Fame bestowed upon me even more honour than I deserved. She was not satisfied with spreading a report of my talents throughout the dominions of the king, my father, but even carried the account of them to the court of the Indies, whose powerful monarch became so curious to see me, that he sent an ambassador, accompanied with the richest presents to my father, to request me of him. This embassy, for many reasons, delighted him. He was persuaded that it was the best possible thing for a prince of my age to travel to foreign courts; and he was, also, very well satisfied at forming a friendship with the sultan of India. I set out with the ambassador, but with very few attendants and little baggage, on account of the length and difficulties of the way.
We had been about a month on our journey, when we saw in the distance an immense cloud of dust, and soon after we discovered fifty horsemen, well armed. They were robbers, who approached us at full speed. As we had ten horses laden with our baggage and the presents which I was to make to the sultan, in my father’s name, and as our party consisted but of very few, you may easily imagine that the robbers attacked us without hesitation. Not being able to repel force by force, we told them we were the ambassadors of the sultan of India, and we hoped they would do nothing contrary to the respect they owed to him. By this we thought we should preserve both our equipage and our lives; but the robbers insolently answered, “Why do you wish us to respect the sultan your master? We are not his subjects, nor even within his realm.” Having said this, they immediately surrounded and attacked us on all sides. I defended myself as long as I could, but finding that I was wounded, and seeing the ambassador and all our attendants overthrown, I took advantage of the remaining strength of my horse, who was also wounded, and escaped from them. I pushed him on as far as he would carry me; he then suddenly fell under my weight, quite dead from fatigue and the blood he had lost. I disentangled myself as fast as possible; and observing that no one pursued me, I supposed the robbers did not choose to neglect the plunder they had acquired.
Imagine me then, madam, alone, wounded, destitute of every help, and in a country where I was an entire stranger. I was afraid of regaining the great road from the dread of falling once more into the hands of the robbers. After having bound up my wound, which was not dangerous, I walked on the rest of the day, and in the evening I arrived at the foot of a mountain, on one side of which I discovered a sort of cave. I went in, and passed the night without any disturbance, after having eaten some fruits which I had gathered as I came along.