The old man, seeing me on my feet, came running to me, and joyfully embraced me, being afraid before that I had been killed.

Seeing me bloody, he would see how I was hurt; but it was not much, only what we call a broken head; neither did I afterwards find any great inconvenience from the blow, for it was well again in two or three days.
We made no great gain, however, by this victory, for we lost a camel and gained a horse.

I paid for the lost camel, and sent for another; but I did not go to fetch it myself: I had had enough of that.
The city of Naum, which we were approaching, is a frontier of the Chinese empire, and is fortified in their fashion.

We wanted, as I have said, above two days' journey of this city when messengers were sent express to every part of the road to tell all travellers and caravans to halt till they had a guard sent for them; for that an unusual body of Tartars, making ten thousand in all, had appeared in the way, about thirty miles beyond the city.
This was very bad news to travellers: however, it was carefully done of the governor, and we were very glad to hear we should have a guard.
Accordingly, two days after, we had two hundred soldiers sent us from a garrison of the Chinese on our left, and three hundred more from the city of Naum, and with these we advanced boldly.

The three hundred soldiers from Naum marched in our front, the two hundred in our rear, and our men on each side of our camels, with our baggage and the whole caravan in the centre; in this order, and well prepared for battle, we thought ourselves a match for the whole ten thousand Mogul Tartars, if they had appeared; but the next day, when they did appear, it was quite another thing..