8i Then there came a day on which we attacked the Russians: we fought from noon until the hour of midnight had come and gone when we gained the victory, though not without a loss on our side of <Soo killed. Our commander in chief vvas Mohammed .A.li Pasha, who was later killed by his own men because, when told to go to the relief of the garrison in Plevna, which Usman Pasha was defending, he refused to do so as soon as he heard the sound of hring, although he had no less than 60,000 men with him. On this occasion, too, he decided to turn back, saying that the Russians had cut off our retreat to Stambul, although it was we who had won the day. The troops were furious, and, as for myself, a raging anger overcame me so that I determined to approach Hussan Pasha, the son of the Khedive, on the matter. But he would lend me no assistance, saying that the war was against a civilised power and not against a horde of savages. I then went to interview the commander in chief who gave me back the same answer. So we retreated to Bazargik and, after matching the whole of one night and up to noon on the following day, we reached a place called Iskigimar. Here our anger increased for we learnt that Mohammed Pasha had received from the Russians a large sum of money inside some watermelons (i). So this was the reason why we had been compelled to retreat.

(l) I do not vouch for the accuracy of these statements nor hold myself responsiLle for them.

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