about the city in large bodies, and when they saw any of us at the windows, made signs that they would slay us. In a word, every preparation was made for a great war. My lord wishing to ascertain everything exactly, who would be the leader of the host, and how strong they would march, did not spare money, laid out large sums on spies, obtained a clandestine knowledge of many select plans, and of the intentions of the Turkish court, wrote it all out with his own hand, and afterwards or dered his secretary to translate it into ciphers, wishing to bring it as soon as possible to the knowledge of our Emperor. These secret writings were kept in a room under the ground, in a safe place, with such secresy that nobody knew what and of what nature they were; and although the steward sometimes saw the persons who brought the intelligence, yet he could not ascertain anything.
