galloped up close to them, and with his fusil knocked one of them off his horse, killed the second with his pistol, and the third ran away; and thus ended our fight; but we had this misfortune attending it, viz. that all our mutton that we had in chase got away.  We had not a man killed or hurt; but, as for the Tartars, there were about five of them killed; how many were wounded, we knew not; but this we knew, that the other party was so frighted with the noise of our guns, that they fled, and never made any attempt upon us.

We were all this while in the Chinese dominions, and therefore the Tartars were not so bold as afterwards; but in about five days we entered a vast great wild desert, which held us three days and nights march; and we were obliged to carry our water with us in great leather bottles, and to encamp all night, just as I have heard they do in the deserts of Arabia.