Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-19

Every soldier had been furnished an
extra horse. All we're mounted and
armed with cuirass of link mail, helmet,
shield and two bows-one for long dis
lance, one for rapid shooting. Each
man had 80 arrows, scimitar or two
edged sword, and whatever smaller side
arms suited his fancy. Most of the regi-
ments carried long lanceS slung at their
shoulders; some had the heavy javelin,
or thrusting spear.
Timur passed over the sands rapidly,
and tolerated neither delay nor stray
Cling. A man who fell behind had his
shoes filled with sand and hung about
the next march. If he Jagged again, he
died.
The army reached the steppes of ST.
IBERIA, fog rolling away before them,
green-gray wisps of alders hemming in
the streams, yielding moss and treacher-
Gus SwampS underfoot, red creepers
tWining over gray rocks. 1t was place
of silence. Hawks winged over the tree
growth, but no song birds greeted the
sun. Sometimes shallow mounds doomed
in the mist-graves or barrows Of some
voiceless and vanished men.
ut is called the Land of Shadows"
Ibn Batuta said of this place. land the
merchants that venture hither leave
their goods and go away, returning to
find furs and leather in place of what
they left. No one sees the people who
live in this place. Here the days are
long in Summer and the nights are
long in Winter"
1t was the abode Of the Cirnmerians,
the country of the Hyperboreans, the
jewellers of the north. And the wander
ing tribes, supposing that they existed
at all, must have fed from the ap-
proach of Timur's host. In the south
Toktamish had taken pains to clear
men and cattle from his path, but here
the army was entering a region SEEM
ingly uninhabited.
Y X
A LII the scouts, the chronicle says,
sent out for information wandered
like vagabonds in this great desert. 1t
was not, of course, a desert; but to the
Tatars, accustomed to the burning light
of the clay barrens, with their familiar
wells and river cities, this gray and
wet expanse without human life ap-
peared more formidable. Especially
were the mullahs upset, who found it
impossible to follow the daily routine
Of prayer.
The early dawns-no sun being visi-
BILE for hours-brought them out with
the cry to prayer before the hours of
the night were done; between the twi-
light and the sleep prayer hours passed,
and the short darkness gave the men
little rest.
Meanwhile Timur had detached di-
vision 10000 strong to look for the
Golden Horde. Nearly every officer of
the host volunteered to go with this
advance, but Timur gave the command
to that youthful warrior Omar Shaikh,
his son. The 10000 disappeared over
the plains, and after a few days
courier rode back with word that they
had come upon q large river, and an
other, following at his heels, reported
the discovery of five or six fires not yet
extinguished.
This was the first tangible clew to
the enemy, and Timur acted upon it In
stantly. He summoned experienced
scouts, sent them at gallop after his
son, to comb the prairies-himself rid
ing after them with small escort. The
river proved to be the Tobol, that flows
into the Arctic, and the fires were upon
the far bank, to the west. Timur swan
the river, joined his advance and took
command.
The scouts came in with tidings that
some 10 fires had been lighted nearby
within the last day or so, and horses
had passed over the ground Timup
then called upon Shaikh David, Tur-
Roman with a name for raiding and
unexpected deeds, to search the country
to the west. The Shaikh departed at
gallop and after two days and nights
found what he sought, a group Of
matched huts. He rode around the
place and lay hidden for night, being
rewarded at daybreak by seeing a horse
man ride out toward him.
He overpoWered the man, bound him
and drove him back to the advance di-
vision, which had drawn closer. But
the captive knew nothing to ToktamiSh
had only seen 10 riders in armor
camped in the brush near his dwelling.
Sixty Tatars were detached with
spare horses to round up the 10 riders.
At last Timur had information to act
upon. The prisoners told him that the
Golden Horde was camped weeks ride
to the west.
TIMUR'S long march to the north
= would puzzle a modern strategiSt.
but this was warfare without rules and
without paliation. To display weakness
or to leave himself open to a surprise
attack by the Horde would have been
fatal. He knew that unseen eyes had
watched his advance, and that the
Khan was well informed Of his move
ments. Time meant everything to
Timur, who must force the Horde to
battle, or bring his own army into cul-
tivated land before the end of the Sum-
mer; delay was Toktamish's finest
weapon, and he made full use of 1t.
BY his rapid movement to the far
north Timur disconnected the Horde,
which was forced to move opposite him