330

THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book iii.

mestic architecture remains at Rhodes to shameeven our present mansions; and their buildingswere only a reminiscence of Palestine, a poorminiature; as Famagosta of Acre. They appear tohave been no great writers; but that resort ofnations was in itself an academy. Soldiers haveoccasionally plenty of leisure to study. ButPerusia soon closed his career; for he was orderedto Smyrna, where, after that brilliant defence, heand the entire garrison perished to a man. Yertotmistakes the Persian, who only says some of theinhabitants escaped by swimming out to the shipas they did; but the sad truth is, the knights wereall killed. Timour’s black banner had been hungout; the first day’s white meaning surrender-, thesecond’s red, blood of a few, the third’s black, uni-versal destruction. As to the heads, the differencebetween Christians and flat-nosed Tartars waspatent. Total destruction was the delight of theTartars. The description of the state in ivhich theyhad left Hungary about this time makes one’sblood curdle. “ We began to visit those desertsso lately such populous districts; the steeples wereall we found in part standing; so we plodded fromsteeple to steeple, our only landmarks ; for leaguesand leagues not a house; high weeds and brush-wood everywhere; some remains of roots and