Advancing with a large army, which met with no resistance, he devastated the country with fire and sword, and during a residence of five weeks in the town he put the inhabitants to death with a ruthless ferocity which has perhaps never been surpassed even by Oriental despots.

If those old walls could speak they would have many a horrible tale to tell.

Enough has been preserved in the chronicles to give us some idea of this awful time.

Monks and priests were subjected to the Tartar punishment called pravezh, which consisted in tying the victim to a stake, and flogging him daily until a certain sum of money was paid for his release.

The merchants and officials were tortured with fire, and then thrown from the bridge with their wives and children into the river.