Mussulman prince of the blood of Gengis-Kahn became the vassal and
guard of a Christian woman and queen,* I was travelling in the Ottoman
dominions, and through those provinces which were anciently the kingdoms
of Egypt and Syria.

* In the eleventh year of Abd-ul-Hamid, that is 1784 of the
Christian era, and 1198 of the Hegira. The emigration of
the Tartars took place in March, immediately on the
manifesto of the empress, declaring the Crimea to be
incorporated with Russia. The Mussulman prince of the blood
of Gengis-khan was Chahin-Guerai. Gengis-Khan was borne and
served by the kings whom he conquered: Chahin, on the
contrary, after selling his country for a pension of eighty
thousand roubles, accepted the commission of captain of
guards to Catherine II. He afterwards returned home, and
according to custom was strangled by the Turks.

My whole attention bent on whatever concerns the happiness of man in
a social state, I visited cities, and studied the manners of their
inhabitants; entered palaces, and observed the conduct of those who
govern; wandered over fields, and examined the condition of those
who cultivated them: and nowhere perceiving aught but robbery and
devastation, tyranny and wretchedness, my heart was oppressed with
sorrow and indignation.

I saw daily on my road fields abandoned, villages deserted, and cities
in ruin. Often I met with ancient monuments, wrecks of temples, palaces
and fortresses, columns, aqueducts and tombs. This spectacle led me to
meditate on times past, and filled my mind with contemplations the most
serious and profound.