, in which the men could fight
under shelter, and they were surrounded by a broad and deep ditch, to
prevent an enemy from approaching too near to them, in order to
undermine them or batter them down.

The city was abundantly supplied with water by means of hydraulic
constructions as perfect and complete as could be made in those days.
The water was brought by leaden pipes from a stream which came down
from the mountains at some distance from the town. It was conveyed by
these pipes to every part of the town, and was distributed freely, so
that every great street had a little current of water running through
it, and every house a fountain in the court or garden. Besides this,
in a public square or park there was a mound where the water was made
to spout up in the centre, and then flow down in little rivulets and
cascades on every side.

The gates and towers which have been described were in the outer wall,
and beyond them, in the environs, were a great many fields, gardens,
orchards, and beautifully-cultivated grounds, which produced fruits of
all sorts, that were sent by the merchants into all the neighboring
countries. At a little distance the town was almost entirely concealed
from view by these gardens and orchards, there being nothing to be
seen but minarets, and some of the loftier roofs of the houses, rising
above the tops of the trees.

There were so many people who flocked into Samarcand from the
surrounding country for shelter and protection, when they learned that
Genghis Khan was coming, that the place would hardly contain them. In
addition to these, the sultan sent over one hundred thousand troops to
defend the town, with thirty generals to command them. There were
twenty large elephants, too, that were brought with the army, to be
employed in any service which might be required of them during the
siege. This army, however, instead of entering the city at once,
encamped about it. They strengthened the position of the camp by a
deep ditch which they dug, throwing up the earth from the ditch on the
side toward the camp so as to form a redoubt with which to defend the
ground from the Monguls. But as soon as Genghis Khan arrived they were
speedily driven from this post, and forced to take shelter within the
walls of the city. Here they defended themselves with so much vigor
and resolution that Genghis Khan would probably have found it very
difficult to take the town had it not been for dissensions within the