Kings & rulers > History of Charles XII, King of Sweden

BOOK VII.
244 THE HISTORY OF
but Charles, in order to conceal himself from the view
of the populace, put a cushion upon his head.
The Porte was strongly solicited to allow him to
reside at Demotica, a little town six leagues from
Adrianople, and near the famous river Hebrus, now
called Merizza; but it was not till after several days
that they granted his request. “ Go, (says Coumour-
gi to the Grand Vizier Soliman,) and tell the King of
Sweden, that he may stay at Demotica all his life long
if he pleases; but I will answer for him, that in less
than a year he will want to be gone of his own accord.
Take care, however, not to give him any money.”
Thus was the King conveyed to the little town of
Demotica, where the Porte allowed him a considera*
ble quantity of provisions for himself and his retinue;
but all the money they would grant him was five-and-
iwenty crowns a-day, to buy pork and wine, two kinds
of provisions which the Turks never furnish to others.
The allowance of five hundred crowns a-day, which
he had enjoyed at Bender, was entirely withdrawn.
Hardly had he reached Demotica with his little court
when the Grand Vizier Soliman was deposed, and his
place filled by Ibrahim Moll'a, a man of high spirit, of
great courage, and unpolished manners. It may not
be amiss to give a short sketch of his history, that
the reader may be the better acquainted with the
characters of all those viceroys of the Ottoman em¬
pire upon whom the fortune of Charles so long de¬
pended.
He had been a common sailor till the accession of
the Sultan Achmet III. This emperor frequently dis¬
guised himself in the habit of a private man, of a priest,
or a dervise, and slipped into the coffeehouses and
other public places of Constantinople, to hear what
the people said of him, and what were their opinions