General Collection of Voyages and Travels (vol. 7a) (2024)

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Vol. 7a of General Collection of Voyages and Travels (1808–1814) by John Pinkerton.

New ofValley the and Village Ashorguna .AGENERAL COLLECTIONOF THEBEST AND MOST INTERESTINGVOYAGES AND TRAVELSIN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD;MANY OF WHICH ARE NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH.DIGESTED ON A NEW PLAN.BY JOHN PINKERTON,AUTHOR OF MODERN GEOGRAPHY, &c. &c.ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES.VOLUME THE SEVENTH.LONDON:PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW;AND CADELL AND DAVIES, IN THE STRAND.1811.Strahan and Preſton ,Printers-Street, London.AGENERAL COLLECTIONOFVOYAGES AND TRAVELS.ASIA.THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMIN,THE SON OF JONAS OF TUDELA,THROUGH EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA, FROM SPAIN TO CHINA,from the Year of our Lord 1160 to 1173.From the Latin Verfions of BENEDICT ARIAS MONTANUS, and CONSTANTINE L'EMPEREUR ,compared with other Tranflations into different Languages *.1. Afuccinct Account ofBenjamin of Tudela, the feveral Editions and Tranflations ofhisWork, and the Reputation it has acquired. 2. The Objections that have been made tothe Credit ofour Author, and the true State ofthat Question. -3. The Manner in whichwepropose to give the Substance of thefe Travels to the Reader. -4. The Deſcription ofthe City of Conftantinople, the Court of the Greek Emperor, and other Things remarkablethere, in the Words of Benjamin ofTudela. -5. Afuccinct Account of his Travels fromConftantinople to Balfora, or Baffora. -6. His Journey from thence to the Frontiers ofPerfia, to the City of Aria; and his Account ofthe Tomb of the Prophet Daniel. - 7. TheHiftory ofthe celebrated David El Roi, a Native of Aria, whofet up for the Meffiah,induced the Jews to revolt from the King of Perfia; ofthe Miracles faid to be performed by him, and ofhis deplorable End. -8. The Route from Aria, and the Mountains of Haphton to the Mountains of Nifbon and the River Oxus, by Hamadan andIpahan. -9. Defcription ofthe Mountains of Nifbon, or Nibor, inhabited by the Tribesof Dan, Zebulon, Afhur, and Naphtali. The History ofthe War between the CopheralTurks and the Perfians, together with an Account of Rabbi Mofes.-10. Return toVOL. VII.Harris, vol. i.B Chuzestan2THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINI.Grand Cairo. ---Chuzestan, Defcription of the land of Nekrokis, of the Pearl Fishery, offeveral Countries in the Indies, of the diabolical Practices ofthe Natives, and, finally, of the FrozenSea, or the Sea of China. - 11 . Route from Gingala into Ethiopia, and from thence to12. A large Defcription of the City of Mitzraim, or Grand Cairo; theState ofthe Jews in that Country; of the overflowing of the Nile; ofthefamous Columnfor meafuring the Rife of that River; the Fertility of the Country ofEgypt; the Mouthsof the River Nile, and the Situation of the ancient City of Memphis. -13. An Accountof many other Cities in Egypt; a large Defcription of Alexandria, and the principalThings therein, with the State of its Commerce at the Time of our Author's being there.-14. A concife Account of his Return into Europe, and going back into his nativeCountry ofSpain.- 15. Remarks and Obfervations on the foregoing Travels.THEHERE are few authors better known to the learned world than our Benjamin,called from the place of his birth Benjamin of Tudela, a very pleafant towninNavarre, on the confines of the kingdoms of Caftile and Arragon. The Jews, whoboaft very much of our author's work, inform us, that he was the Son of Rabbi Jonas,who was fettled at Tudela; but they do not acquaint us with the year in which our author was born, of what profeffion he was, or what induced him to travel. In fhort, allthat at this diſtance of time can be diſcovered on the fubject, amounts to no more thanthis, that he began his Travels A. D. 1160, and that he ended them in 1173, whichwas the very year in which he died.Thefe Travels of his have been always in great credit amongſt his own countrymen,who never cite them but with the greateſt applaufe; neither have there been wantingfeveral very learned Chriftians, who have been of the fame opinion , to which probablyit might be owing, that from A. D. 1543, when it was firſt printed at Conftantinople,we have had of this book no leſs than fixteen different editions, and fome of them bythe ableft critics.The firſt verſion of it that appeared in Latin was in 1575, by Benedict Arias Montanus, a man of great learning and in high reputation , who in his Preface paid greatcompliments to the Spaniſh nation on account of the diſcoveries made by them in themoft diftant parts of the world.This, however, did not hinder Conftantine l'Empereur from making another tranflation in 1663 , with the Hebrew text in the margin, and the addition of very learnednotes; notwithſtanding which, many great critics have teftified an earneft defire to feeanother and ſtill correcter verfion, fince, to fay the truth, there are fome apparent errorsin this as well as in the former tranflation, occafioned, as I conceive, chiefly bythe miftakes that have been made by tranfcribers in the text, where we have many names ofcountries, cities, and princes that never were heard of in any other author, and therefore are with great reafon believed to have come by fome fuch mistake into this; therather, becauſe on comparing feveral editions, fome of theſe errors have been detectedand amended, which afforded us room to hope that fome time or other fo judicious acritic may ariſe, as will be able to correct them all, and give us this author in his genuine purity.2. But, notwithſtanding the great reputation of our author, fome very confiderablewriters, and thofe too extremely well verfed in Hebrew learning, have attacked this workof his with much vivacity. M. Wagenfeil for inftance, who wrote a very learned defence of the Chriftian religion againſt the cavils and afperfions of the Jews, is pleafed toſay of this writer, that whenever he meets with any thing that makes for the honour ofhisFROM SPAIN TO CHINA.3his nation, he is not only careful to report it in its full extent, but even ventures fometimesto exceed the truth *.The famous Hottinger deals as freely, or rather more fo, with Benjamin; his voyage,fays he, is puffed up with Jewish pride, and the fole aim of it is to deceive and misleadthe ignorant into an opinion, that obfcure and unknown places are full of the glory ofthe Jews. He adds farther, that there are many fables and contradictions in the Book,and ſtill more ſtories that are reported upon very flender grounds: yet, after all, heconcludes, that our author has many thingsin him that are not to be found elfewhere t.The very learned Spanheim gives the true character of the work in a few words: Itis, fays he, pretty highly ſeaſoned with fables; but there are many good things in it forall that . This is preciſely the cafe; the Jews, and fuch as are fond admirers of Rabbinic learning, have cried it up much beyond its real merit; and others again have, for aparticular reaſon, run it down beyond all meaſure; nay, they have questioned whetherour author ever travelled at all, and would perfuade us that he made his book withoutftirring out of Spain; but they would have done well to have fhewn us how he came bythe materials, which I think a much harder taſk than to anſwer all their objections.His countrymen, it ſeems, frequently quote this book of Benjamin's to fhew, that theJews are not yet totally deprived of power, but that there is ftill a kind offovereignty exercifed byfome of their nation over their brethren in certain countries of the eaft; whichbeing fuppofed to contradict the famous prophecy relating to the coming of Chrift, thefecritics will have to be a fable. But if Benjamin had never wrote, the Jews would beable to prove the truth of this in ftronger terms § than it is afferted by him, and yetwithout overthrowing the application of that prophecy to Jefus Chrift; and thereforethis is no reaſon to me for depreciating the work at all. He has certainly exaggeratedfome things, and miftaken many more. What then? we find in him many thingscurious and entertaining, which we can find no where elſe.3. Our author, in his firſt chapter, gives us an account of his travels by land fromSaragoffa to Marfeilles. In his fecond chapter, he tells us that he embarked for Genoa,and proceeded from thence to Rome, of which he gives us a defcription. He wentfrom that city through the kingdom of Naples to Otranto, and failed from thence tothe island of Corfu, and then paffed by land through Greece to Conftantinople, and inhis paffa*ge traverfed the country of Walachia || . This takes up his fourth chapter, butas there is nothing very extraordinary in this part of his work, and as we have no roomto fpare, I thought it better to omit theſe chapters than to abridge them, becauſe I muſthave given the fenfe of the author in my own words, which would not have put it inthereader's power to form any judgment of the writer's ftyle or manner of writing. In hisfifth chapter he gives a long account of the city of Conftantinople, of the court oftheGreek Emperor, and of the ſtate that things were in at the time of his being there, withmany other curious particulars, and therefore I have given this chapter at large, accomNot. ad Lipmanai Carman Nizzachon in Tel ign. Sat. pag. 374. This writer is induced to cenfureour author, for the reafons I have afterwards affigned; that is , becauſe he thinks what Benjamin has advanced derogatory from the famous prophecy in the 49th chapter of Genefis.+ Hift. Eccl. Se&t. xii. p. 241 .Introd. ad Hift . Eccl. Part II . Sæcul . XII . fect. xiv. P. 370.It appears evidently from the Koran, that there were principalities of the Jews in Arabia at the timethat Mohammed fet up for a prophet, which is certainly as ftrong as any thing advanced by our author, andis, notwithstanding, a fact that cannot be difputed .The manner and ftyle of this voyage is a proper fpecimen of all the Jewish writers, who uſe exactly thefame terms in their narrations; and by affecting to keep cloſe to the names of nations and cities mentionedin the Holy Scriptures, render their own writings very perplexed and obfcure.B 2 panied4THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINpanied with fuch explanatory notes as were requifite, that I might afford the reader aproper fpecimen of this performance, without trefpaffing too much on his time ormy own.4. From thence we travelled three days journey to Abiro, feated upon the feafhore; and travelling five days journey more among the mountains, one comes to Conftantinople, an exceeding great city, and the head of the kingdom of Javanites * , cthofe called Greeks. This is the principal feat of the Emperor Emanuel †, whoſe command twelve Kings obey; for every one whereof there are ſeveral palaces at Conftantinople, and they have alfo fortreffes and governments, and unto theſe the whole landis fubject. The principal and chiefeft is called Apripus, the ſecond Mega Domeſtikutz,the third Dominot, the fourth Mackducus, the fifth Iknomus Megli, and the reft havenames like unto thefet . The compafs of the city of Conftantinople containeth eighteenmiles, one half of it ftandeth upon the fea, but the other half on the continent, and itis feated upon two arms ofthe fea, into one of which the ſea flows out of Ruffia, butinto the other from Spain, and it is frequented by many traders from the provinces andcountries ofBabylon, Senaar, Media, Perfia, and all the kingdom of Egypt and landof Canaan, and the kingdoms of Ruffia,Hungary, and Pſianki, Buria,Lombardy,and Spain." The city itself is exceflively populous, unto which merchants refort out of allcountries,travelling thither both by fea and land. It hath none to compare with it inthe world, except Bagdat, that mighty city of the Ifmaelites. Here is the most famoustemple of St. Sophia, and the Patriarch of the Grecians dwelleth here, nor do they agreein doctrine with the Pope of Rome.There are in it alſo as many altars in number asdays in the year; but it hath an exceeding great treaſure, almoſt beyond all eftimation,bythe offerings and riches, yearly brought from divers countries, iflands, caftles, forts,and palaces, fo that the wealth of no temple in the world can be compared with theriches thereof; and in the midſt of the temple there are pillars of gold and filver, hugecandleſticks,lanthorns, lamps, and other ornaments of theſe precious metals, more thanany man is able to reckon. Next adjoining to the walls of the temple, there is a placebuilt for the Emperor's diverfion, called Hippodromus, where yearly upon the birthday of Jefus of Nazareth, great ſpectacles are publicly preſented, and there all forts ofmen in all manner of habits of the whole world appear before the King and Queen.Lions alfo, and bears, leopards, and wild affes, are brought forth into the place wherethefe fpectacles are to be feen, that they may fight together, and birds alfo after the

• This term is made ufe of by the Jews to fignify the Greeks, becauſe they conceive them to be the de- fcendants ofJavan; it is their manner of writing, and we must be contented with it.

have given all this a modern drefs, but then it would have been no longer the Travels of Benjamin of Tu- It is true, we might dela, which was what we promifed .This Emperor Emanuel is Manuel Commenes, who afcended the Imperial throne A. D. 1143 , and died in 1180. He was famous for his treachery to the Chriftian princes engaged in the holy war, but it isvery certain that the time of his reign agrees exactly with the time of our author's vifiting the city of Con- ftantinople.There cannot well be anything more confufed than this paffa*ge of our author is at firft fight, and yet it is not impoffible to make tolerable good fenfe of it.Benjamin thought that as Manuel was an Emperor,his minifters and governors of provinces ought to be confidered as equal in ftate and dignity to kings.There is no doubt great difficulty in tranfcribing Greek words by Hebrew characters,efpecially where aperfon is not fully mafter of both languages, which was certainly the cafe ofour author; and perhaps the errors ofthe work have been heightened as well as multiplied by fuch as have copied it .Apripus in thetext very probably means Præpofitus, or Prime Minifter. Mega Domeflikutz , is plainly the corruptionof Meyas Apesinos , or Great Chamberlain. Dominot ftands for Dominus.Mackducus is put for Méyas Aouxas, or Great Duke, and the laſt is intended for Olxóvoμos Méyas, or Lord High Steward .6fameFROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 5fame manner and my opinion is that in no country of the world fuch princely sports are to be feen ." But this King Emanuel, befides that palace left him by his anceſtors, hath builthim another upon the fea- fhore, which they call Bilbernæ, the pillars and walls whereof he hath overlaid with beaten gold and filver, whereon he hath engraved all the warsmade by him and his anceſtors; and he hath prepared a throne there for himſelf ofgoldand precious ftones, and hath adorned it with a golden crown hanging on high by goldchains; the compofure whereof is equal with the throne itſelf, fo enriched with preciousftones and pearls, that the price thereof no man is able to value; of fo great a luftre,that without the affiftance of light they fhine, and may be feen in the night."Moreover there are fuch valuable things in the fame place as were incredible iftold; and tributes are yearly brought into that palace, wherewith the towers are filledwith fearlet and purple garinents, and gold; fo that the like example of building andriches can no where elfe be found in the world. And it is affirmed, that the revenue onlyof this city itſelf, gathered from the markets, haven, and tribute of merchants, amountedto 20,000 crowns a day. Furthermore, the Grecians themfelves, inhabitants of thecountry, are exceeding rich in gold, and have abundance of precious ftones, and aredreffed in moft fumptuous apparel, their garments being made of crimfon intermingledwith gold, or embroidered with needle-work, and are all carried upon horfes, as if theywere the children of Kings. The country itſelf being very large, abounds with all fortsof fruits, and hath great plenty of corn, flefh, and wine; nor is there afiner fpot in thewhole world to be found. They are alſo learned and fkilful in the difcipline of the Grecians; but giving themſelves wholly to pleaſure, they eat and drink every one under hisownvine and under his own fig-tree. Ofall the nations which they call barbarians, theyhave foldiers to fight with the Soldan, King of the children of Thogarna, who are commonly called Turks, becauſe they themfelves, through idlenefs and luxury, are becomequite unfit for the wars, and feem to me more like women than men, through theirexceffive love of pleaſure *." But no Jews dwell within the city, for they are excluded from thence by an arm ofthe fea of Sophia; they are not fo much as permitted to come into the city but by boats,and that forthe fake of commerce; and here are about two thoufand Jews Rabbanites,befides five hundred Karaites on the other fide. There is a wall to feparate them fromthe Rabbanites, that are the difciples of wife men; and among whom Abtalion theGreat, and R. Abdias, and Aaron Cufpus, and Jofeph Starginus, and Eliakim the governor, have the chief authority. Amongst thefe fome are artificers of filken garments; but there are many merchants, and thofe too very rich. No Jew is there permitted to be carried on horfe-back, except Solomon the Egyptian, the King's phyfician,through whofe intereſt the Jews are comforted and cafed in their captivity, which theyfeel to be grievous; for all the Jews are very much hated by the Grecians, withoutmaking any difference between the good and evil: but they are worft ufed by thetanners, who, while they drefs their fkins, pour out the filthy water into the ftreetsbefore their doors. They are in general oppreffed with a grievous yoke, and are infulted and beaten in the ftreets, enduring from every hand abundance of injuries. Butamong the Jews themſelves fome are rich, as I have ſaid, and good men, and merciful,

• However fharp or fevere this character of the people at Conftantinople may feem, yet it is beyond all

queftion veryjuft and well founded, fully fupports what we have delivered upon this fubject in the fixteenthfection, and is at once a mark ofveracity in thefe Travels, and of the author's capacity in judging of what he faw.and:6 THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINand obferve the commandments, who patiently endure the mifery of captivity. Theplace wherein they dwell is called Pera."mor,5. Our author continued his journey from Conftantinople to the city of Tyre, fromthence to Jerufalem, and from thence through the Holy Land, of which he gives a veryparticular defcription , to the city of Damafcus; and from thence to Balbeck, which isin the neighbourhood of the ancient Palmyra, which he calls by its old name of Tadand affures us, that there were in it, when he paffed through, two thouſand Jews.He gives us next a copious account of the city of Bagdat, of the court ofthe Khaliff, andof the condition of the Jews in that city. Then he carries us into the country of Thema,where he places a whole nation of Jews, about which there have been great difputes;and fome would have us believe, that the whole is a forgery. However that matterbe, as it no way relates to my fubject , I did not think it requifite to trouble the readertherewith, efpecially as there are ftorics enough of the fame kind in the reft of the book.In his fifteenth chapter, he acquaints us, that he proceeded to Botzra on the river Tigris,which is plainly Balfora, or Baffora, a place frequently mentioned in the precedingpartof this work; and from thence he continued his journey through Perfia, as I fhall acquaint the reader in his own words * .6. The river Samoura is eftcemed the limits of the kingdom of Perfia, and near itftands a city of the fame name, wherein dwell fifteen hundred Jews. There is thefepulchre of Efdras the fcribe and prieft, who died at this place in his return from Jerufalem to the court of Artaxerxes. Our people have built before this fepulchre agreat fynagogue; and on the other fide the Ifhiacl*tes, i. e. the Arabians, or Mohammedans, have built a mofque; fo great is their efteem for Efdras, and their reſpect forthe Ifraelites. It is on this fcore alfo that the Ifhmaelites refort hither to pray." It is four miles from hence to Chuzefthan, which is the fame with Elam, thatgreat city of old; but it is now in fome meaſure ruined and uninhabited . At one end,but in the midft of ruins, is Sufa, a caſtle, and formerly the palace of Ahafuerus; fomeremains of which are yet ftanding. There are here feven thoufand Jews and fourteenfynagogues, before one of which ftands the tomb of Daniel. The river Tigris † runsthrough the city, over which there is a bridge. All the Jews that live on one fide are veryrich, have fhops extremely well filled, and carry on a great commerce. Thofe on theother fide the river are all poor, having neither markets, fhops, gardens, nor orchards.The fenfe of their condition threw them once into an infurrection , from a notion thatall the glory and riches of thofe on the other fide the river, fprung from no other caufethan their having the fepulchre of the prophet Daniel on their fide.They demanded therefore that this tomb fhould be transferred to their fide; butthe others vehemently oppofing this, a war began, of which both fides growing weary,it was agreed, that the coffin of Daniel fhould remain one year on one fide the river,and the next year on the other. This treaty was obſerved till fuch time as SanigarShah, fon to the great Shah of Perfia, who rules over forty-five Princes, cancelled it.He is called in Arabic Sultan Phars- Al-Chabir, which is as much as to fay, great Em-

• Our author's Travels, with the remarks neceffary to explain them, would, if delivered entire, take up

a great many theets; and for this reafon it is, and that we may keep the fubject as much within bounds aspoflible, that we take this method of acquainting the reader with the contents of his work.+ Our author is a little out herein his geography, for the river Tigris does not come near this city; the river he means was anciently called Eulæus, and in the modern maps we find it defcribed under the name ofCoron. It is, in all probability, the fame as before mentioned, which fome critics will have to be a riverof our author's making; but the truth of the matter is, that the river Coron takes its rife near a town calledSamira, from whence he might hear it called the river of Samira, and fuch an error, confidering the timesin which he lived, is not very confiderable.13 perorFROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 7peror ofPerfia. His empire extends from the mouth of the river Samoura to the cityof Samarcand, and to the river of Gozan, the province of Gifbor, including the citiesof the Medes, the mountains ofHaphton, and fo to the province of Thibet; in the foreftsof which country are found the animals that produce mufk. His empire is four monthsand four days journey in extent *." When therefore this great monarch Sanigar King of Perfia came to Elam, andfaw them tranſporting the coffin of Daniel from one fide ofthe river to the other, witha great crowd of Jews and Ifhmaelites upon the bridge, he demanded what they weredoing, and the reafon of their doing it; and being informed of what has been beforerelated , he decided the point thus: It is by no means decent, ſaid he, that the remainsof Daniel fhould be treated in this manner; meaſure therefore to a place that is at anequal diſtance from both fides, and there let the coffin of Daniel be fufpended in aglaſs- cafe, faſtened to the middle of the bridge by chains of iron, and let there be afpacious edifice built in the fame place in the form of a fynagogue, open to all people,whether Jews, or of other nations that incline to come thither to fay their prayers t. Asa ſtill ſtronger mark of his eſteem, that Emperor likewife forbad, by an exprefs edict,that any man fhould take fish out of the river for one mile below, and another above,for the reverence and honour of Daniel."From hence to Robad-bar are three days journey, where dwell twenty thousandIfraelites, among whom there are very many difciples of the wife men, and alfo fomeof them very rich; but thefe live under the power and authority of a ſtrange Prince.In two days journey from thence you come to the river Vanth, where are four thousandJews, or thereabouts; but four days journey from the river lieth the country Molhat, the inhabitants whereof believe not the doctrine of the Ishmaelites, but they dwellin very ſtrong mountains, and they obey an elder, whofe feat is in the country Alchefifin;and among theſe there are four colleges ofthe Ifraelites, and they go forth to the warswith them; nor are they ſubject to the dominion ofthe King of Perfia, but live in highmountains, from whence defcending they invade the bordering countries, and driveaway booties, and return again, fearing no man; but the Jews, who dwell among them,are the difciples of the wife men, and obey the head of the captivity of Babylon.You travel five days journey from hence to Omaria, where are five-and-twentythouſand Ifraelites; and it is the beginning of the fynagogues of the inhabitants ofthemountains of Haphton, which are known to be more than an hundred in number; andin theſe places the country of Media beginneth; and theſe are of the firft captivity carried away by King Salmanafar; but they fpeak the Chaidee language, and amongthemare the difciples of the wife men, and the chief city Omaria, pertaining to the kingdomof Perfia, within one day's journey; but they are under the dominion of the King ofPerfia, to whom they pay tribute; and the tribute appointed in all the kingdoms of theIfhmaelites, is for males above fifteen years old, one golden amir, which is in value oneSpaniſh morabetine piece of gold and an half, or half a crown of our money.

• This pompous account of an Emperor commanding over forty five Kings is very fuitable to the genius

of a Jewiſh traveller; but the difficulty is to find out who he is of whom all this is faid . We read in Elmacinus of a Prince of this name, who was the fon of a King of Perfia, and flouriſhed about this time;and therefore it is very probable, that this decifion is to be afcribed to him in the lifetime of his father,though Benjamin fecms to attribute it to the Shah, or Emperor himſelf.This circumftance is not in itſelf very confiderable; but in fo large a collection as this it was neceffaryto have a writer fo much talked of as our author, and the reader cannot think his time thrown away inacquiring, by this inftance, the power of judging of ſuch a performance; for, as I oblerved before, the Jewish authors all write alike.7. ItTHE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMIN7. It is now twelve years fince a certain man named David Elroi arofe in the city ofOmaria, who was the difciple of Chafdai, the head of the captivity, and of Jacob thehonourable head of the affembly of Levi, in the metropolitan city of Bagdat; he became very learned in the law of Mofes, and in the books of doctrine, and alfo in allwifdom; in the language ofthe Ifhmaelites, and in the books of the magicians and enchanters; he therefore took it in his head that he would raiſe arms against the King ofPerfia, would gather together the Jews who dwelt in the mountains of Haphton, wouldwar againſt the whole world, and go to Jerufalem and win it by affault; and, that hemight perfuade the Jews thereto, he fhewed them lying and deceitful figns, affirmingthat he was fent from Godto Jerufalem, and to free them from the yoke of the nations,fo that with many of the Jews he procured credit unto himſelf, and was owned bythemfor their Meffiah *.The King of Perfia hearing the report of this infurrection , fent for him to talk withhim, to whom he went without any fear; and it being demanded whether he wasthe King of the Jews, he boldly anfwered, that he was; and he was thereupon apprehended and caft into the gaol in which ſtate prifoners are kept all their lives. Thispriſon is in the city Dabaftran, nigh the great river Gozan. After three days a councilof the princes and minifters being called by the King, in which they confulted as to thisinfurrection of the Jews, David was prefent there, being efcaped out of prifon, no manknowing thereof. When the King faw him, he demanded, " Who hath brought theehither, or delivered thee out of prifon?"-" Mine own wifdom ," anfwered he, " for Iam not afraid of thee, or of thy fervants." Then the King cried out to thoſe abouthim, " Seize him! lay hands on him!" To whom the princes and fervants anſwered ,that his voice was heard by all, but he was feen by none †.The King wondering at his wifdom, was aftonifhed . David then cried out aloud," Lo! I take myway;" and he began to go before, the King following him, and allthe nobility and their fervants followed the King. When they came to the bank of theriver, David fpreading abroad his handkerchief upon the waters, paffed over dry, andat that time was feen of all. They endeavoured to purfue and take him with little boats,which they attempted in vain; and thence concluded , that no enchanter in the worldmight be compared to him. As for David he travelled that day ten days journey,coming to Omaria; through the virtue of the ineffable Name ‡ , he declared what hadbefallen unto him to their great amazement.This ſtory, as extravagant as it ſeems, is really a matter of fact , and as fuch is recorded by two Jewiſhhiftorians; viz. R. Selomo Ben Virga, and R. David Gantz, who place it in A. D. 1135, which, as fomecritics have obferved, does not agree with the date affigned by our author, who fays, it happened twelveyears before he was there. This, however, is no great miftake, even if we fhould admit that it is our author's mistake, though, for my part, I fhould fuppofe it as eafy for the other writers to err in this particular. The whole, however, may perhaps be folved, by fuppofing that Benjamin copied the account that hehas given us from fome hiftory of this impoftor written twelve years after this infurrection . However itbe, the thing is of no great moment, any more than the difference between the name mentioned by our author, and that of David El David, which is uſed in the other hiſtories.+ There are fome little variations in the manner in which theſe facts are told by the other historians;but they are of no great confequence, and therefore I fhall not trouble the reader with them, neither fhouldI have mentioned thefe writers at all, but to convince the reader, that this is not a tale invented by Benjamin, as he might otherwife very readily imagine.Both the Latin tranflators have miffed the fenfe as to this name, which the Jews call ineffable, becauſethey are perfuaded that the true pronunciation of the name of God is loft, or unknown; and they pretend,that whoever has the fecret of pronouncing it right, is able thereby to work miracles. They likewife affert, that by this means our Saviour wrought his; and though this be a very idle conceit, yet it is worththe knowing, becauſe it fhews plainly, that the Jews do not pretend to deny the matters of fact, but areforced to have recourfe to this evafion, in order to juſtify their incredulity.ButFROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 9But the King of the Perfians fending meffengers unto Bagdat, informed the greatKhaliff ofthe Ifhmaelites of this matter, and requeſted that he would cauſe David Elroito be reſtrained from fuch enterprizes, by the head of the captivity, and the chief rulersof the affemblies, otherwife he threatened total deſtruction to all the Jews living in thekingdom of Perfia. All the fynagogues of the kingdom of Perfia falling thereuponinto great fear ofthe matter, fent letters therefore unto the heads of the captivity, andto the heads of all the affemblies in Bagdat to this purpoſe: " Why fhould we diebefore your eyes, as well we as all the univerfities fubject unto this kingdom? Reſtrainthis man, we beseech you, left innocent blood be fhed." Therefore the head ofthecaptivity, and the chief rulers of the affemblies, wrote letters unto David Elroi to thefollowing effect: " We give you hereby to underſtand, that the time of our deliveryis not yet come, and that our figns, which ought to precede that deliverance, are notyet feen, and a man is not made ftrong through pride; wherefore we enjoin you toabftain wholly from fuch enterpriſe and attempts, otherwife ye fhall be excommunicated, and cut off from all Ifrael. "They alfo by meffengers advertiſed Zachai Hanaffi, who was in the country ofAffur,and Jofeph, furnamed the Seer, Burhan Alpelech living there, that David Elroi mightbe reſtrained by letters written from them, which was diligently purfued by them, butall in vain; for he could not forfake that wicked way, but perfifted till a certain Kingof the Togarmim called Zinaldin, fubject to the King of Perfia, fent 10,000 pieces ofgold unto the father-in-law of David Elroi, and perfuaded him to end theſe troubles byprivately killing his fon-in-law, which, when he had undertaken to perform, he thruftDavid through with a fword in his bed as he flept; and this was the end ofall his fubtilty and delufions *. But even when he was dead the anger of the King of Perfia wasnot appeafed towards thofe people of the mountains, and other Jews fubject to himand fettled in his dominion; and therefore they defired once more help from the headofthe captivity, who, going to the King himſelf, appeafed him by mild and wife fpeeches;and, having preſented him with 100 talents of gold, he fo mollified him, that there wasever afterwards great quietnefs through the whole country.8. From theſe mountains before defcribed you travel ten days journey to Hamadan,the principal city of the country of Media, in which city there are about fifty thoufandJews; and in that city over againſt one of the fynagogues are the fepulchres of Mordecai and Eſther. Dabreftan is four days journey diftant from hence, where fourthouſand Jews dwell, nigh unto the river Gozan; but from thence you travel fevendays journey to Ifpahan, a very great city, the capital of this country, and twelve milesin compaſs, wherein there are about twelve thouſand Ifraelites, over whom Shallum isappointed by the head of the captivity, as alfo over the reft of the Ifraelites who dwellin the cities of Perfia. After four days journey you come to Siaphaz †, the moſt antientin this country, called Perfidis of old, from whence the name was given to the wholeprovince, in which there are almoſt ten thouſand Jews.From Siaphaz, in feven days journey, you come to the city Ginah, feated nigh theriver Gozan, to which there refort merchants of all nations and languages, and whereThe authors we have before cited tell us the fame ftory as to the death of this impoftor, but with a circumſtance that Benjamin has omitted, which is, that the Jews themfelves were obliged to raife the 10,000pieces of gold that were given as a bribe to the father-in-law of David, for killing him when he was afleep .All the tranflators and commentators on our author have been at a lofs to conceive what place he couldmean by this; and yet I think the difficulty is not quite fo great as they reprefent it; for to me it appearsvery plain that this city was Schizaz, which anfwers directly his defcription. As for confufion in names,I have already affigned the caufe of it; which was his expreffing in Hebrew characters, words that thefecharacters could not exprefs, and in expreffing which words he was entirely governed by their found.VOL. VII. C are10 THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINare about eight thoufand Jews. The fartheft city of this kingdom is the famous Samarcand; and five days journey from Ginah, where are fifty thouſand Ifraelites, over whom*obdias ruleth; and among them there are many wife and rich men.In four daysjourney from hence you come to Thibet, a capital city of the province ofthe fame name,in the forefts of which are the animals found that produce muſk.9. About twenty-eight days journey from thence lie the mountains of Nibor, whichare fituated near the river Gozan; and fome of the Jews that inhabit Perfia affirm , thatin the cities of Niſbor dwell the four tribes of Ifrael, carried away in the firft captivityby Salmanafar the King of the Affyrians, viz. Dan, Zebulon, Affur, and Naphtali, as itis written, " And he carried them away into Lechalach and Habor, the mountains ofGozan, and the mountains of Media. " Their country is extended twenty days journeyin length , with many cities and caſtles inhabited , all mountainous, the river Gozanrunning on the one fide; but the inhabitants are abfolutely free, and are ruled by acertain governor, whofe name was at this time Jofeph Amraela, a Levite, and amongthem are the difciples of wife men: they fowand reap, and are at war with the childrenof Chus, who dwell in the defarts. They are in league with the Copheral Turks, worfhippers of the winds, a people who lead their lives in the defarts, neither eat bread nordrink wine, but feed on the raw fleſh of beaſts, as well clean as unclean; and theſeeither new killed, and yet trembling with life-blood, or dried in the air, but unboiled.They devour alfo the limbs torn from beafts yet alive. They feem to want nofes;but instead thereof, they have two holes in their faces, through which they breathe.They are friends to the Ifraelites *.It happened about fifteen years fince, that, invading the country of Perfia with agreat army, they vanquished the metropolitan city Rei; and, having made a mightyflaughter afterwards, utterly wafted it, and fpoiled the houfes and fields, and carriedaway a prodigious plunder, returning through the defarts, a calamity which for manyages was never felt in Perfia. The King ofPerfia, vehemently enraged, faid, " In thedays ofmy anceſtors, no army ever came out of this defart, therefore will I go in purfuit of them and deftroy them from the earth. " He affembled accordingly an armyfor war, and feeking fome guide to whom the places of that nation were known, acertain man offered himſelf, who affirmed, that he was of that nation , and knew theirdwellings; but being afked what provifion was neceffary for the army, he anfwered,"Bread and water for fifteen days, which you muſt ſpend in paffing through the defarts. "When they had marched theſe fifteen days, the army found themfelves deftitute of fubfiftence for men or beafts, without feeing any thing of the place whither they intendedto go, or the leaft figns of an inhabited country. The guide was afked for by the King,who faid to him, " You fee how well you have kept your word; tell us where are ourenemies that you affured us you could difcover?" The guide faid by way of excufe," I have loft my way;" and the King thereupon lofing all patience, ordered him to beput to death, commanding at the fame time by proclamation, that whoever had any provifions in his army fhould bring them forth, and divide them with his companions fTheyThis, without doubt, is a very odd defcription of theſe people, and yet it is not very far wide ofthetruth; for modern travellers affure us, that the Kalmuc Tartars have nofes fo flat that they are ſcarce tobe diftinguished but bythe rifing of the noftrils; and as totheir manners, our author is not much out oftheway. The city he fpeaks of as ruined by the people was the great city of Rey, which makes fuch a figurein all the eaſtern hiftorians; thefame that in the book of Tobit is called Rhages, and of which we ſhall give an ample account in the next volume.This expedition is among the fingularities which reader thefe Travels valuable; for I do not knowthat there is any account of it to be met with elfewhere; and our author tells us very honeftly how he camebyFROM SPAIN TO CHINA. IIThey then ate up all that they had, even to the beafts that carried their baggage; andin this diftreffed condition they profecuted their March for thirteen days more, till at lastthey arrived at the mountains of Nifbor, inhabited by the Jews. The Perfians encampedthemſelves among the gardens and orchards by the fide of canals drawn from the riverGozan. Asit was then the feafon ofripe fruits, they ate what they thought fit, and madefree with all they found, nobody coming out to oppofe them; but at a diftance they difcovered among the mountains feveral hamlets, and fome forts that looked like places offtrength. The King of Perfia being informed of all this, fent two of his fervants to difcover what nation it was that had fettled in thefe mountains, and directed them for thispurpoſe to paſs the river either by boats, if they found any, or if not, by fwimming.Thefe men had not proceeded far in their journey before they met with a bridge thatwas very well built, and had a good barrier; and on the other fide ofthe bridge they fawa very large city; they immediately called out, and the town's-people coming to thegate, demanded who they were, and to whomthey belonged; but as they underſtoodnot each other's language, they were forced to wait till an interpreter was called, whounderstood the Perfian tongue; he having put the fame queftion, they anfwered, " Weare fervants to the King of Perfia, and we come to know who you are, and who isyour Lord?" The townfmen replied, " We are Jews, and not fubject to any King orPrince of the gentiles, but we have a Prince of our own. " The Perfians then informedthemfelves as to the Copheral Turks, and the Jews told them, that they were theirallies, and that whoever were their enemies they must regard as enemies to themſelves.Theſe two men returning to the camp, and having reported to the King what they haddifcovered, he was very much at a lofs how to proceed. The Jews on the next daycollected their forces, and the day following offered them battle.The King declined fighting, and addreffed himſelf to the Jewish chiefs in the following words: " I do not come to make war against you, but only againſt the CopheralTurks my enemies: but if you proceed to commit hoftilities againſt me, I will revengemyſelf by putting to death all the Jews in my kingdom; for I know that as things ſtandhere, you will be too hard for me; but let me adviſe you to prefer peace to war; fufferme to proceed in my expedition againſt the Copheral Turks my enemies, and ſupplyme and my army, for ready money, with what we want. " TheJews having confideredthis propofition among themfelves, refolved, out of regard to their brethren, to yieldto the King of Perfia's propofal. The King therefore being admitted with all hisarmy into their country, fpent fifteen days there, being honourably entertained amongthem.But in the mean time the Jews declared the whole matter by meffengers and lettersunto their confederates. The Turks thereupon gathering their forces together expected the enemy at the paffa*ge of the mountains, and in a convenient place for thatpurpoſe they attacked and gave the Perfians fo mighty an overthrow, that the King'sarmy being ruined, they compelled him to return into his own country with a veryfmall number.But it happened that a Jew ofthis province, named Mofes, being feduced by a certainPerſian horfeman, followed the King of Perfia, and when they came into Perfia hewas made a flave by the fame horfeman. But when at a time of public diverſionbyit; neither do I think that the dexterity with which his countrymen the Jews made their court to bothparties, is a circumſtance that, in the opinion of fuch as are acquainted with that nation, will render it atall improbable.€ 2 they12 THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINthey exerciſed their bows in the prefence of the King, this Mofes appeared the moſtexcellent archer in Perfia; he was thereupon examined by an interpreter, and openlydeclared to the King the manner of his being feduced, and his condition, whereon hewas preſently enfranchiſed, clothed with purple and filk garments, and enriched withroyal gifts; and was offered likewife, if he would embrace their religion, great riches,and the government of the King's houfe; which, when he courteously denied to do,he was placed by the Kingwith R. Shallom, the prince ofthe fynagogue at Ifpahan, whoſedaughter alſo he married by confent of the father. This very Mofes it was who toldme all that I have related.10. When I departed out of thefe countries I returned into Chuzeſtan, throughwhich the river Tigris runs, falling from thence into Hodu, or the Indian fea; and inits paffa*ge thither encompaffes the iſland Nekrokis * , near the mouth thereof, whichifland is in extent fix days journey. There is in it only one canal of freſh water, andthey drink no other than what is gathered from the fhowers, which is the reaſon thatland is neither fowed nor tilled; and yet it is very famous through the commerce ofthe Indians and Iſlands feated in the Indian fea, and merchants of the country of Senaar,Arabia the Happy, and Perfia, bringing thither all forts of filk and purple manufactures, hemp, cotton, flax, and Indian cloth; wheat, barley, millet, and rice in greatplenty, which they barter and fell among themſelves: but the Indian merchants bringalfo exceeding great plenty of fpices thither, and the natives act as factors and interpreters, and by this they live; but in that place there are not above five hundred Jews.Sailing thence with a profperous wind, in ten days I was brought to Kathipha, where arefive thouſand Jews.In theſe places pearls are found, made by the wonderful artifice of Nature: for onthe four-and-twentieth day of the month Nifan, a certain dew falleth into the waters,which being f*cked in by the oysters, they immediately fink to the bottom of the fea;afterwards, about the middle of the month of Tifri, men defcend to the bottom of thefea, and, by the help of cords, theſe men bringing up the oysters in great quantitiesfrom thence, open and take out of them the pearls t.In ſeven days journey from thence I came to Oulam, which is the entrance of theirkingdom, who worſhip the Sun, and are prone to the ſtudy of aftrology, being thechildren of Chus. They are men of a dark complexion, fincere tempers, and of verygreat fidelity in all refpects. They have among them this cuftom, that fuch as cometo them from remote countries, when received into the haven, have their names fetdown in writing by three fecretaries, who carry their lifts to the King, and afterwardsbring the merchants themſelves, whofe merchandiſe being received into his protection,theKing directs them to be landed, and left on the ſhore, where they remain without anyThere is no paffa*ge in the Travels of Benjamin more perplexed than this defcription of the iſland ofNekrokis, about which all his commentators are divided in their fentiments. That which hitherto hasbeen thought moft probable is, that he means the iſland of Ormuz, which, without doubt, was once a placeof great trade, and was always deftitute of water. It is however more credible that he means the city andcountry of Baffora, becauſe he places it at the mouth of the river Tigris, makes it the centre of the Indiancommerce, and mentions precifely the commodities of which that city was the ſtaple.+ This defcription has alfo gravelled many of the commentators. The word ufed in the Hebrew isBdellia; and from the defcription there is no fort of doubt that our author meant pearls. The account hehas given oftheir formation, how wild and extravagant foever it may appear, is however that which is embraced bythe moſt learned of his countrymen. Their opinion, in few words, is this: they hold, that at acertain feafon ofthe year there is an oily, fpirituous, and briny fubftance, floats on the furface of the fea,which being ſwallowed by the oysters, or rather f*cked in, as our author expreffes it, turns afterwards toa pearl. Thus far, without doubt, they have truth on their fide, that fuch a fubftance is ſometimes feenBoating on this and other feas, the drops of which, at first fight, refemble liquid pearl.watchFROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 13watch to keep them. There is alſo a magiftrate unto whom all things that are loft, orcafually removed, are conftantly brought, and of him they are eafily received by theowner, fo that certain tokens be fhewed whereby the loft thing may be made known;and this ftrict fidelity and honeft dealing is common through all the kingdom .In this country, from Eafter to the beginning of the fucceeding year, the fun fhineswith outrageous heat; and therefore, from the third hour of the day until the evening,all men remain fhut up in their houfes. But about that time lamps being lighted,.and fet in order throughout all the streets and markets, they work and exercife theirrefpective arts and callings all the night; for, as I faid, they cannot do it in the daytime by reafon of the exceeding heat. It is in this country that pepper grows upontrees planted by the inhabitants in the fields belonging to every city, and their propergardens are particularly affigned and known. The fhrub itfelf is finall, and bringsforth a white feed, which being gathered, is put into bafons fteeped in hot water,and is ſet forth in the fun, that it may be dried and hardened, acquiring thereby ablack colour. Cinnamon and ginger are likewife found there, as well as many otherkind of fpices.The inhabitants of this country do not bury their dead, but, having embalmed theirbodies with divers forts of drugs and fpices, they place them in niches, and cover themwith nets fet in order according to their feveral families; but their flesh drieth with thebones, and when grown ftiff, they feem as if they were alive, and every one knows theiranceſtors for many defcents * . But as to their religion, or rather fuperftition, theyworſhip the fun, and have many and great altars built along the coaft about half a milewithout the city. Early in the morning therefore they go in crowds to pay their devotion to the fun, to whom upon all the altars are the ſpheres confecrated, made bymagic, reſembling the circle of the fun; and when the fun riſes theſe orbs feem to beinflamed, and turn round with a great noife t. They have every one a cenfer in theirhands, as well women as men, and all together offer incenfe to the Sun: fuch and fogreat is their folly. But among thefe people, the Jews, who are fettled, at the moſtamount to a thouſand families in all; they are of as black a colour as the inhabitantsthemſelves, yet are nevertheleſs good honeft men, and ſtrict obfervers of the commandments of the law of Moſes; and are not altogether unſkilful in the books of doctrineand cuſtoms commonly called the Talmud.From this country in two-and-twenty days I failed unto the Iſlands Cinrag, the inhabitants of which worship the fire, and are called Dogbiim, among whom twenty- threethouſand Jews are fettled. The Dogbiim have prieſts in every place to officiate in theirtemples; and theſe priefts are the moft fkilful forcerers and inchanters in the whole world.Before every temple there is a large pit, in which a mighty fire is lighted every day,which theycall Alhuta, and they make their children paſs through this fire to purge them,and alſo caft their dead into the midſt of this fire to be there burned: nay, there arefome ofthe nobility who folemnly devote themſelves to be confumed in this fire alive.It appears from this account, that theſe people were Perfees, neither is there any thing in what herelates that is not very easily reconcileable to the truth; for all writers that pretend to give us an account ofthe religion of the antient Perfians agree, that they did not bury their dead, but left them expoſed to theelements, from this principle, that the living man being a compound of all the elements, it was but reaſonable, after he was dead, that each element fhould recover its own.This is another Jewish notion agreeable to their ignorance in thoſe days, which made them afcribeevery thing they did not perfectly understand to witchcraft . As to thefe fpheres they were really verywonderful things, being fo contrived as to fhew the rifing and fetting of the fun, and the motions oftheheavenly bodies. They were made and kept bythe Magi, who made ufe of them to ftrike the vulgar withaftonishment, and to inftruct their difciples in the fcience ofaftronomy.14 When14 THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINWhen a man who has taken this refolution , declares fuch his intended devotion tohis acquaintance and kindred, they prefently falute him in theſe words: Bleffed artthou, and it fhall be well with thee. On the day the vow is to be performed, having firftgiven an entertainment, he is carried, if rich, on horfe-back; but if he be poor, he isbrought on foot, accompanied with a multitude of his friends and others unto thebrink of the pit , from whence beginning his career, he leaps into the fire, at whichall his friends and kindred rejoice exceedingly, and with all forts of mufick and dancing,celebrate the feaft, until he be wholly confumed. But the ftrangeft part of the ftoryis to come; for three days after two of the chief priefts going unto his houfe, commandthe whole family to prepare for the reception of their father, who is coming to vifitthem the fame day, and declare to them what they are to do on this occafion: theycall to them certain perfors to be witneffes out of the city, and bring fomething refembling the deceaſed, of whom the wife and children demandeth how it fareth with himin the other world, to whom he anfwers, I came unto my companions, by whom I am notreceived until I diſcharge my duty to myfriends and kindred. He then diftributes hisgoods to his children, and orders all the debts to be paid to his creditors, and whatever is owing to him to be demanded, the witnefles fetting down in writing all his inftructions, of whom, notwithstanding, he is not feen; and then faying he will go hisway again, he vanifheth . By thefe arts (in which there is nothing but juggling andcollufion) the prieſts govern all.In the ſpace of forty days one may travel from hence by land to the frontiers of Tzinthat is, to the borders of China, which is the very extremity of the Eaft. Some holdthat this country is wafhed by the Nikpha, or coagulated fea, which is liable to prodigious ftorms, by which, when mariners are furprized, they are caft frequently intofuch ftraights, that not being able to go out, they are, after expending all their provifions, miferably ſtarved to death †.At first fight there is nothing in this paffa*ge that will feem very extraordinary to thereader, and yet after a little reflection it will appear of confiderable ufe. This coagulated fea is no other than the Icy or Frozen Sea on the coaft of Tartary and Ruffia tothe north of China, and through which the north-eaft paffa*ge, ſo often fought to little purpoſe, is fuppofed to lie. It appears clearly from hence, that before this time fomeattempts had been made on that fide, and that feveral ſhips had been frozen, and theircrews periſhed; whence the oriental name of Nikpha, or congealed fea, which Benjamingives it. It muſt be confeffed, that our author has a very romantic way of expreffingeven the plaineft facts; but at the fame time we ought to confider, that this was notonly the vice of all the writers of his country, but of the age in general in which heflouriſhed, fo that he is the more excufable; and at the fame time the reader will be fojuſt asto remember, that we do not infert his travels as the beſt, but as the only travels

• This is pretty evident from the manner in which Benjamin tells this ftory, that he fufpected the prieſts

impofed upon the people, as without doubt they did. The witneffes were perfons in the confederacy, andthe terror of the family was probably fo great, and their prejudice fo ftrong, that with tolerable management this fcene might be carried through, and little or nothing of the fraud be difcovered. Befides, whoever had attempted to diſcloſe the cheat, would have been confidered as an impious perfon, and a declared an enemy to the religion of his country. It would be no difficult matter to fhew, from the abfurdities that havepaffed upon other nations, the poffibility oftranfacting an impofture of this kind, as the intelligent readerwill eafily conceive .+ Our author has added a ſtory here concerning the Gryphons, fo very ridiculous, and of fuch an extent, that I could not prevail upon myfelf to infert it. It is plain enough from his account, that he doesnot pretend to have travelled into China, but barely to relate what he had heard of it. The extent of histravels feems to have been Cape Commorin, or of fome of the countries near it, from whence he took ſhipping for the oppofite coaft of Africa.weFROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 15we have in this period of time, which must acquit us in the judgment of the impartialfrom all objections that might be otherwiſe made from the contents of this performance.But to proceed.II. It is three days journey to Gingala, where there are about a thouſand Ifraelites;from thence in feven days you fail to Coulan, where there are none of our countrymen. It is from thence twelve days journey to Zabid, where there are fome few Jews.It is from thence eight days journey to the Indies on the oppofite coaft (by which ourauthor means Ethiopia) . In this country there are very high mountains inhabited bymultitudes of Ifraelites, who are not under the yoke of the Gentiles, but have heregreat cities and ftrong fortreffes. They defcend from thence in parties into the flat countries of Abyffinia, which are under the dominion of the Edomites, (which is thename theJews beſtow upon all Chriſtians, ) where, having acquired as much as they can byplunder, they return with their booty into the mountains where they are abfolutely fafefrom all purfuits. Many of thefe Jews travel on the fcore of commerce into Perfia andEgypt * .It is from thence to the land of Afvan twenty days journey through the defarts ofSaba, which lie on the river Phiſon, which comes from the country of Chus; the inhabitants of which are fubject to a prince, who is ftiled Shah-Abafch, i. e. the King ofAbyffinia. Part of the inhabitants of this country live like beafts, they feed only onthe grafs and herbs that grow along the river-fide, are quite naked, and as if their miferies had deprived them of common fenfe, they propagate their kind with their fiftersand neareſt relations, without the leaſt ſhame or fcruple. The climate of this countryis exceffively hot. When the people of Afvan make their expeditions into thefe partsfor the fake of plunder, and what they can carry away; they conftantly take with thembread, rice, dried raifins, and figs. Theſe they throw in large quantities among thehalf-famifhed blacks, whom, while they fcramble for them like dogs, they feize andcarry away prifoners, and fell them in Egypt and other countries. Thefe are the negroes, or black flaves, the pofterity of Ham. It is twelve days journey from Afvan toChelvan, in which there are about three hundred Jews.From Chelvan they go in caravans fifty days journey through the defart called AlTfachra, or Zaara, to the province called Zuila, which is Havilah, in the land of Gana,i. e. Guiney. In theſe defarts there are vaft mountains of fand, which, being carried bythe force of violent tempefts, fometimes overwhelm whole caravans, and bury underthem all the paffengers. Such of the merchants as efcape this perilous journey bringwith themfrom that country, iron, copper, falt and all forts of fruits and pulfe; and theylikewife bring gold and precious ftones. This country is part of the land of Chus, andlies to the Weſt of Abyffinia. It is thirteen days journey from Chelvan to the city ofKous, which is the firft in the land of Egypt, where there are fettled about thirty thoufand Jews. At the diſtance of five days journey is Phium, anciently called Pithom.In the neighbourhood of this city are ftill to be feen the ruins of thofe ancient ftructuresthat were built by our ancestors during their captivity in Egypt.12. Four days journey from thence ftands the great city of Mifraim , or Cairo,fituated on the banks of the river Nile, in which there are fettled about two thouſandThere is no doubt to be made from what Benjamin relates, that he followed the old opinion, accordingto which Ethiopa was looked upon as part of the Indies; and with regard to what he tells us of the Jewsbeing fettled in the mountains there, it is fullyjuftified both by the antient and modern accounts of thatcountry, as is alfo the following circ*mstances in relation to the paffa*ge of caravans through the defarts,and the accidents to which they are fometimes fubject in paffing through them. His readineſs to afcribethe flavery of the negroes tothe curfe pronounced by Noah on Ham and his pofterity, is very agreeable tothe divinity and fpirit of the Jews.5Jews,16. THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINJews, who have in this city two fair fynagogues, one belonging to the Jews of Paleſtineand Syria, the other to thofe of the country of Babylon. Theſe two forts of Jews differ only in the divifion of the law into fections; for the Babylonians every week readone Paraſcha after the manner which is common throughout all Spain; and thereforeonce every year they finifh the law: but the Ifraelites of Syria divide every Parafchainto three Sedarim, or fmaller fections, and fo they read over the law only once in threeyears; and both thefe after a folemn manner twice in the year join in their prayers together, viz. upon the day ofthe rejoicing of the law, and onthe feftival day of the lawgiven. Over all thefe Nathaniel hath the chief authority, being the greateſt of thenobility, and head of the affembly, who rules all the fynagogues in Egypt, and appoints mafters and elders.He is alſo the miniſter of the great king, who refides in the palace of Zoan (whichis a city of Egypt, wherein Ali the ſon of Abitaleb was once commander of the faithful }whofe fubjects are ftyled rebels by the other Arabs, becauſe they refuſe obedience tothe Abiffidian Khaliff, whofe feat is Bagdat. There is an irreconcileable enmity betweenthefe princes. This monarch appears in public twice in the year, viz. at the time oftheir feaſt of Eafter, and when the river Nile overflows * .The royal cityitſelf is encompaffed and fortified with walls, but Mifraim is without walls,furrounded by the river Nile on the one fide. This is a very large city, furniſhed withmany market-places and publick buildings; and here are many rich Jews. The country itſelf is never troubled with rain, ice, or fnow, but is often afflicted with outrageous heat. It is watered bythe Nile, which once every year fwelling in the month Elulcovers and overflows all the land for fifteen daysjourney, the waters continuing to rifein the months of Elul and Tifri, and making the earth fruitful: and the policy and diligence of the old Egyptians was fuch, that in an iſland which the river makes here, apillar was by them erected of fine marble and excellent workmanſhip, raiſed twelvecubits above the furface of the river. When therefore the waters overflow and coverthat column, the inhabitants are fully fatisfied that the whole extent of their countryfor fifteen days journey is entirely overſpread. If the water rife but half the height ofthe pillar, they gather from thence that their country is but half watered. There isa man ftands bythe pillar, and every day at noon proclaims in all parts of the citytheheight of the water in this form, " Be thankful to God, the river is rifen fo manycubits."If the water rifes to the top of the column, it is a fign that the year will be fertilethroughout all Egypt. At this feafon whoever has any land, hires workmen to cut atrench through his ground into which, as the water rifes, the fifh are carried, and areleft therein; when the river finks, then the owners of the lands take them out, andeither ſpend them in their families, or fell them to fuch as falt and export them. Theſefifh are exceedingly large and fat, and the very beſt people in the country make uſe ofthe oil drawn from them to burn in their lamps. If it falls out, as it frequently does,that people eat too much of theſe fiſh, they have nothing more to do than to drinkThere is not a paffa*ge in all our author's work which has been more contefted than this with regard tothe Khaliff then reigning in Egypt; and fome have gone fo far as to produce it as a direct proof of hisneverhaving travelled at all; but I cannot help faying, that though the critics have a right to amend what is amifs in the copies of any author which they publish, yet I cannot conceive they have any authority firſt of all to impofe their own fenfe upon a paffa*ge, and then produce it to the prejudice of the author, whofecredit they would destroy. We shall fhew hereafter, that in the prefent cafe there is no ground for fuch afuggeftion; but that what our author has delivered may be well reconciled to the current of hiſtory, with- out any alteration whatever,largely1FROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 17largely of the water of the Nile, which immediately removes that inconvenience. Ithas been an old queſtion, and a great diverſity of opinions there has been concerningthe overflowing of the Nile, but the Egyptians fuppofe, that at the time when thisriver overflows, heavy rains fall in the higher countries, that is in the land of Habahs,which we call Havilah; at the time the river does not overflow, nothing is fown in Egypt,and hereupon fterility and famine follow.But ufually the fields are fowed in the month of September, the Nile being then retired into its channel; but barley is reaped in the month of February, and wheat thenext month after, and in the fame month cherries are ripe, as are alfo almonds and cucumbers, gourds, peafecods and beans, lentils, &c. and divers kinds of pot- herbs,as purflain, afparagus, and lettice, corianders, fuccory, coleworts and grapes; butthe gardens and orchards throughout Egypt are watered, and trenches filled with the waters of the river *.This great river, after paffing through the city Mifraim or Cairo, is divided into fourheads, one whereof runneth by Damiata, fometime called Caphtor, nigh unto whichit falleth into the fea. The fecond runneth down into the city Rafir, not far fromAlexandria, and there diſcharges itfelf into the fea. The third paffeth by Afmon, avery great city on the borders of Egypt, nigh which heads of the river many cities,caſtles, and towns, are feated on either fide, and people may travel to them all eitherby boat or land. No country in the whole world can be compared to this for the multitude of inhabitants, and all the country of Egypt is plain, fruitful and well- ſtored withgood things. Old Mifraim is two leagues diftant from the New Mifraim , but it iswafted and defolate: yet there are many ruins of the walls and houſes, and not a fewmonuments there of the treafuries and ſtorehoufes of Jofeph, yet to be feen. Inthefame place there is an artificial pillar built by art magic, like which there is none in allthe land. Without the compafs of the city ſtands a fynagogue, which bears the nameof Mofes our teacher, of ancient date; to preferve the ruins that yet remain, a certainold miniſter, a difciple of the wife men, is there maintained, who from his office isſtyled Sehech Albounetzar, or " the father of the watch ." The ruins of Old Miſ. ·raim take up a ſpace of about three miles.13. Theland of Gofhen is no more than eight leagues from hence, and therein ſtandsBolfir Salbis, a great city, in which there are three thoufand Jews. From hence youtravel half a day's journey to Ifkaal Lein Al Sames, which was anciently called Ramefes,where now are only the ruins of a city, in which many works are feen built by our fathers, and among theſe certain huge edifices like towers made of brick. From thenceyou make one whole day's journey to Al- Buyg, where are two hundred Jews; and fromhence in half a day's journey you come to Manziptha, where are two hundred Jews,from which city Ramira is four leagues diftant, and in it there are feven hundred Jews,from whence it is five days journey to Lamhala, where are five hundred Ifraelites.

• In the fubfequent part of this work, we ſhall have more than once occafion to mention moft of the cir

cumſtances that our author hath recorded, and to compare the reports of later travellers with his. Thereafon of this note is, to take notice of a particular which our author has omitted, and which however thereader may be glad to know. It is this, the Nile is of ſo great confequence to the Egyptians, that theyhave always had a very fuperftitious regard to it, infomuch that they fancied the rife and fall of this rivernot only portended the fertility or fcarcenefs of the fucceeding year, but likewife great revolutions offtate. It is certain that it did not overflow in the tenth year of the reign of Cleopatra, which might feem to predict the conqueft of that country by the Romans, that foon after followed; but then the fame accident happened in the time of Trajan, when nothing remarkable followed it. Befides, we read of no fearcity in Egypt before the conqueft of it by the Arabs, or deftruction of the Khaliffs of the family of Al,which was brought about by Saladin; fo that this ought to be confidered as an abfurd and ridiculous opi- nion, as moſt of theſe notions are.VOL. VII, D Two18 THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINTwo days journey more bring you to Alexandria, a city called after the name ofAlexander the Macedonian, at whofe command we read it was built and ſtrongly fortified, and adorned with walls admirably finifhed, houfes uniformly built, and ftatelypalaces without the city a great and beautiful building is yet to be feen, which isreported to have been the college of Ariftotle, the mafter of Alexander, wherein thereare almoft twenty fchools, which were frequented in former times bythe learned menof the whole world, who affembled there to learn the philofophy of Ariftotle; and hisThe city itſelf is excellently built academy had ftately porticoes of marble pillars * . as well from the pavement of the ground, as with vaults and arches under ground,through the hidden paffa*ges whereof men may come into the market-places and not befeen; of which fome are a whole mile in length, as from the gate Refid unto the gateleading to the fea, from which gate a way was made and paved unto the very haven ofthe city of Alexandria, which is extended one mile within the fea.In this place a very high tower was built, which the inhabitants call Hemagarah, butthe Arabians Magar Alexandria, that is, the Pharos of Alexandria; on the top ofwhich tower it is reported that Alexander fet a curious mirror, in which all warlikefhips failing either out of Græcia or from the weft unto Egypt might be ſeen above thefpace of five hundred leagues f . This continued for a long time after the death ofAlexander. It fell out however that a fhip coming hither under the command of a certain Greek captain, who had a great knowledge in the fciences, came and caft anchorin that port; and having made prefents to the King, ofgold, filver, and very rich filks,he thereby obtained his favour. While he lay in the port, he took abundance of painsto ingratiate himſelf with the officer, who had the charge of this watch-tower and mirror; and having frequently entertained him on board his fhip, contracted with him atlaft fuch an intimacy, that he was permitted to go and ſtay in the tower as long as hethought fit. One day having feafted the captain and his men very magnificently, hedofed them at laft fo plentifully with ftrong wine, that they all fell faft a fleep. Havingthus carried his point, the captain and his crew firft broke the mirror to pieces, andthen weighed anchor and failed away in the night. Since that time the Edomites, i. e. the Chriftians, have infefted the coafts of Egyptwith their fhips of war and privateers, and have deprived the fovereigns of this country of the two great iflands of Crete and Cyprus, which remain at this day under thepower of the Greeks, from whom the prefent poffeffors of Egypt have not been ableto recover them. This watch-tower is ftill ufed as a beacon for the fervice of fuchfhips as are bound to Alexandria; for they are able to difcern it at the diſtance of onehundred miles by day and night, in confequence of a vaſt fire which is kept continuallyburning for that purpoſe. This country enjoys a large ſhare of trade , and is frequented by all nations for thefake of commerce. The port of Alexandria fwarms with veffels from all parts of Idumæa, i. e. Christendom; viz . from Valencia, Tufcany, Lombardy, Apulia, Malfi,and Sicily; others come from the moſt northern and fome inland parts of Europe, as

• Our author had this notion of the ſchool of Ariftotle from the Mohammedans, fo that whether it be

But with regard to the fact, it is certain, that it was not wrong or right, he is not anfwerable for it . Alexander but Ptolemy that erected this famous fchool; in which however it is as certain that the philofophy of Ariftotle was taught, and in which the most famous of his commentators flourished. It must be confeffed that this fact is abfolutely falfe, fince, as the reader has been before informed, thePharos of Alexandria was built by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and not by Alexander the Great. As to thismirror, it is mentioned by fome other writers as well as our Benjamin; but it is apparently a fable, and afable ridiculous in all its circumftances. It is however of ufe fometimes to know fuch fables, and thereforeI have preferved it.fromFROM SPAIN TO CHINA. 19from Cracow, Cordova, Spain, Ruffia, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, England, Flanders, Artois, Normandy, France, Poitou, Angiers, Gafcony, Arragon, and Navarre.There come alfo from the weſtern empire of the Ifhmaelites, viz. from Andalufia,Algarve, Africa, and even Arabia, befides what come bythe Indian ocean from Havilah, and Abyffinia, and the reft of Ethiopia, not omitting the Greeks and Turks.Thither are brought the richeft merchandiſes of the Indies, and all forts of perfumesand fpices, which are bought by chriflian merchants.

The city is extremely populous on account of its extenfive trade; and for the greaterconveniency inthe carrying ontheir dealings, every nation has its factory byitſelf. Thereis near the fea fide a marble tomb, on which are engraved the figures of all forts of birdsand beaſts, with an infcription in characters ſo old , that none now are able to read themwhence it is believed with fome colour of truth, that it belongs to an old king who governed that country before the deluge. The length of this fepulchre is fifteen and thebreadth of it fix fpans. To conclude, there are in Alexandria about three thoufand Jews.14. It is not neceffary to give at large the remainder of our Jews travels, and therefore I fhall acquaint the reader in few words, that having made a tour from Damietta inEgypt to mount Sinai, he returned back to the firſt- mentioned place, and thence failedto Meffina in the iſland of Sicily, from whence he went by land to Palermo, and croffing the Sea to Italy continued his journey to Rome and Lucca.He afterwards croffed the Alps, and paffed through a great part of Germany, fromwhence he takes occafion to mention what multitudes of Jews were fettled in the feveral great cities of that extenfive empire. He infifts at large on their wealth, their ge.nerofity, and, above all, their hofpitality to their diftreffed brethren, and gives us avery particular detail of the manner in which they receive them. He affures us, thatat their feaſts they encourage each other to perfift in hoping for the bleffed advent oftheir Meffiah, when the tribes of Ifrael fhall be gathered together, and under his conduct be led back into their own land. Until this long-expected time fhall come, theIfraelites, he ſays, hold it their duty to perfevere in their obedience to the law of Mofes, tolament with tears the deftruction of Jerufalem and Sion, to beſeech the Almighty topity them in their affliction , and to reſtore them in his appointed time *.He afferts, that his countrymen are not only fettled in all the provinces ofthe empire,but alſo through all the northern countries to the very extremity of Ruffia, which hedefcribes as a country fo exceffively cold in winter, that the inhabitants are not able toftir out of doors. He tells us next, that the kingdom of France, which, he fays, iscalled by their Rabbins the land of Tzorphat, is likewife full of the difciples of thewife men, that is, of the Jewish doctors, who ftudy the law day and night, and are extremely kind and charitable to their diftreffed brethren. He concludes with an earneſtprayer to god, to remember his promife to the children of Ifrael , and to return andaffemble them from all nations through which in his wrath he has diſperſed them.In the feveral places he mentions, he reckons up in the whole 394,687 Jews, fromwhich if we fubtract 740 Caraites, 1000 Samaritans, and 2000 other Schifmatics, thereIt is very clear from hence, as well as from a multiude of other circumftances, that our author chieflyintended this work to celebrate his own nation, to preferve an account of the different places in which theywere ſettled, and to do all in his power to keep up their fpirits under their captivity, by putting them inmind of the coming of the Meffiah. I must confefs, I confider this in a different light from moſt of thecritics, for I do not conceive that a man's loving his countrymen ought to prejudice him in the opinion ofhis readers; and though it may poffibly beget fome doubts as to the fidelity of his relations with regard tothe Jews, yet I do not fee how this can withjuftice be extended to the other parts of his book.D 2 will20 THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMINwill remain 390,947, to which, if we add 350,000 free Ifraelites, whom he found in thekingdoms of Thema and Chebar, they will fwell the account of the Rabbanites he metwith in his travels to 740,947, which, when duly confidered, will not, perhaps, appearvery improbable. Thus we have brought to a speedy conclufion the Travels of Benjamin de Tudela, which had never appeared fo fully as we have given them in the Engliſhlanguage.15. We have in the introduction to this fection given fo large an account of ourauthor, ofhis performance, and the reafon of our inferting it, that we have not much toadd here That there may be, and indeed that there are, many miſtakes in theſe travels,is not to be denied, neither can we help confeffing that the author was a very credulousman, and far enough from deferving the high character beſtowed upon him by theJews, who reprefent him as a perſon ſkilled in all fciences, and refer us to this performance of his as a proof of it. But granting that he did not merit theſe praiſes, yetthere is fomething furelydue to him for the lights he has communicated to the world. It isfrom him, as from an impartial perfon, that we learn the true ſtate of affairs at Conftantinople within the compafs of this period, the immenfe wealth and luxury of its inhabitants, and their extenfive commerce throughout the whole Eaſt.His travels from that city to Baffora fhew plainly, that the communication was open,fince otherwiſe it would have been impoffible for a private traveller to have proceededthrough the whole kingdom of Perfia in the manner he did. Some objections havebeen madeto his account of the Jews fettled in the mountains of Nifbor, which fromhis relation appear to have been upon the borders of the kingdom of Tibet; yet if wereflect upon what our Arabian travellers have told us of the number of Jews fettled inthe Empire of China before this time, and remember that the Emperor Heraclius hadlong before driven them out of all the Greek empire, we fhall fee many reaſons to thinkthis account of his probable enough. It is true that R. Mofes and our author may befufpected of magnifying theſe fettlements, and of making this colony of Jews moreconfiderable than it really was; but that we fhould regard the whole as a fiction , I muſtconfefs I fee no juft grounds. It is very likely, though Benjamin does not fay it,that he received from the fame perfon what he relates of China, and of the icy fea tothe north of that country, which fhews there had been a confiderable commerce carried on that way, though Benjamin could give but a dark account of it.We are indebted to him likewife for a piece of hiſtory, which for any thing I know isnot to be met with elſewhere, I mean the fettlement of the Perfees, who were the oldPerfians or worshippers of fire, in ſeveral iſlands of the Eaft-Indies, of which we ſhallmake fome uſe in another place. The account he has given us of Ethiopia, and of theJewiſh colonies in that country, is fo confiftent with the ancient and modern hiftory ofthat empire, that there is not the leaft reaſon to doubt the truth of it, or of what he faysas to the paffa*ge of the caravans through the defarts. It is evident from thence, thatthere was bythis means a large commerce carried on between this country and Egypt,in flaves, gold, ivory and perhaps alfo in fome Indian commodities; and it is likewifeclear, that there was a great trade between that country and the oppofite coaſt of Arabia. If our author had travelled as a merchant, he might very poffibly have given usmany more curious particulars on this fubject; but as he did not, we muſt be contentwith thofe he had delivered occafionally, and asthey ftruck him in his paffa*ge.There are great exceptions taken at his fhort account of the government of Egypt,when he was in it; andfome of his tranflators have inclined to give him up in this particular, though without any great reafon. It is plain enough from the rest of his work,that he did not fet up for a great politician, or pretend to defcribe the conftitutions of theFROM SRAIN TO CHINA. 21the ſtates through which he paffed, but only to mention in general what he underſtoodof fuch matters. It is alfo certain, that without changing his words, we may give aclear and ſatisfactory account of this matter, which amounts to no more than this: thatthe then maſters of Egypt, though they were Mohammedans, were yet treated as heretics, or rebels, on account of their difowning the Khaliff at Bagdat, and that on thisaccount there was an inveterate hatred between the fubjects of the Khaliff of Babylon,and the Mohammedans in Egypt, as to which there can be no doubt at all.The fingle difficulty in this cafe is our author's calling the commander of the faithfulin Egypt, Ali the fon of Abitalab; from whence it is inferred, that he makes him themonarch then reigning, which would have been a moſt notorious abfurdity. But thetruth of the matter is, our author fays no fuch thing: he only mentions Áli the fon ofAbitalah as having been once commander of the faithful in Egypt; and the reafon ofhis mentioning it is very plain, viz. in order to account for the difference between theMohammedans in Afia and Egypt, and the latter being ftiled rebels by the former onaccount of their taking the part of this Ali.But the greateſt difficulties that occur in our author's work, fome of which, it muſtbe owned, are not to be got over, ariſe from his uſing fcriptural names for the countriesand places through which he paſſed: and thefe, according to the notions of the Rabbins, for want of being thoroughly acquainted with which, it is impoffible for any tranflator to be perfectlyfure as to his meaning. But if we ſhould be fomewhat miſtaken inthe names of the ſeveral countries from which fhips came to Alexandria, yet we muſt beright in the main; and the reader may reft fatisfied from thence, that at the time ofour author's being there, the port of Alexandria was the centre of commere betweenChriſtendom and the Indies. All the fables that he relates about the magical mirrorthere cannot prejudice this truth; for though our author might be, as to be fure hewas, a very indifferent hiftorian, a bad mathematician, and a credulous writer, yet hecould not be miſtaken about things he faw, or be induced to fet down the names ofnations never heard of at Alexandria. Befides, he is remarkably accurate in this account; and the lift he has given us is more methodical than any other paffa*ge in hisbook, which feems to have been owing to his making an enquiry at Alexandria, as tothe ſeveral foreign lodges or factories eſtabliſhed there.On the whole, as thefe travels plainly demonftrate that it was both poffible and practicable for a perſon to travel in the midſt of the twelfth century from Spain throughItaly and Greece into the remote parts of Afia, and to return from thence throughEthiopia and Egypt into Europe, it was requifite, that in a collection of this kind, fucha performance fhould not be omitted; and if not omitted, it ought ſurely to appear inthe beſt dreſs we could poffibly give it, which muſt be an apology to the reader for ourhaving taking fo much pains therewith, and having dwelt upon it fo long.THE( 22 )

THE REMARKABLE TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIS, A MONK

Sent by Louis IX. King of France, commonly ſtiled St. Louis, Ambaffador into different Partsof the Eaft, particularly into Tartary and China, A.D. 1253 .

Written by the Ambaffador, and addreffed to his Royal Mafter King Louis.1. Afuccinct Account of the Empire of the Tartars, and particularly of the Prince towhom our Author wasfent. -2 . The Character of Louis IX. of France; and ashortHistory ofhis Expedition into Syria and Egypt. 3. The Occafion and Defign of his Embally, together with the Character of our Author. 4. His dedicatory Epiftle to theKinghis Master. -5. An Account of his Journey to Conftantinople.—-- 6. His Arrivalat Soldaia, the first Town in Tartary. -7. An Account of the Habitations of theTartars. -8. Of their Beds, Idols, andfuperftitious Ceremonies. -9. Oftheir Drinking and Merry-makings. -10. Oftheir Food and Manner ofEating. 11. Ofaparticular Kind of Drink uſed by them, called Cofmos. -12. Of the Animals in theirCountry, their Rabbits , and their Manner of Hunting. -13. Ofthe Manner in whichthe Menfhave themſelves, and ofthe Ornaments oftheir Women . -14. Ofthe Employments of the Female Tartars; of their Way ofLife, and of their Marriages. -15. TheManner ofadminiftering Justice among them, and of the Ceremonies ufed at their Funerals. - 16. The Author refumes the Account ofhis Voyage, and acquaints us with theIngratitude and Brutality of the Tartars. -17 . Ofthe Court ofZagatay, and of theirAdventures there. 18. Of the Alans, who came to vifit them there at the Feast ofWhitfuntide. 19. An Account of a Saracen who defired to be baptized, and of certainPeople that feem to be Lepers. -20. Of thegreat Hardships and Difficulties they wentthrough inthefe Travels, and ofthe Burials of the Comanians. -21 . Ofthe Country inwhich they found Sartach and his Subjects. -22. Ofthe Court of Sartach, and of itsSplendour and Magnificence. -23. They are ordered to repair to Baatu, the Father ofSartach.24. The Refpect paid by Sartach, Mangu-Khan, and Ken-Khan, toChriftians, and of the Rife and Progrefs ofthe Tartar Empire. -25. Ofthe Ruffians,Hungarians, Alans, and of the Cafpian Sea. - 26. Of the Court of Baatu, and oftheir Reception there. -27. Their Journeyfrom thence to the Court of Mangu-Khan.-28. Ofthe RiverJagag, and ofthe Countries andPeople on that Side. 29. Ofthe Hunger,Thirst, and other Inconveniencies by themfuftained in this Journey. -30. Of the Deathof Ban, and ofthe Germans fettled in that Country. -31. Oftheftrange Mixture ofReligions in this Country, viz. Neftorians, Mahommedans, and Idolaters. 32. OftheirTemples, Idols, and of their Manner of worshipping theirfalfe Gods. 33. OffeveralNations in thofe Parts; and of those whofe Custom it is to devour their Parents.34. Ofwhathappened to them at Cailac, in their Paffa*gefrom thence to the Country oftheNaymans. 35. ADefcription of that Country with an Account ofthe Death of KenKhan, the Princess, his Confort, and their eldest Son. 36. Their Arrival at theCourt of Mangu-Khan. 37. An Account of their meeting there with one Sergius, aNeftorian Monk. -38 . A Defcription oftheir Audience, and what happened thercat.-39. They meet with a Woman of Lorrain, and a Goldsmith of Paris fettled in thefeCountries. 40. An Account offeveral other Chriftians they met with there. -41. Of-12---a grandTRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIS. 23Khan.―out in our Lent. ---―42 .-a grand Feaft given by Mangu-Khan, and of the Ceremonies of the Neftorians.Of the Faft obferved by thofe People, and of agrand Proceffion madetothe Palace ofthe43. An Account ofa great Cure performed on a Lady by the Monk Sergius.44. Defcription of the Country under the Dominion of the Khan, and of the Customsand Manners of his Subjects. 45. Of the fecond Faft of the Neftorians, whichfalls46. Ofa noble Piece ofWorkmanship performed by the French GoldSmith, and of the Palace of the Khan at Caracarum. - 47. Offeveral religious Ceremonies ofthe Neftorians. 48. Ofthe Sickness of the French Goldfmith, and of Jonas thePrieft. -49. A Defcription ofthe City of Caracarum, and of Mangu-Khan's fendinghis Brethren to make War against feveral Nations.- 50. How our Author wasfeveralTimes examined, and offeveral Conferences and Difputes he had with the Idolaters.51. Ofour Author's being called before the Khan at Whitfuntide, and of the Confeffionof Faith made bythe Tartars. 52. Ofthe Sorcerers and Conjurers in this Country,and of the wicked Lives they lead. 53. The Letters written by the Khanto the King ofFrance, by our Author, andthe Refolution taken by his Companion to remain in Tartary.54. Of our Author's Departure from Caracarum for the Court of Baatu, andfromthence for the City ofSaray. 55. Ofthe Roadfrom Saray by the Mountains of Alania,of the Lefgies, Derbent, and other Places. 56. The Remainder oftheir Journey to theRiver Araxes, the City ofWaxnam, the Country of Sahenna, and other Places.Of their Paffa*ge over the Euphrates, the Caftle of Samuth, the Author's Arrival atCyprus, Antioch, and Tripoli. 58. His Letter from thence to the King his Mafter,and other Particulars. 59. Remarks and Obfervations upon this Section.----―--- 57.1. IT ſeems to be a problem hitherto undifcuffed, howit came to pafs, that for the ſpaceoffo many ages the inhabitants of the northern parts of the world lay fo ftill and quiet,thathiftory fcarce gives us any accountof them; and then of a fudden burft out onall fides,and over-ran, as it were, the greateſt part ofthe known world. At first fight it fhouldfeem from hence, that thefe northern countries were firſt peopled, for otherwiſe itmay appear difficult to account for their being fo much more populous than any of thereft. A little attention, however, will clear this point, and fhew us plainly, that inſtead of contradicting, it is the ſtrongeſt proof that can be of the world's being originally peopled from the country of Chaldea. For whoever confiders what an immenfe tract of land lies to the north of that original feat of mankind, will eaſilydifcern the reaſon why it required a longer space to people it thoroughly than the reftof the world; and yet, at the fame time, if he reflects on the accounts given us byaffent authors, of the manners of the Scythians, he will eafily perceive that theytained the old fimplicity of living much longer than any other people, and weretherefore celebrated by Homer and Hippocrates, as the jufteft and most innocent ofmankind. But, in procefs of time, even theſe vaft countries became over-peopled;and then being preffed by each other, thefe barbarous nations, as they were ſtiled bythe Greeks and Romans, broke out like an inundation , and ſwept all before them.At prefent our concern is with thoſe who broke out laft; I mean the Tartars, whoare generally faid to have derived their name from a river fo called; but that is a miſtake.The original name of this numerous nation was Turks, which they derived from Turk,the eldeít fon of Japhet. But Alanza- Khan, one of their ancient Princes, leaving hisdominions to his fons, which were twins, the one called Tatar, and the other Mogul,this gave rife to the diftinction of thoſe two nations, which hath ever fince prevailed.The great conqueror Jenghiz- Khan, who in our old writers is generally calledZengis, united both under his dominion. He was born A.D. 1162, and was raifedto the command of his own fmall tribe at the age of thirteen. He by degrees firſteftab-24 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISeſtabliſhed his power in his own country, then attacked and conquered the northernparts of China, but was never heard of in Europe till about the year 1218, when heentered the Great Bucharia; he extended his conquefts afterwards over a great part ofAfia, and died in the year 1227, at the age of fixty-five, and after having held the dignity of Khan twenty- five years. His eldeſt fon Zuzi died fix months after him, andwas fucceeded by his eldeſt fon Batu or Baatu, as our author calls him, who had agreat part of Tartary for his fhare. Zagatai, fon to Jenghiz-Khan, had that countrywhich the antients call Tranfoxiana, which has been fince called Turkeſtan, or thecountry ofthe Ufbeks; but by the Tartars to this day Zagatai. Tuli, another fon ofthis conqueror, had for his fhare, Choraffan, Perfia, and the Indies; and Octai allthe reft, with the title of Khan. This prince began his reign in 1228, and died in1241. So much as to the ſtate of Tartary.2. The Chriftian princes had been very often put upon the recovery of the Holy Landby the Popes; and Louis IX. King of France, called from thence St. Louis, took thecrofs, and engaged himſelf by a vow to endeavour the recovery of the city and kingdomof Jerufalem from the Infidels. It was with this view that he embarked at Marfeilles,Auguft 23d 1248, accompanied by his Queen and two brothers. Hefailed from thenceto the iſland of Cyprus, where he ſpent the winter in preparing for the war.There hereceived ambaffadors from the Khan of the Tartars, with an account that he hadembraced chriſtianity, and was difpofed to attack the Infidels on one fide, while HisMajefty carried on the war on the other. This was anan affair ofof very great importanceto the King ofFrance, who treated the ambaffadors with great refpect, and promiſed tofend an ambaffador to conclude an alliance with the Emperor their maſter.He was hindered however in the profecution of this defign by the unlucky accidentsof the war; for having invaded Egypt at firft with great fuccefs, he was afterwards,in the year 1250, taken prifoner in the battle of Maffora, and remained for a long timein the hands ofthe Infidels, who treated him very ill, but at laft fet him at liberty, uponhis furrendering the city of Damietta, and paying them a ranfom of 400,000 livres.This cruel reverſe of fortune did not hinder the King from purfuing his defign: hepaffed immediately over into Syria, where he put the affairs of the Chriſtians into asgood a condition as it was poffible, and would very probably have accompliſhed all thathe propofed, if the death of his mother, whom he had left Regent of France, had notobliged him to return home, which he did in the year 1254, and reigned very gloriously for many years, and then undertook a fecond expedition in the fame caufe, ofwhich we fhall hereafter give fome account.3. At prefent our bufinefs is to obferve, that while this monarch was in Syria, andthere concerted meaſures for reducing the power of the Mohammedans, he madechoice of our author, Friar William Rubruquis, for his ambaffador to the Khan of theTartars, and that for thefe three reafons: first, becauſe he had engaged himſelf,while in Cyprus, to fend fuch an embaffy; fecondly, becauſe the afliftance of fopowerful a Prince was a matter of great confequence to all Christendom; and,thirdly, that he might obtain a diftinct and authentic account of the policy, ftrength,and intereft of a nation which, in the fpace of fifty years, had obtained an empire offuch an extent as hitherto the world had never feen.The reafons which induced him to make choice of our author were many; but wefhall content ourselves with mentioning only a few. His condition, as a religious man,made him a fit minifter to a Prince lately converted to the Chriftian faith . It difpenfedlikewife with his having any train of attendance, with which fuch an embaſſy could notbe incumbered; and it put it more into his power to enquire into all things that hismafter defired to know, than if he had gone with all that pomp which is ufually annexedtoINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 25to a public character. But, above all , he depended on the abilities of the man, whowas looked upon as a perfon of admirable parts, and great diligence, and whofe unaffected piety and probity were not to be difputed. After his return from this embaffy,he compiled this account, which we now prefent to the reader, and fent it to the King.It has been always efteemed the fulleft and cleareft, as well as the moſt faithful andexact deſcription of the Tartars that ever was publiſhed, and therefore we have givenit entire, and in the author's own words, together with his dedication , which follows.4. To the Moft Excellent and Moft Chriftian Lord Louis, by the Grace ofGod, Kingof France, Brother William de Rubruquis, of the Order of Friars Minors, wishesHealth, and that he may ever triumph in Jefus Chrift." It is written in the book of Ecclefiafticus, that the wife man fhall pafs through countries inhabited by foreign nations, and that he fhall have his fhare in all things goodand evil. I have done all this, Sire, and God grant that I have done it as a wifeman, and not as a fool; for many there are which do thofe things which wifemen do, but not wifely, and much I fear that I am of that number. However thatmatter may be, you were pleaſed to command me, at the time of my departure,that I ſhould write to you all I faw, and whatever I could difcover among the Tartars. You were likewife pleaſed to add, that I fhould not be afraid of writinglong Letters. I am now about to perform what Your Majefty then gave me incharge; yet not without great fear and apprehenfion that the fimpleneſs of mythoughts, and the homelinefs of my ftyle, may feem unworthy of being addreffedunto Your Sovereign Majeſty."5. May it pleaſe you then, Sire, to underſtand, that departing from Conftantinopleon the 7th May, A. D. 1253 , we entered into the Sea of Pontus, now the Black Sea,which the Bulgarians call the Great Sea, and which, as I was informed by merchantswho have long traded there, extends in length from eaft to weft one thousand miles,and is, as it were, divided into two parts. About the middle there are two provinces,the one on the South, which is called Sinople, from a fortrefs and port of the famename, which belongs to the Sultan of the Turks: the other towards the north, whichthe weſtern Chriftians call Gazaria, now Crimea, or Crim-Tartary; but the Greekswho dwell therein, Caffaria, which I take to be the fame as Cæfaria. In this provincethere are two promontories, or capes, which run into the fea towards the fouth, andthe country of Sinople; the diftance may be about three hundred miles betweenSinople and Caffaria; fo that thefe points may be about feven hundred miles fromConftantinople, as well towards the fouth as towards the eaſt, in which quarter liesIberia, which is a province of the country of Georgia, or Georgiana.We came then into the country of Gazaria, which is in the fhape of a triangle, havingon the moſt weſtern point a city called Kerfova, where St. Clement Biſhop of Ancyrafuffered inartyrdom; and paffing in view of this city, we had fight ofan ifland in whichthere is a church faid to have been built by angels. In the middle, which is alſo themoſt ſouthern part, ftands the city of Soldaia, which is directly over-againſt Sinople,to which all the merchants coming from Turkey refort in their paffa*ge to northerncountries, as do likewife fuch as come from Ruffia with intent to go to Turkey.Thefe laft bring ermine and other rich furs; the former deal in cotton, cloth, filksof all forts, and fpices. Towards the eaſt part of this country ftands a city calledMatriga, at the mouth of the river Tanais, or the great river Don, where it falls intoVOL. VII.E the26 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISthe fea of Pontus, being there about twelve miles over. This river, before it falls intothe fea, makes of itfelf a kind offea, which is near feven hundred miles in extent, butfo fhallow, that no fhips of burthen can fail therein. The merchants of Conftantinoplehowever, when they arrive at the city of Matriga, fend their barks up the river Tanaisto purchaſe dried fish , fuch as fturgeons, theofes, barbels, and many other forts of fiſh.The province of Gazaria before mentioned has the fea on three fides, viz. on the weſt,where ftands the city of Kerfova; on the fouth , where lies the city of Soldaia, orCaffa, where we landed; and on the eaft, where is the city of Matriga, at the mouthofthe river Tanais.Beyond this country lies Zichia, that is the country about Azoph, which is notfubject to the Tartars; to the eaſt of which lie the countries of the Suevians and Iberians,which likewiſe do not pay obedience to the Tartars. Towards the fouth again ftandsthe city of Trebizond, which belongs to its own prince, whofe name is Guido, andhe is defcended of the race of the Emperors of Conftantinople, but is for all thatfubject to the Tartars. The city of Sinople ftands next, belonging to the Sultan ofTurkey, whois at prefent their vaffal likewife.Beyond his dominion lies the country of Vaftacius, the fon of whofe King is calledAftar, after his grandfather by the mother's fide, and he is not under their fubjection.All the country from the mouth of the Tanais weftward as far as the Danube, is atprefent under their dominion, and even beyond the Danube towards Conftantinople;all Wallachia, which is alfo called the country of Affanus, and the Leffer Bulgaria,as far as Solinia, pay tribute to them: and befides this tribute, they have of late yearsimpofed a new burthen on the inhabitants; for they exact from every family an axeand a confiderable quantity of corn.This introduction of our author's is in itſelf very clear, and by adding the modernnames of places, it is hoped it will be perfectly intelligible to every reader.The author intended it to explain the fituation and condition of thoſe countries atthe time he wrote, which was the more neceffary, becauſe great alterations had beenoccafioned by the repeated irruptions of the Tartars. In regard therefore to the fituation of commerce at this time, as well as the perfect comprehending his route to thecamps of the Tartar Princes, this explanatory difcourfe was very expedient; and asthis writer begins very methodically, fo his whole work is conducted with fuch orderand eloquence, as is not ufual in the writers of thofe times. His ftyle is agreeable tohis matter, plain and expreffive, without any flouriſhes, or the leaft defire of heightening the wonders which he relates: on the contrary, he every where endeavoursto avoid heightening things beyond credit, and delivers himſelf with fuch viſible ſincerity, as gives an intrinfic value to his work that no length of time can ever takeaway. This in all probability was in fome meaſure owing to his attention to the inſtructions given him by his maſter, who was a Prince of great abilities, had himſelftravelled into the eaft, and was confequently a better judge of thefe particulars thanmoſt other princes, either of that or any other age. It was for the fame reafon, probably, that our author thought proper, as the reader will fee, to infert his account.of the Tartars, their habitations, cuftoms, manners, laws, government, and whatever elſe was neceffary to give a juſt idea of theſe people, before he proceeds to hisnegotiations with them; which is a clear proof that this treatiſe was not compofed ina hurry, or written as occafion offered while he was actually on his travels, butafter his return out of Tartary, when he had time to recollect himſelf, to compareand digeft the notes he had taken during his ftay in that country, and to bring everything into its proper place. So that we have no occafion to interrupt his difcourfe 14.withINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 27with remarks or corrections, but are able to leave his work as it ftands to the perufalof the ingenious reader, who will find therein abundant proofs of what we have hereadvanced.6. We arrived, continues he, at Soldaia the twenty-firft of May, and feveral merchants of Conftantinople who arrived before us, reported that ambaffadors were comingthither from the Holy Land, who were to travel to Sartach. I had however publiclygiven out on Palm-Sunday, in the church of Sancta Sophia, that I was not your ambaffador, or the ambaffador of any other Prince, but that I travelled to thofe Princes topreach the Gofpel to them according to the rule of our order; and being arrived, thefaid merchants admonished me to be very cautious in what I ſpoke, becaufe they havingreported me to be an ambaffador, if I fhould fay to the contrary, I could not have freepaffa*ge granted unto me. Then I fpoke to the lieutenants of the cities, becauſe thegovernors themfelves were gone to pay tribute unto Baatu, and were not as yet returned. " We heard of your Lord Sartach in the Holy Land that he was become aChriſtian, of which the Chriftians were exceedingly glad, and eſpecially the Moft Chriftian King of France, who is there now in pilgrimage, and fighteth againſt the Saracensto redeem the holy places out of their hands. I am determined therefore to go toSartach, and to deliver unto him the letters of my Lord the King of France, whereinhe admonisheth him concerning the welfare of all Christendom. "On this they received us with joy, and gave us entertainment in the cathedral church,the Biſhop of which church had been with Sartach, who told me many good thingsconcerning him, which afterwards I found untrue. They then gave us our choice,whether we would have carts and oxen, or a number of horfes to tranfport our baggage,and the merchants of Conftantinople adviſed me not to take carts ofthe citizens of Soldaia, but to buy covered carts of my own (fuch as the Ruffians carry their ſkins in),and to put all our baggage into them, becauſe if I fhould ufe horfes, I must be conftrained at every bait to take down my things and to lift them up; and befide that, Iſhould ride a more gentle pace in the carts. Wherefore yielding unto their evil counfel, I ſpent in travelling to Sartach two months, which I could have done in one, if Ihad gone on horſeback. I brought with me from Conftantinople pleaſant fruits, Mufkadell wine, and delicate biſcuit bread, to prefent unto the governors of Soldaia, that Imight obtain free paffa*ge, becauſe they look favourably upon no man who comes withan empty hand.All theſe things I packed in one of my carts, and the governors being abfent whenwe came, I ſtill carried them on; for they told me if I could bring them to Sartach,that they would be moſt acceptable unto him. We took our journey therefore aboutthe beginning of June, with four covered carts of our own, and with two others whichwe borrowed of them, wherein we carried our bedding to reft on in the night, andtheyallowed us five horfes to ride upon, there being juft five perfons in company; I, FriarBartholomew of Cremona, and Goffet the bearer of thefe prefents, the interpreter, andNicholas my fervant, whom I bought at Conftantinople with fome of the alms beſtowedupon me. They allowed us befides two men, who drove our cars, and looked afterour oxen and horfes. There are high promontories on the fea-fhore, from Kerfovaunto the mouth of the Tanais. Alfo there are forty caftles at Kerfova and Soldaia, inevery one of which almoſt they uſe different languages, amongſt whom there were manyGoths who spoke the Dutch tongue.Beyondthefe mountains, towards the north, there is a moſt beautiful wood growingon a plain pleaſant country, full of fprings and rivulets. Beyond the wood there is amighty plain, five days journey, unto the very extremity of the province northward;E 2 and28 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISand there is a narrow ifthmus, a neck of land, having the fea on the east and weft fides,which enter the land fo far that there is a canal made from one fea unto the other.On this plain before the Tartars the Comanians inhabited, who compelled the abovementioned cities and caftles to pay tribute unto them; but when the Tartars cameupon them, the multitude of Comanians fled all of them to the fea-fhore, being in fuchextreme famine, that they which were alive were conftrained to eat up thoſe whichwere dead; and, as a merchant reported to me who faw it with his own eyes, livingmen devoured and tore with their teeth the raw fleſh of the dead, as dogs would gnawcarrion.Towards the borders of the faid province there are a great many lakes, upon thebanks whereof are falt-pits, the water of which, fo foon as it entereth into the lake, becomes hard falt like ice; and out of thefe falt-pits Baatu and Sartach have great revenues, for they repair thither out of all Ruffia for falt, and for each cart load theygive two webs of cotton, amounting to the value of half an yperpera. There comealfo many fhips for falt, which pay tribute every one according to their burthen. Thethird day after we were departed out of theſe precincts of Soldaia, we found the Tartars,amongſt whom being entered, methought I was come into a new world, whofe life andmanners I will defcribe unto Your Highneſs as well as I can.7. They have no fettled habitation, neither know they to-day where they ſhall lodgeto-morrow. They have all Scythia to themfelves, which ftretcheth from the riverDanube to the utmoft extent of the eaft. Each of their captains, according to thenumber of his people, knows the bounds of his paſtures, and where he ought to feedhis cattle winter and fummer, fpring and autumn; for in the winter they remove intowarm regions fouthward, and in the fummer they go up into the cold regions northward. In winter when fnow lies upon the ground, they feed their cattle in paſtureswhere there is no water, becauſe then they uſe fnow inftead of water. Their houſesin which they fleep, they raiſe upon a round foundation of wickers, artificially wroughtand compacted together; the roof confifting of wickers alfo meeting above in one littleroundell, out of which there rifes upwards a neck like a chimney, which they coverwith white felt, and often they lay mortar or white earth upon the felt with the powderof bones, that it may fhine and look white: fometimes alfo they cover their houfes withblack felt. This cupola of their houſe they adorn with variety of pictures.Before the door they hang a felt curioufly painted over, for they fpend all their coloured felt in painting vines, trees, birds, and beafts thereupon. Theſe houſes theymake fo large, that they contain thirty feet in breadth; for meaſuring once the breadthbetween the wheel- ruts of one of their carts or wains, I found it to be twenty feet over,and when the houfe was upon the cart, it ftretched over the wheels on each fide five feetat leaft . I told two-and-twenty oxen in one draught drawing a houfe upon a cart,eleven in one row according to the breadth ofthe cart, and eleven more on the otherfide. The axle-tree of the cart was of an huge bignefs, like the maft of a ſhip, and afellow ftood in the door of the houfe upon the foreftall of the cart driving the oxen.They likewife make certain four-fquare baſkets of flender twigs as big as great chefts,and afterwards from one fide to another they frame an hollow lid or cover of fuch liketwigs, and make a door in it before. Then they cover the faid cheft or houſe withblack felt, rubbed over with tallow or fheep's milk, to keep the rain from foakingthrough, which they likewife adorn with paintings or white feathers. Into thefe cheftsthey put their whole houfhold ſtuff, or treaſure, and bind them upon other carts, whichare drawn by camels, that they may pafs through rivers, neither do they ever takedown thefe chefts from their carts. Whenthey take down their dwelling- houſes, theyturnINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 29turn the doors always to the fouth , and next they place the carts laden with the cheſtshere and there within a ftone's caft of the houſe, infomuch that the houſe ſtandeth between two ranks of carts, as it were between two walls.The women make themfelves moſt beautiful carts, which I am not able to defcribeto Your Majefty but by pictures only; I would willingly have painted all things for you,had my fkill been great enough in that art. Arich Tartar hath a hundred or two fuchcarts with chefts. Baatu hath fixteen wives, every one of which hath one great houfe,befides other little houfes, which they place behind the great one, being as it were chambers for their women to dwell in, and to cach of the houſes belong two hundred carts.When they take their houfes off the carts, the principal wife placeth her court onthe weſt, and ſo all the reſt in order; fo that the laft wife's houfe is on the eaſt frontier,and the court of each wife is diftant from another about a ſtone's caft.Hence it is, that the court of a rich Tartar will appear like a very large village, fewmen being to be feen therein; one woman will guide twenty or thirty carts at once, fortheir country is very flat, and they faften the carts with camels or oxen one behind another, a wench fits in the foremoft cart driving the oxen, and all the reft ofthemſelvesfollow a like pace: when they come to a place which is a bad paffa*ge, they looſe them,and guide them one by one, for they go a flow pace, and not much fafter than an oxcan walk,8. Whenthey have taken down their houſes from their carts, and turned the doorsfouthward, they place the bed of the maſter of the houſe at the north part thereof; thewomen's place is always on the eaſt , that is, on the left hand of the maſter of the houſe,when fitting upon his bed with his face to the fouth; but the men's place is to theweft, that is, at the right hand of their mafter. Men, when they enter into the houſe,never hang their quivers on the women's fide. Over the maſter's head there is animage made of felt, which they call the mafter's brother, and another overthe head ofthe miſtreſs, which is called her brother, faſtened to the wall, and a bow between both,of them. There is a little lean idol, which is, as it were, the guardian of the wholehoufe. The miftrefs ofthe houfe places at the feet of her bed, on the right hand, thekin of a kid, ſtuffed with wool, and near that a little image, looking towards the apartment of the woman. Next the door, on the women's fide, there is another image, witha cow's udder, which is the guardian of the womenthat milk the cattle, for that istheconftant employment of their women. On the other fide of the door next the men,is another image, with the udder of a mare, for the guardian of thoſe who milk themares.When they meet to make merry they fprinkle part of their drink upon the imagewhich is over the maſter's head, and afterwards upon the other images in their order;then a fervant goes out of the houfe with a cup full of drink, fprinkling it thrice towards the fouth, and bowing his knee every time; and this is done in honour of theFire. He performs the fame ceremony towards the eaſt in honour of the Air; andthen to the weft, in honour of the Water; and laftly, to the north, in behalf of thedead. When the mafter holds a cup in his hand to drink, before he taftes he pours apart of it upon the ground; if he drinks fitting on horfeback, he pours out part uponthe neck or mane ofthe horſe before he drinks. After the fervant has paid his reverence to the four quarters of the world, he returns to the houſe, and two other ſervantsftand ready with two cups, and two bafons, to carry drink to their maſter and his wife,who fit together upon a bed. Ifhe has more wives than one, the with whom he ſleptthe night before, fits by his fide the next day, and all his other wives muſt that dayrefort to her houfe to drink, and there the court is for that day; the gifts alfo whichare30 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISare prefented that day are laid up in the chefts of that wife. One piece of ceremonyis conftant in all houfes, viz. a bench, on which ftands a veffel of milk, or of otherdrink, and cups for drinking it.9. They make in winter an excellent drink of rice and of honey, ftrong, well tafted ,and high coloured like wine; they have alfo wine brought to them from other countries.In the fummer time they care not for any drink but Cofmos. Thisliquor ftands alwaysat the entrance of the door, and next to it a fidler. I faw there no fuch violins as ours;but many other mufical inftruments which are not uſed with us. When the mafter ofthe houfe begins to drink, one of his fervants crieth out with a loud voice, Ha! and themufician plays upon the fiddle.When they make a folemn feaft, they all of them clap their hands and dance tothe noife of mufic, the men before their mafter, and the women before their miſtreſs;and when the mafter has drunk, then his fervants cry ha! as before, and the fidlerftops; then they drink all round, both men and women, and fometimes they caroufe,efpecially for victory, till they are drunk. When they invite a man to drink, they pullhim bythe ears to the veffel, and fo lug and draw him ftrongly to ftretch out his throat,clapping their hands, and dancing before him.Whenthey would do honour to any perfon at their folemn feafting and rejoicing,one of the company takes a full cup, and two others ftand, one on his right hand, andthe other on his left, and fo they three come finging to the man, who is to have the cupprefented to him, ftill finging and dancing before him; and when he ſtretches his handto receive the cup, they leap fuddenly back, returning again as they did before; and fohaving deluded him three or four times by drawing back the cup, until he is eager andvery defirous to drink, then they give him the cup, finging and dancing, and ſtampingwith their feet, until he hath done drinking.10. In refpect to their food, give me leave to inform Your Highneſs, that withoutdifference or diftinction, they eat all their beaſts that die ofa*ge or fickneſs; and amongſtfo many drovers, there muſt fome cattle die in fummer. However, fo long as theircofmos, that is, their mares' milk, lafts, they care not much for any food; and if theychance to have an ox or a horfe die, they dry the flesh, cutting it into thin flices, andhanging it up againſt the fun and the wind, it is preſently dried without falt, and without ill favour or corruption. They make better puddings of their horfes than theirhogs, which they eat as foon as made; the reft of their fleſh they referve till winter.They make oftheir ox ſkins great bags, which they dry in the ſmoke; of the hinderpart oftheir horfe hides they make very fine fandals. They give fifty or an hundredmenthe flesh ofone ramto eat; for they mince it in a bowl with falt and water, havingno other fauce, and then with the point of a knife, or little fork, which reſembles fuchas we uſe to take roaſted pears or apples out of wine, they reach unto every one of thecompany a morfel or two, according to the number of gueſts. The maſter of thehoufe, before the ram's fleſh is diftributed, firſt takes of it what he pleaſes; if he givethunto any ofthe company a particular fervice, the receiver thereof muft eat it alone, andnot impart unto any other; or if he is not able to eat it up all, he carries it with him,and delivers it to his boy, if he be prefent, to keep it; if not, he puts it up into his Saptarget, that is to fay, his fatchel, or knapfack, which they carry about with them forfuch purpoſes, and wherein they lay up their bones, when they have not time topick themthoroughly, that they may fcrape them at leifure, and fo nothing be loft.11. Their common drink cofmos, which is mares' milk, is prepared after this manner: they faſten a long line to two pofts, ftanding in the ground, and to the fame linethey tie the young foals of thoſe mares which they intend to milk; then come the marestoINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 3rto ftand by the foals, fuffering themfelves to be milked; and if any of them be rude,then one takes her foal and puts it under her, letting it f*ck a little while, and prefentlycarrying it away again, there comes another man to milk the mare.When theyhave got a good quantity of this milk together, while it is new, they pour it into agreat bag, and they beat the bag with a piece of wood made for that purpofe, havinga knot at the lower end like a man's head, which is hollow within; and fo foon as theybeat it, it begins to boil like new wine, and to be four, and of a fharp tafle; and theybeat it in that manner till butter comes; then they tafte it , and being indifferently fharp, they drink it, for it bites one's tongue like the rafberry wine. After a manhath taken a draught, it leaves a tafte behind it like that of almond milk, goingdown very pleaſantly, and intoxicating weak brains, for it is very heady and power- ful.As for their caracofmos, that is to fay, black cofmos, which is for great lords to drink,they make it thus; firft, they beat the milk fo long, that the thickeft part thereof defcends down to the bottom, like the lees of white wine, and that which is thin and pureremains above like whey, or white muft; the lees and dregs, being very white, aregiven to fervants, and will make them fleep exceedingly. That which is thin and clear,their mafters drink; and indeed it is a wonderful fweet and wholefome liquor. Baatuhath thirty farms within a day's journey of his abiding- place, every one of which ferveshim daily with caracofmos of an hundred mares' milk, and fo all of them togetherevery day with the milk of three thoufand mares, befides white milk, which the reftof his fubjects bring; for, as the hufbandmen of Syria pay the third part of theirfruits, and carry it unto the courts of their lords, fo do they their mares' milk everythird day.Out of their cows' milk they first churn butter; boiling which butter unto a perfect:decoction, they put it into rams' ſkins, which they reſerve for that purpoſe; neither dothey falt their butter; and yet by this boiling it never putrefies, and they keep it forwinter; the churn milk, which remains of the butter, they let alone till it be as four aspoffible; then they boil it, and in boiling it is turned all into curds, which curds theydry in the fun, making them as hard as the drofs of iron; and this kind of food alfothey preferve in fatchels againſt winter. In that feafon when milk fails them, they putthe curds before-mentioned, which they call Gra-ut, into a bladder, and pouring hot.water upon them, they beat it till they have diffolved them, and it is thereby made exceeding four; and this they drink inſtead of milk; for it feems a rule with them neverto drink fair water by itſelf.12. The great lords of this nation have all of them farms in the fouth part of theircountry, from whence their tenants bring them millet and meal against winter. Thepoorer fort provide themſelves with fuch neceffaries, by the exchange of rams, andother beafts' ſkins. As for their flaves, they are forced to be content with water, andthat thick and bad enough. The only fort of animals from which I have known themabſtain, are mice and rats. There is, however, a little animal which they call fegur,which in the winter time lie and fleep twenty or thirty of them together in caves for fix:months, where the Tartars find them out, and eſteem them excellent eating; and indeed they are very tender and fat. They have likewife great plenty of a fort ofrabbitswith long tails, the outfide hair of which is black and white; other fmall creatures theyhave, on which they freely feed. I faw no deer there, and but a few hares, but a greatnumber ofroes.I faw wild affes in great abundance, which are like mules; I faw alſo another kindofbeaſt called artack, reſembling in its body a ram, with crooked horns, and are offuchbignefs,32TRAVELSOF WILLIAMDE RUBRUQUISbignefs, that I could ſcarce lift up a pair of them with one hand; and of theſe hornsthey make drinking- cups. They have falcons, and other hawks in great numbers,which they carry upon their right hands, and they put always about their falcon's necksa ftring of leather, which hangs down to the midst of their gorges; by which ſtring,when they caft them offthe fift at the game with the left hand, they bow the heads andbreafts of the hawks to prevent their being tofled up and down in the wind, or theirfoaring too high. Being expert in this art, they gain a great part of their provifion byhunting and hawking. In regard to their attire, it may pleafe Your Majefty to know,that out of Cataya, and other regions of the Eaft, out of Perfia alfo, and other countriesto the South, are brought to them manufactures of filks, cloth of gold, and cottoncloth, which they wear in time of fummer; but out of Ruffia, Moxell, Bulgaria, Hungaria, and out of Kerfis, all which are Northern regions, and full of woods, and alfomany other countries ofthe North, which are fubject unto them, the inhabitantsbring them many rich and coftly fkins of divers forts, fuch as I never faw, wherewiththey are clothed in winter, and againft which feafon they make themfelves two gowns,one with the fur inward to their fkin, and another with the fur outward, to defend themfrom wind and fnow, which for the most part are made of wolves' fkins, or foxesſkins.out ofWhen they fit in the houſe they have a finer gown to wear: the poorer fort maketheir gowns of dogs' or of cats' ſkins. When they go to hunt wild beafts, they meetin a great company, and furrounding the place where they are fure to find game, bylittle and little they approach on all fides, till they have got all the wild beafts into themidft in a circle, and then they diſcharge their arrows at them . They make themfelvesbreeches of fkins. The rich Tartars fometimes fur their gowns with filk fhag, whichis exceedingly foft, light, and warm: the poorer fort line their cloaths with cotton orcloth, which is made of the fineft wool they can pick out; and of the coarfer part ofthe wool they make felt to cover their houfes, and their chefts, and for their bedding;alfo ofthe fame wool, being mixed with one-third part of horfe-hair, they make all theircordage. They make of this felt likewife covering for their ftools, and caps to defend their heads from the weather; for all which they ſpend a great quantity of theirwool.13. The men fhave a four-fquare fpot upon the crowns oftheir heads, and from thetwo corners they fhave, as it were, two feams down to their temples. They fhave alfotheir temples, and the hinder part of their head, to the nape of the neck. They likewife fhave the fore part down to their foreheads, and upon their foreheads they leave alock ofhair, reaching down to their eye brows; on the two hinder corners of their headsthey have two locks alfo, which they twine and braid into knots, and fo bind and knitthem one under each ear. The garments of their women differ not from the mens,except that they are fomewhat longer. But the day after a woman is married, fhefhaves from the midſt of her head down to her forehead, and wears a wide garmentlike the veil of a nun; but larger and longer in all parts than a nun's veil, being openbefore, and they girt them under the right fide. The Tartars differ from the Turks,becauſe the Turks faften their garments to their bodies on the left fide, but the Tartarsalways on the right fide.They have always an ornament for their heads, which they call Botta, which is madeof the bark of a tree, or of fome fuch fubftance as they can find, which by the thicknefs and roundnefs thereof, cannot be held but in both hands together; and it hath afquare fharp fpire rifing from the top thereof, being almoft two feet in length, andfhaped like a pinnacle. This Botta they cover all over with a piece of rich filk, and it6 isINTO TARTARY AND CHINA.33is hollow within; and upon the midst of this fame fpire they place a bunch of quills,or flender canes, a foot and a half long, or more, and the bunch on the top thereofthey beautify with peaco*ck's feathers; and round about they ftick the feathers of amallard's tail , and adorn it with precious ftones. Alfo great ladies wear this kind ofornament upon their heads, binding it ſtrongly to a kind of hat or coif, which hath apole in the crown, fit for the fpire to come through; and under this ornament theycomb the hair of their heads, which they gather up round together, from the hinderpart thereof to the crown, and fo lap them up in a knot or bundle within the Botta, whichafterwards they bind ftrongly under their throats.It is on this account, that when a great company of fuch ladies ride together, and arefeen at a distance, they look like foldiers with helmets on their heads, carrying theirlances upright, for the Botta appears like a helmet with a lance overit. All their womenfit on horfeback like men, and they bind their veils or gowns about their waifts with afky-coloured or filk fcarf, and with another fcarf they gird it about their breaſts; andthey alfo bind a piece of white filk, like a muffler or mask, under their eyes, reachingdown to their breafts. Thefe ladies are, generally fpeaking, exceeding fat; and thelefs their nofes, the handfomer they are eſteemed. They daub over their face withgreaſe too moſt frightfully, and they never keep their beds on account oftheir bringing forth children.14. As to the employments of their women, they drive carts, lay their houfes uponcarts, and take them down again, milk cattle, make butter and griat, drefs fkins andfew them, which they ufually do with thread made of finews; for they divide finewsinto flender threads, and then twine them into one large one. They make fandals andfocks, and other kind of apparel; but they never wash any cloaths, for they ſay thatGod is then angry, and that dreadful thunder will enfue, if waſhed garments be hungout to dry. Nay, they beat fuch as wafh, and take their garments from them. Theyare wonderfully afraid of thunder; for in thetime of thunder they force all ſtrangers outof their houfes, and then wrapping themfelves in black felt, lie hid therein till thethunder be over. They never wafh their difhes or bowls; yet when the fleſh is boiledthey waſh their platter, wherein it muſt be put, with fcalding hot broth out of the pot,and then pour the broth into the pot again. They make felt alfo, and cover the houſestherewith.The men are employed to make bows and arrows, ftirrups, bridles and faddles, tobuild houſes and carts, to keep horſes, to milk mares, to churn cofmos and mares' milk,and to make bags to put it in; they keep camels alfo, and lay burthens upon them.As for fheep and goats, they mind and milk them , both men and women. Withfheeps' milk thickened and falted, they drefs and tan their hides. When they waſhtheir hands and their heads, they fill their mouths full of water, and ſpouting it intotheir hands by little and little, they fprinkle their hair, and waſh their heads therewith.As to their marriages, Your Highnefs is to underſtand, that no man can have a wifeamong them till he hath bought her; therefore fometimes their maids are very ſtalebefore they are married, for their parents always keep them till they can fell them.They abſtain from the firſt and ſecond degrees of confanguinity inviolably as we do;but they have no regard to the degrees of affinity, for they will marry together, or byfucceffion, two fifters; their widows never marry a fecond time, for this reaſon, becaufethey believe that all who have ferved them in this life, fhall do them fervice alfo in thelife to come. Whereupon they are perfuaded, that every widow after death fhall return to her own hufband; and hence arifes an abominable and filthy cuftom amongſtthem, namely, that the fon marrieth fometimes all his father's wives, except his ownVOL. VII. F mother;84 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISmother; for the court, or houfe ofthe father or mother, falleth by inheritance alwaysto the youngeſt fon, whereupon he is to provide for all his father's wives, becauſe theyare part of his inheritance, as well as his father's poffeffions; and then, if he will, heufeth them for his own wives, for he thinks it no injury or difparagement to himſelf,though they return unto his father after death. Therefore, when any man hathbargained with another for a maid, the father of the damfel makes him a feaft; in themean time fhe flies awayto fome of her kinsfolk to hide herfelf. Then her father faysto the bridegroom, my daughter is yours, take her wherefoever you can find her.Then he and his friends feek her till they find her, and having found her, he takes herby force, and carries her to his own houfe.e;15. In regard to their laws, or their execution of juftice, Your Majefty is to be advertiſed, that when two men fight, no third man dare intrude himſelf to part them: thefather dare not help his own fon; but he that happens to have the worst, muft appealto the court of his Lord, and whoever elfe offereth him any violence after appeal, isput to death; but he muſt be taken prefently without delay. They puniſh no manwith death, unleſs he be taken in the commiffion of the fact, or elfe confefs the famebut being accufed, they put him to extreme torture to make him confefs the truth.They punish murder with death, and even fornication with any other befides his ownwomen by his own, I mean his wife or his maid-ſervant; for every man may ufe hisflave as he pleaſes. Heinous theft alio, or felony, they puniſh with death. For a lighttheft, as for ſtealing of a ram, the criminal not apprehended in the fact, but otherwiſedetected, is cruelly beaten; and if the executioner lays on an hundred ſtrokes, he muſthave an hundred rods, for fuch as are beaten upon fentence given in court. Fraudslikewife of every kind they punifh with death. Sacrilegious perfons they ufe in likemanner, ( of which kind of malefactors Your Majefty fhall be more fully informedhereafter,) becauſe they eſteem fuch to be witches. When a man dies they lament andhowl moft pitifully over him, and the mourners are free from paying any tribute forone whole year after; alfo, whoever is preſent in the houſe where one of man's eftatelies dead, he muft not enter into the court of Mangu-Khan till one whole year be expired. Ifit was a child deceaſed, he muſt not enter into the court till the next monthafter. Near the grave ofthe party deceafed, they always leave one cottage. If any oftheir nobles, being of the ftock of Zingis their firft Lord, dies, the place of his burial isnot known. About theſe places where they inter their nobles, there is a family left tokeep the fepulchre. I could not learn that they uſed to hide treaſures in the graves oftheir dead.The Comanians build a ftately tomb over their dead, and erect the image ofthe deadman thereupon, with his face towards the Eaft, holding a drinking-cup in his hand before his navel. They erect alfo upon the monuments of rich men pyramids; and infome places I faw high towers made of brick; in other places pyramids made of ſtone,though there are no ftones to be found thereabouts. I faw one newly buried, in honour of whom they hung up fixteen horſe- hides unto each quarter of the world, fourbetween certain high pofts; and they ſet beſide his grave Cofmos for him to drink, andflesh to eat; and yet they faid that he was baptized. We beheld other kind of fepulchres alſo towards the Eaft, viz, large floors of pavements, made of ſtones, ſome roundand fome fquare, and then four long ftones pitched upright about the pavement, towards the four corners of the world. When any manis fick, he lieth in his bed, andcaufeth a ſign to be fet up on his houfe, to fignify that there lies a fick perfon, that noman may enter into the houfe; for none are admitted there to fick perfons but a fervantonly. When any one is fick in their great courts, they appoint watchmen to ſtand15 roundINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. -35round about the court, who will not fuffer any perfon to enter the precincts thereof; forfuchis their fuperftition , that they are afraid that evil fpirits or witches fhould come together with the parties that enter in.16. On my arrival among thefe barbarous people, I thought, as I before obferved,that I was come into a new world, for they came flocking about us on horfeback, afterthey had made us wait for them in the fhade under the black carts. The firſt queſtionthey aſked was, whether we had ever been with them heretofore or not? And on ouranfwering that we had not, they began impudently to beg our victuals from us; we gavethem fome of our bifcuit and wine, which we had brought with us from the town ofSoldai; and having drank off one flaggon of our wine, they demanded another, tellingu, that a man does not go into the houfe with one foot; we gave them no more, however, excufing ourſelves that we had but little. Then they asked us whence we came,and whither we were bound; I anfwered them in thefe words: that we had heard concerning their Prince Sartach, that he was become a chriſtian, and that unto him ourdetermination was to travel, having Your Majefty's letters to deliver unto him. Theywere very inquifitive to know whether I came of mine own accord, or whether I wasfent. I answered, that no man compelled me to come, neither had I come unleſs I hadbeen willing; and that therefore I was come according to my own will, and to the willof my fuperior. I took the utmoſt care never to fay that I was Your Majefty's ambaffador. Then they aſked what I had in my carts, whether it were gold, filver, or richgarments to carry to Sartach. I anfwered, that Sartach fhould fee what we had broughtwhen we were come unto him; that they had nothing to do to afk fuch queſtions, butrather ought to conduct me unto their captain, and that he, if he thought proper, ſhouldcauſe me to be directed to Sartach, if not, that I would return; for there was in thefame province one of Baatu's kinfmen, called Zagatai, to whom the Emperor of Conftantinople had written letters to fuffer me to paſs through his territories.With this anſwer of ours they were fatisfied, giving us horfes and oxen, and twomen to conduct us. But before they would allow us thofe neceffaries, they made uswait a long while, begging our bread for their brats, wondering at all things they fawabout our fervants, as their knives, gloves, purfes, and points, and defiring to havethem. I excufed myſelf, faying, we had a long way to travel, and that we could notdeprive ourſelves of things neceffary to finifh fo long a journey. Then they faid I wasa nigg*rdly fcoundrel. It is true, they took nothing by force from me, but they willbeg all they fee very importunately; and if a man beftows any thing upon them, it isbut loft, for they are thanklefs wretches. They efteem themſelves lords, and thinkthat nothing fhould be denied them by any man. If a man gives them nothing, andafterwards ftands in need of their fervice, they will do nothing for him. They gave usof their cows' milk to drink after the butter was churned out of it, which was veryfour, which they call apram. So we departed from them; and indeed it feemed to methat we were escaped out of the hands of devils. The next day we were introduced totheir captain. From the time wherein we departed from Soldai, till we arrived at thecourtof Sartach, which was the ſpace of two months, we never lay in houfe or tent,but always under the canopy of heaven, and in the open air, or under our carts; neither faw we any village, or heard of any building where any village had been; but thegraves of the Comanians we faw in great abundance. The fame evening our guidewhich had conducted us, gave us fome cofmos; after I had drank thereof, I fweatedextremely, which was owing, I believe, to the novelty of it, becaufe I never drank ofit before; notwithſtanding I thought it was very pleaſant and well-tafted .F 2 17. We36TRAVELSOFWILLIAMDERUBRUQUIS17. We met the day following with the carts of Zagatai, laden with houſes; and Ireally thought that a great city came to meet me. I wondered at the multitude ofdroves of oxen and hoifes, and droves of fheep; I could fee but a few men thatguided all thefe; upon which I enquired how many men he had under him, and theytold me that he had not above five hundred in all, and that the one half of this number were paffed, as they lay in another lodging. Then the fervant which was ourguide, told me that I muſt preſent fomewhat to Zagatai; and fo he cauſed us to ſtay,going themfelves before to give notice of our coming. By this time it was paft three,and they unladed their houfes near a river; and there came unto us his interpreter,who being informed by us that we were never there before, demanded fome of our victuals, and we granted his requeft. He alfo required of us fome garment for a reward,becauſe he was to interpret our meffa*ge to his maiter; we excufed ourfelves as well aswe could. Then he afked us what we would prefent to his lord, and we took a flaggonof wine, and filled a baſket with bifcuit, and a falver with apples, and other fruits;but he was not contented therewith, becaufe we brought him not fome rich garment.Wewere, however, admitted into his prefence with fear and baſhfulneſs. He fat uponhis bed holding a mufiçal inftrument in his hand, and his wife fa. by him, who, in myopinion, had cut and pared her nofe between the eyes, that he might feem to be moreflat-nofed; for fhe had left herfelf no nofe at all in that place, having anointed the veryfcar with black ointment, as fhe alfo did her eye-brows; which fight feemed to us moftugly. Then I repeated to himthe fame words which I had fpoken in other places; forwe were directed in this circumftance by fome that had been amongst the Tartars, thatwe ſhould never vary in our tale. I befought him that he would vouchfafe to acceptthis ſmall gift at our hands, excufing myfelf that I was a monk, and that it was againſtour profeffion to poffefs gold, filver, or precious garments, and therefore that I hadnot any fuch thing to give him, unlefs he would receive fome part of our victuals inftead of a bleffing. He caufed thereupon our prefent to be received, and immediatelydiftributed the fame amongft his men, who were met together for that purpofe, to drinkand make merry. I delivered alfo to him the Emperor of Conftantinople's letters,eight days after the feaft of Afcenfion, and he fent them to Soldai, to have them interpreted there; for they were written in Greek, and he had none about him that wasfkilled in the Greek tongue.He aſked us if we would drink any cofmos, that is to fay mares' milk, for thoſe thatare Chriſtians among them, as the Ruffians, Grecians, and Alans, who keep their ownlaw very ſtrictly, will not drink thereof, for they account themſelves no Chriſtians afterthey have once drank of it, and their priests reconcile them unto the church as if theyhad renounced the Chriftian faith. I anfwered, that we had as yet fufficient of our ownto drink, and that when it failed us, we muſt be conftrained to drink fuch as ſhouldbe given us. He enquired alfo what was contained in the letters which Your Majeftyfent to Sartach? I anfwered, that they were fealed up, and that there was nothing contained in them but friendly words. And he asked, what words we would deliver untoSartach? I answered, the words of Chriftian faith. He afked again, what thoſe wordswere? For he was very defirous to hear them. Then I expounded unto him as wellas I could by my interpreter, who was a very forry one, the Apoſtles' Creed, whichafter he had heard he fhook his head. Then he affigned us two men to attend uponus, and our horfes and our oxen, and he caufed us to ride in his company, till the meffenger he had fent for the tranflation of the Emperor's letters arrived; fo we traveliedin his company till the day after Whitfunday.18. There

INTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 3718. There came to us on Whitfun-eve fome of the people called Alans, who arethe Chriſtians of the Greek church, ufing Greek books, and were prieſts, but they arenot fchifmatics as the Grecians are, fince without exception of perfons they honour allChriftians; and they brought unto us boiled flefh, requefting us to eat of their meat,and to pray for one of their company, who was dead. I anfwered, becaufe it was theeve of io great a feaft, we would not eat any flesh; and I expounded to them the folemnity of the feaft, for they were ignorant of all things relating to the Chriſtian religion, except the name of Chrift.They and many other Chriftians, both Ruffians and Hungarians, demanded of uswhether they might be faved or no, becaufe they were conftrained to drink cofmos, andto eat the dead carcafes of things flain by the infidels, which even the Grecks and Ruffian pricfts alfo cfteemed as things ftrangled or offered to idols, becaufe they were ignorant of the times of fafting, neither could they have obferved them if they had knownthem. I inftructed them as well as I could, and ftrengthed them in the faith; as forthe flesh which they had brought, we referved it till the feaft- day, for there is nothingfold among the Tartars for gold and filver, but for cloth and garments, of which we hadnone. When our fervants offered them any of their coin, called by them Yperpera, theyrabbed it with their fingers and put it to their nofes, to try by the finell whether it werecopper or no. They did not allow for our food any fubfiftence but cows' milk only,which was very four: one thing moft neceffary was greatly wanting to us, for the waterwas fo foul and muddy by reafon of their horfes, that it was not fit to be drank; fo thathad it not been for fome Biſcuit which by the goodneſs of God was ſtill left us, we hadundoubtedly perifhed.19. On the Feast of Pentecoſt there came to us a Mohammedan, to whom, as hetalked with us, we expounded the Chriftian faith, who (being informed of God'sgoodnefs to mankind in the incarnation of our Saviour Chrift, the refurrection of thedead and the judgment to come, and that baptifm was a washing away of fins) faid thathe would be baptized; but when we prepared to baptize him , he fuddenly mounted onhoafeback, faying, that he would go home and confult with his wife: and the next dayhe told us that he durft not receive baptifm, becauſe then he fhould drink no more cofmos; for the Chriftians of that place affirm , that no true Chriftians ought to drink it,and that without it he could not live in that defart; from which opinion I could not formy life remove him. It is fcarce credible, how many are reftrained from becomingChriſtians from this opinion , broached and confirmed among them by the Ruffians, ofwhom there are a great many fettled here. The fame day Zagatai gave us one man toconduct us to Sartach, and to guide us to the next fa*ge, which was five days journeyfor oxen to travel. They gave us alfo a goat for victuals, and a great many bladdersof cows' milk, and but a little cofmos, becauſe they love it ſo much themfelves; and fotaking our journey directly towards the north, I thought we had paffed through oneofhell-gates.The fervants who conducted us began to play the bold thieves, feeing us take littleheed to ourſelves; at length having loft much by their thievery, fuffering taught us wiſdom. When we came to the extremity of that province, which is fortified with aditch from one fea unto another, without which was their place of lodging, into whichfo foon as we had entered, it appeared to us as if all the inhabitants were infected withleprofy, for certain bafe fellows were placed there to receive tribute of fuch as took faltout of the falt-pits. From that place they told us we muſt travel fifteen days journeybefore we ſhould find any other place; with them we drank cofmos, and gave tothema basket full of fruits and of bifcuit, and they gave unto us eight oxen and one goat tomaintain38TRAVELSOFWILLIAMDERUBRUQUISmaintain us in fuch a journey, and I knownot howmany bladders of milk, and fo changing our oxen we proceeded for ten days, arriving then at another ſtage, neither foundwe any water all that way, but only in fome ditches made in the vallies and in two rivers.From the time alfo that we departed out of the province of Gaffaria, we travelled directlyeastward, having the fea on the fouth fide of us, and a vaft defart on the north, whichdefert in fome places reaches twenty days journey in breadth, without tree, mountain,or fo much as a ftone therein, and is a moft excellent pafture. Here the Comanians,which were called Copthai, were wont to feed their cattle, and were the fame the Germans ftiled Walani, and the province itfelf Walania. But Ifidore calleth all the tract ofland ftretching from the river of Tanais to the lake of Meotis, and fo far as the Danube,the country of the Alani. And the fame country extends in length from the Danubeto Tanais (which divides Afia from Europe) for the ſpace of two months journey, andit was all inhabited by the Comanians, called Copthai, and beyond Tanais as far as theriver of Edil or Volga, the ſpace between which two rivers is a long journey to be travelled in ten days. To the north of the fame province lieth Ruffia, which is full ofwood in all places, and ſtretches from Poland and Hungary to the river of Tanais, andit likewife hath been wafted by the Tartars, and is ftill wafted by them.20. The Tartars have more efteem for the Saracens than the Ruffians, becauſe thelatter are Chriftians, and when they are able to give them no more, they drive themand their children, like flocks of fheep, into the wilderneſs, conftraining them to keeptheir cattle there. Beyond Ruffia lieth the country of Pruffia, which the Teutonicknights of the order of St. Mary's hofpital of Jerufalem have of late wholly fubdued,and indeed they might eafily win Ruffia if they would attempt it vigorously; for if theTartars fhould once know that the great prieft, for that is the name they give to thePope, had caufed the enfign of the croſs to be diſplayed againſt them, they would flyinto the defarts. But to proceed:We went towards the eaſtward, feeing nothing but the ſky and the earth, and fometimes the fea on our right hand, called the fea of Tanais, and the fepulchres ofthe Comanians, which appeared unto us two leagues off, in which their cuſtom was to burytheir dead altogether. While we were travelling through the defart it went reaſonablywell with us, but I cannot fufficiently exprefs the irkſomeneſs of their place of abode,for our guide would have us go to every captain with a prefent, which was an expenceour circumſtances would not bear, for we were eight perfons fpending our own provifion, for the Tartar fervants would all of them eat of our victuals. The fleſh whichthey gave us was not fufficient for us, neither could we find any thing to be bought forour money and as we fat under our carts in the cool fhadow, on account of the extreme heat, they would importunately and fhamefully intrude themſelves into our company, fo that they would even tread upon us to fee what we had; fuch flovens theywere, that they would lay their tails in our prefence while they were yet talking withus: many other things they committed, which were moft tedious and loathfomeunto us.But above all, it grieved me to the very heart, that when I would have ſpoken whatmight tend to their edification, my fooliſh interpreter would fay, you ſhould not makeme become a preacher now; I tell you I cannot, I will not rehearſe any fuch words:and true it was which he faid, for I perceived afterwards, when I began to have a littleknowledge in the language, that when I spoke one thing he would fay quite another;that is, whatſoever came next to his witlefs tongue's end. Then feeing the danger Imight incur in ſpeaking by fuch an interpreter, I refolved rather to hold my peace; andthus we travelled with great fatigue from place to place, till a few days before the feaftofINTO TARTARY AND CHINA, 39of St. Mary Magdalen, we arrived at the banks of the mighty river Tanais, which divides Afia from Europe, even as the river Nile of Egypt feparates Afia from Africa. Atthe place where we arrived, Baatu and Sartach had caufed cottages to be built upon theeaſtern bank ofthe river, for a company of Ruffians to dwell in, that they might tranfport ambaffadors and merchants in ferry-boats over that part of the river; where firſtthey ferried us over, and then our carts, putting one wheel into one, and the otherinto the other lighter, firft binding both the lighters together, and fo they rowed themover.In this place our guide played the fool ftrangely; for he imagining that the Ruffiansdwelling in the cottage fhould have provided us horfes, fent homethe beafts we broughtwith us, in another cart, that they might return to their own mafters. But when we demanded fome beaſts of them, they anſwered, that they had a privilege from Baatu,whereby they were bound to no other fervice but to ferry goers and comers; and thatthey received great fums from merchants even for that. We ſtayed there by the riverfide three days. The first day they gave us a great freſh turbot: the fecond day theybestowed rye-bread and a little fleſh upon us, which the purveyor ofthe village had takenup at every houſe for us: and the third day dried fiſh, which they have there in abundance. The river was as broad in that place as the river Seine is at Paris; and beforewe came there, we paffed over many fine waters all full of fish, and yet the barbarousand rude Tartars know not how to take them; neither do they make any reckoning ofany fiſh, except it be fo great that they may eat the fleſh of it as they do the fleſh of aram .This river is the limit of the eaſt part of Ruffia; it rifeth out of the fens of Mæotis,which fens extend quite to the Northern ocean. It runs fouthward, and forms a fea offeven hundred miles in extent before it falls into the Pontus Euxinus, or the Black ſea;and all the rivers we paffed over ran into the fame. This river has alfo great ſtore ofwood growing on the weft fide thereof. The Tartars remove no farther towards thenorth for about the firſt of Auguſt they begin to return back to the ſouth; and therefore there is another cottage fomewhat lower, where paffengers are ferried over in win- ter time. And in this place we were driven to great extremity, becauſe we could getneither horfes nor oxen for money; at length, after I had declared unto them, thatcoming was for the common good of all Chriſtians, they fent us oxen and men, but we ourfelves were forced to travel on foot. At this time they were reaping their rye; asfor wheat, it grows not well in that foil: they have millet in great abundance.myThe Ruffian women dreſs their heads like our women; they embroider their gownson the outfide, from their feet unto the knees, with party- coloured or grey ſtuff. TheRuffian men wear caps like the Dutchmen; alſo they wear upon their heads certainſharp and high-crowned hats made of felt, much like a fugar-loaf. Wetravelled thencethree days together without finding any people; and when ourſelves and our oxen wereexceeding weary and faint, not knowing how far it would be to any Tartars, on a fuddenthere came two horfes running towards us, which we caught with great joy: our guideand our interpreter mounted upon their backs, to fee how far off they could defcry anypeople; and upon the fourth day of our journey, having found fome inhabitants, werejoiced like feamen who had efcaped out of a dangerous tempeft, and had newly recovered the haven. Then having taken freſh horfes and oxen, we paffed on from ſtageto ſtage, till at last , the fecond of Auguft, we arrived at the Habitation of Sartach, theTartar prince,21. All the country lying beyond Tanais is a very beautiful and pleaſant region,abounding with rivers and woods. Towards the north part thereof there arelarge forefts inhabited.40 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISinhabited by two forts of people, one of them is called Moxel, being mere Pagans, andwithout law; they have neither towns nor cities, but only cottages in the woods. TheirLord, and a great part of themſelves, were put to the fword in Germany; whereuponthey highly commend the brave courage of the Alanians, hoping as yet to be deliveredout of the bondage of the Tartars bytheir means. If any merchant come amongthem,he muft provide things neceffary for him with whom he is firft entertained all the timeof his abode among them. If any lieth with another man's wife, her huſband, unleſshe be an eye witnefs thereof, doth not regard it, for they are not jealous of their wives.They have abundance of hogs, and great ſtore of honey and wax, and various forts ofrich and coftly fkins, and plenty of falcons.The other people are called Merclas, which the Latins call Mardui, and they are Mohammedans. Beyond them is the river of Etilia, or Volga, which is the greateſt riverthat ever I faw, and it iffucs from the north part of Bulgaria the Greater; and fo trending along fouthward, difcharges itfelf into a certain lake, containing in circuit the fpaceof four months travel, of which I fhall fpeak hereafter. The two rivers afore-mentioned, Tanais and Etilia, otherwife called Volga, in the northern rogions, through whichwe travelled, are not diſtant above ten days journey; but fouthward they are divided agreat space one from another, for Tanais defcendeth into the fea of Pontus.Etiliamaketh the forefaid fea or lake, with the help of many other rivers which fall into itout of Perfia, and we had to the ſouth of us very high mountains; upon the fide thereoftowards the faid defart, the people called Carges, and the Alani or Arcas inhabit, whoare as yet Chriftians, and make war against the Tartars. Beyond them, next unto thefea or lake ofEtilia, there are certain Mohammedans called Lefgi, who are in fubjectionto the Tartars. Beyond this is Porta-Ferrea, or the Iron Gate, concerning the fituationofwhich Your Majefty fhall be further informed towards the end of this treatiſe, for Itravelled in my return by the very place between theſe two rivers; in the regionsthrough which we paffed the Comanians formerly inhabited before they were over-runby the Tartars.22. We found Sartach lying within three days journey of the river Etilia, whofecourt feemed to us to be very great, for he himſelf had fix wives, and his eldeſt fon alfohad three wives, every one of which women hath a great houſe, and each of them abovetwo hundred carts. Our guide went unto a certain Neftorian named Coiat, who is aman of great authority in Sartach's court; he made us go a long way to one Janna, forfo they call him who has the office of entertaining ambaffadors. In the oveang Coiatcommanded us to come unto him. Then our guide began to inquire what we wouldpreſent him with, and was exceedingly offended when he faw we had nothing ready toprefent. We ſtood before him, and he fat majeſtically, having mufic and dancing inhis prefence. Then I fpoke unto him in the words before recited, telling him for whatpurpoſe I was come unto his Lord, and requeſting fo much favour at his hands as tobring our letters unto the fight of his Lord. I excufed myſelf alfo, that I was a monk,not having, nor receiving, nor ufing any gold or filver or other precious thing, fave ourbooks, and the garments in which, as priefts, we ferved God; and this was the caufewhy I brought no prefent to him, or to his Lord; for having abandoned my own goods,it could not be expected I fhould become a carrier for other men. To all which he anfwered very courteously, that being a monk, in fo doing I did well , for fo I ſhould obferve my vow; neither ftood hein need of aught we had, but rather was ready to Deftowon us fuch things as we flood in need of; and having ſo faid, he cauſed us to fit down,and to drink of his milk, and prefently after he requeſted us to fay our devotions for him,and we did fo .8 HeINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 41He enquired alfo who was the greateſt prince among the Franks, i. e. the weflernChriftians? and I faid the Emperor, if he could enjoy his own dominions in quiet..No, replied he, but the King of France, for he had heard of Your Highneſs by LordBaldwin of Henalt. I found there alfo one of the Knights Templars, who had beenin Cyprus, and had made report of all things which he faw there. Then we returnedto our lodging, and the next morning we fent him a flaggon of Mufcadel wine (whichhad kept very well in fo long a journey) and a box full of bifcuit, which was moſtacceptable unto him, and he detained our fervants for that evening, and they werewell entertained at his tents. The next morning he commanded me to cometo court,and to bring the King's letters, and my veſtments and books with me, becauſe hislord was defirous to fee them, which we did accordingly, lading one cart with ourbooks and veſtments, and another with biſcuit, wine, and fruits; then he cauſed allour books and veſtments to be ſpread abroad, and there ftood round about us manyTartars, Chriftians, and Saracens, on horſeback; at the fight of which he demanded,whether I would beſtow all thoſe things upon his lord or no? which faying made metremble, and threw me into an exceffive fright. Diffembling our grief as well as wecould, we gave him the following anſwer: Sir, our humble requeſt is, that our lord,"your mafter, would vouchfafe to accept our bread, wine, and fruits, not as a prefent,becauſe it is too mean, but as a benediction, left we fhould come with an empty handbefore him, and he fhall fee the letters of my Sovereign Lord the King, and by themhe ſhall underfland for what cauſe we are come unto him, and then both ourſelves andall that we have are at his pleaſure, but for our veftments they are holy, and it is unlawful for any but priests to touch them.Then he commanded us to drefs ourſelves in the garments, that we might go beforehis lord, and we did fo. Then putting on our moſt precious ornaments, I took inmy arms a very fair cuſhion, and the bible which Your Majefty gave me, and a moftbeautiful pfalter, which the Queen was pleaſed to beftow upon me, wherein therewere very fine pictures. My affociate took a miffal and a crofs, and the clerk havingput on his furplice, took a cenfor in his hand, and fo we came to the preſence of hislord, and they lifted up the felt hanging before his door, that he might behold us.Then they caufed the clerk and the interpreter thrice to bow the knee, but of usthey required no fuch fubmiffion; and they diligently admonifhed to take care that ingoing in, and in coming out, we touched not the threshold ofthe houſe, and requeſtedus to fing a benediction for him. At length we entered finging Salve Regina; andin the entrance of the door ſtood a bench with cofmos, and drinking- cups, thereon,and all his wives were there affembled; alfo the Moguls, or, as they pronounce,Moals, or rich Tartars, thruft in, and preffed hard upon us. Then Coiat carried tohis lord the cenfor, with incenfe, which he beheld very diligently, holding it in hishand; afterwards he carried the pfalter unto him, which he looked earneftly upon,and his wife alfo that fat by him; after that he carried the bible; then Sartach afkedif the gofpel were contained therein? Yes, faid I, and all the Holy Scriptures b-efides.He took the crofs alfo in his hand, and afked, as to the image, whether it were theimage of Chrift or no? I faid it was. The Neftorians and the Armenians never makethe figure of Chrift upon their croffes. Wherefore, either they feem not to think well of this paffion, or elſe are aſhamed of it. Then he caufed them that ſtood about us toftand afide, that he might more fully behold our ornaments. Afterwards I deliveredunto him Your Majefty's letters, with the tranflation thereof in the Arabic andSyriac languages, for I caufed them to be tranflated at Acon into the character and VOL. VII.G dialect42 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISdialect of both the faid tongues. There were certain Armenian prieſts who wereverfed in the Turkish and Arabian languages, and the Knight before mentioned alfoof the order of the Temple, had knowledge in the Syriac, Turkish, and Arabiantongues. Then we departed, and put off our veftments, and there came unto us fomefecretaries of the court, together with the Coiat, and caufed our letters to be interpreted, which letters being heard, he caufed our bread, wine, and fruits, to be received; and he permitted us alfo to carry our veſtments and books unto our ownlodging.23. Wehad the next morning betimes a vifit from a certain prieſt, who was brotherto Croiat, requeſting to have our box of chrifm, becauſe Sartach, as he faid, was defirous to fee it, and fo we gave it him. In the evening Coiat fent for us, faying, mylord your King wrote kind words unto my lord and mafter Sartach. There are,however, certain matters of difficulty in them, concerning which he dare not determine without the advice of his father, and therefore you must depart unto him,leaving behind you the two carts which you brought hither yesterday with veftinentsand books in my cuftody, becauſe my lord is defirous to take a more diligent view ofthem. I, prefently fufpecting what miſchief might enfue from his covetoufnefs, madehim anfwer, Sir, we will not only leave thoſe with you, but the two other carts alfowhich we have, in your poffeffion. You fhall not, faid he, leave thoſe behind you;but for the two carts firſt named, we will fatisfy your requeſt: I faid that this couldnot conveniently be done, but we muſt leave all with him. Then he asked, whetherwe meant to remain in the land? I anſwered, if you have read, and underſtand theLetters of my lord the King, you know that we are fo determined; then he replied,that he ought to be patient, and fo we departed from him that evening.1The next morning he fent a Neftorian prieſt for the carts, and we caufed all the fourcarts to be delivered; then came the before mentioned brother of Coiat to meet us;and ſeparated thofe things, which we had brought the day before to the court fromthe reft, viz. the books and veftments, and took them away with him.Coiat had,however, commanded, that we fhould carry theſe veſtments with us, which we worein the preſence of Sartach, that we might put them on before Baatu, if he ſhould require it; but the prieſt took them from us by violence, uſing theſe words: youbrought them to Sartach, and would you carry them to Baatu? and when I wouldhave fhewn him the reafon, he anſwered, come, don't be too talkative, but go yourway. Then I faw there was no remedy but patience, for we could have no accefs untoSartach himſelf, neither was there any that would do us juftice. I was afraid alfo oftheinterpreter, that he had ſpoken other things than I directed him, for his will was good,that we ſhould have given away all that we had. There was yet one comfort left to me,for when I once perceived their covetous intent, I conveyed from among our books thebible, and the fentences, and other books, which I valued moft. I durft not, however take away the pfalter of my fovereign lady the Queen, becauſe it was too wellknown, on account of the golden pictures therein: fo we returned with the two othercarts to our lodging; then came he that was appointed to be our guide to the courtof Baatu, bidding us provide for our journey in all hafte; to whom I ſaid, that I wouldin no cafe have the carts go with me, which he declared unto Coiat.The Coiat commanded that we ſhould leave them and our fervant with him, and wedid as he directed, and fo travelled directly eastwards towards Baatu; the third daywe came to Etilia, or Volga, the ftream of which when I beheld I wondered fromwhat region of the north fuch huge and mighty waters fhould defcend. Before wewere departed from Sartach, Coiat, with many other fcribes ofthe court, faid unto us,9 doINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 43do not make report that our lord is a Chriſtian, but a Moal, becauſe the name of aChriſtian ſeemeth to them to be the name of fome nation; and fo great is their pride,that though they believe, perhaps fome things concerning Chrift, yet they will notbe called Chriftians, being defirous that their own name, that is to fay, Mogul Moal,ſhould be exalted above all other names: neither will they be called by the name ofTartars, for the Tartars were another nation, as I was informed by them.24. At the time that the Franks made themſelves maſters of the city of Antioch,which was about the year 1097, there reigned in theſe northern parts a Prince whofename was Kon-Khan, or Ken-Khan. Kon or Ken was his proper name, and Khanhis ſtyle of power or dignity; for it is to be underſtood that the word khan, ftrictlytaken, fignifies a diviner, a man fkilled in fublime fciences, or one who can foretelfuture events; and from thence it is transferred to their princes, as if they held themto be endowed with all theſe great qualities. The Turks, at the time of that fiege, demanded fuccours of Kon-Khan againſt the Chriſtians, as coming themſelves originallyout of theſe countries. This Kon-Khan was ftyled likewife Khan, or Prince of CaraCathay, which is as much as to fay, the Black Cathay; for Cara in their languagefignifies black, and Cathay is the name of a certain country, which, however, is tobe diftinguiſhed from that Cathay which lies farther towards the eaſt, and is a maritime country, of which I fhall ſpeak hereafter.As for this Cara- Cathay, it lies behind certain mountains, over which I paffed, asalfo through a plain country, in which dwelt formerly a certain great Neftorian prieſt,who was the fovereign of a nation called Naymans, and who were all Chriftians ofthe Neftorian fect. This Kon-Khan being dead, the Neftorian prieft before-mentionedtook upon him the ftyle and office of a king, and thence the Neftorians called him theKing Preftre John, i. e. John the Prieft, and publiſhed mighty things concerning him,and much beyond the truth; for it is the cuſtom of the Neftorians coming from thiscountry to magnify every little thing into a great matter, juſt as they ſpread a reportthat Sartach was become a Chriftian, and that Mangu-Khan and Ken-Khan, had alſoembraced our religion, only becaufe they were indulgent to thofe of our profeffion,though nothing is more certain than that none of them are Chriftians. So likewifethere went abroad a great report concerning this King and Prieſt John; notwithſtanding which, when I travelled through his territories, there was no body that knew anything of him, but a few Neftorians. In his paſtures or territories dwelt Ken-Khan, atwhofe court Friar Andrew was, and I myſelf paffed by at my return. This John hada brother who was powerful alfo, and a fhepherd like himſelf called Unc, and he inhabited beyond the mountains of Cara- Cathay, diftant from his brother John the ſpaceof three weeks journey. He was lord of a certain village called Cara- Carum, havingpeople alfo for his fubjects named Prit, or Merkit, who were Chriſtians of the fect ofNeftorius; but their lord abandoning the worship of Chrift , embraced idolatry, retaining with him prieſts of the faid idols, who all of them are worſhippers of devils,and are forcerers themfelves.Beyond his paſtures, about ten or fifteen days journey, are the paſtures of Moal,who were a poor and beggarly nation, without governor and without law, except theirfoothfayings and their divinations, unto which deteftable ftudies all in thofe parts applytheir minds. Near unto Moal were other poor people called Tartars. The aforefaidKing John died without iffue male, his brother Une thereby was greatly inriched, andtook himſelfthe ſtyle of Khan, and his cattle and herds ranged to the borders of Moal.About the fame time there was one Zingis a farrier among the people of Moal; thisZingis ftole as many cattle from the Khan as he could poflibly, fo that the fhepherds ofG 2Unc44 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM de rubruquISUnc complained unto their lord; upon which he raised an army, and marched upinto the country of Moal to feek for Zingis: but Zingis fled amongst the Tartars,and hid himſelf among them; and Unc having taken fome ſpoils both from Moal andalfo from the Tartars, returned home; then Zingis addreffed himſelf to the Tartars,and to the people of Moal, " Behold brethren," faid he, " becauſe we are deftituteof a governor and a captain, you fee how our neighbour oppreffes us; " on which theTartars and Moals appointed him to be their captain.Then having fecretly gathered together an army, he broke in fuddenly upon Unc,and overcaine him, and Unc fled into Cathaya. At the fame time his daughter wastaken, which Zingis married unto one of his fons, by whom fhe conceived and broughtforth the Great Khan, which now reigneth, called Mangu-Khan. Then Zingis fentthe Tartars before him in all place where he came; and thereupon was their namepubliſhed and ſpead abroad; for in all places the people call out, " The Tartars come,theTartars come. Yet through continual wars, they are now all of them in a mannerconfumed and brought to nought. Whereupon the Moals endeavour what they canto extinguifh the name of the Tartars, that they may exalt their own. The countrywherein they first inhabited, and where the court of Zingis- Khan yet remaineth, iscailed Mancherule. But becauſe Tartaria is the region out of which they have obtainedtheir conquefts, they eſteem that the feat of their kingdom; and there alfo, for themost part, dothey elect their Great Khan.25. In refpect to this Sartach, whether he believes in Chrift or no, I know not;this I am fure of, that he will not be called a Chriftian: on the contrary, he feems tome to deride and fcoff at Chriftians. His country is in the way of the Chriftians, viz. ofthe Ruffians, the Walachians, the Bulgarians, the Soldaians, the Kerchis, and the Alans,who all of them paſs by him asthey are going to the court of his father Baatu to carrygifts; and therefore he is more in friendſhip with them. If the Saracens howevercome and bring greater gifts than they, they are difpatched fooner. He hath abouthim certain Neftorian priefts, who tell their beads and fing their devotions. Thereis alſo another under Baatu, called Berta, who feeds his cattle towards the iron gateor Derbent, where lieth the paffa*ge of all the Saracens which come out of Perfia andout of Turkey, to go unto Baatu, and pafling by they make him prefents, and heprofeffeth himſelf to be a Saracen, and will not permit fwine's fleſh to be eaten in hisdominions. At the time of our return, Baatu commanded him to remove himſelffrom that place, and to inhabit upon the eaſt fide of Volga, for he was not willing thatthe Saracen's Ambaffadors ſhould paſs by the ſaid Berta, becauſe he ſaw it was not forhis profit.For the ſpace of four days while we remained in the court of Sartach, we had notany victuals allowed us, except once a little cofmos; and in our journey between himand his father, we travelled in great fear; for certain Ruffians, Hungarians, andAlans, being fervants to the Tartars (ofwhom they have great multitudes among them),affembled themfelves twenty or thirty in a company; and fecretly in the night conveying themſelves from home, they take bows and arrows with them, and whofoeverthey find in the night ſeaſon they put him to death, hiding themſelves in the daytime;and having tired their horfes, they go in the nightto a company of other horfes feedingin ſome paſture, and change them for new, taking with them alfo one or two horſesbefides to eat them when they ſtand in need. Our guide therefore was much afraid,left we ſhould have met with fuch companions.In this journey we had perifhed through famine, had we not carried fome of ourbiſcuit with us: at length we came to the vaſt river Etilia, or the Volga, which is13 fourINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 45four times greater than the river of Seine, and of a wonderful depth, falling into thatwhich of late they call the Hircanian Sea, according to the name of a certain countryin Perfia, lying on the fhore thereof. Ifidore calleth it however the Cafpian Sea, forit hath the Cafpian mountains and the land of Perfia fituate on the ſouth fide thereof,and the mountains of Mafihet, that is to fay, of the people called Affaffini, towardsthe eaſt, which mountains are joined unto the Cafpian mountains; but on the northfide thereof lieth the fame defart, wherein the Tartars now inhabit; in which heretoforethere dwelt a nation called Changle; and on that fide it receives the Etilia, whichriver rifes in fummer-time like the river Nile in Egypt. On the weſt part thereof ithath the mountains of Alan, and Lefgi, and Derbent or the iron gate, and the mountains of Georgia. This fea therefore is encompaffed on three fides, with mountains;but on the north fide hath a fine flat country. Friar Andrew, in his journey, travelledround about two fides thereof, namely the fouth and eaſt fides, and I myſelf about theother two; that is to fay, the north fide, in going from Baatu to Magu-Khan, and inreturning likewife; onthe weft fide, in coming home from Baatu into Syria. A manmay travel round about it in four months; and it is not true which Ifidore reports,that this fea is a bay or gulph coming out of the ocean, for in no part it communicates with the ocean, but is environed on all fides with the land.26. All the regions extending from the weft fhore of this fea, where Alexander'siron gate, otherwife called the city of Derbent, is fituate, and from the mountainsAlan, all along by the fences of Mæotis, into which the river of Tanais falls, and foto the North ocean, was of old called Albania, of which country Ifidore reporteth,that there are in it dogs of fuch huge ftature, and fo fierce, that they are able, infight, to match bulls, and to mafter lions, which is true, as I was affured by feveral,who told me, that towards the North ocean they make their dogs draw in carts likeexen, on account of their bignefs and ftrength. On that part of Etilia where we arrived, there is a new ſtation built, wherein they have placed Tartars and Ruffians together to ferry over and tranſport meffengers going and coming to and from the courtof Baatu, for Baatu keeps his court upon the farther fide towards the eaft; neitherafcendeth he in the fummer-time more northward than the place where we arrived,but was even then defcending to the fouth. From January to Auguft, he, and allother Tartars afcend by the banks of rivers towards cold and northerly regions, andin Auguſt they begin to return back again.We paffed down the ſtream therefore in a bark from the above mentioned ſtationunto his court, from the fame place unto a village of Bulgaria the Greater, ftandingtowards the north; it is five days journey. I wonder how the Devil carried the religion of Mohammed thither; for, from Derbent, which is upon the extreme borders:of Perfia, it is above thirty days journey to pafs over the defart, and fo afcend to thebank of Etilia into the country of Bulgaria, in all which way there is no city, onlycertain cottages near unto that place where Etilia falleth into the fea. Thefe Bulgarians are more wicked Mahommedans than any other nations whatever. When I beheldthe court of Baatu, I was aftonished at the first fight thereof, for his houfes or tents areas though they had been fome mighty city ftretching out a great way in length, thepeople ranging up and down about it for the ſpace of fome three or four leagues; andeven as the people of Ifrael knew every man on one fide the tabernacle to pitch histent, fo every one of them knoweth very well toward which fide of the court he oughtto place his houſe when he takes it from off the cart. The court is called therefore in theirlanguage Horda, which fignifies the midft, becauſe the governor, or chief captainamong them, dwells always in the midft of his people, except only that directly towards46TRAVELSOF WILLIAMDE RUBRUQUISwards the fouth no inferior perfon places himſelf, becaufe, towards that region thecourt gates are ſet open; but to the right hand and the left hand they place themſelvesas far as they will, according to the convenience of places, ſo that they erect not theirhoufes directly oppofite againſt the court. At our arrival we were conducted to aMohammedan, who provided no victuals for us at all. The day following, we werebrought to the court, and Baatu caufed a large tent to be erected, becaufe his houfeor tent could not contain fo many men and women as were aſſembled. Our guide admoniſhed us not to ſpeak till Baatu had given us commandment fo to do, and that thenwe ſhould ſpeak our minds briefly.Then Baatu demanded whether Your Majefty had fent ambaſſadors unto him or no?I anſwered, that Your Majeſty had fent meffengers to Ken-Khan, and that you wouldnot have ſent meſſengers or letters to Sartach, had not Your Highneſs been perfuadedthat they were become Chriftians, becauſe you fent not unto them out of any fear, butonly for congratulation and courteſy fake, in regard that you heard they were converted to Chriſtianity. Then led he us unto his pavilion, and we were charged not totouch the cords of the tent, about which they are as fufpicious as about the threſholdof the houſe. There we ftood in our habits bare-footed and bare-headed, and werea great and ſtrange fpectacle in their eyes. Indeed Friar John Du Plano Carpini hadbeen there before my coming; but becauſe he was the Pope's ambaffador, he changedhis habit, that he might not be contemned. Then we were brought into the midſt ofthe tent, neither required they of us to do any reverence, by bowing our knees as theyufed to do of other meffengers; we ftood therefore before him for the ſpace wherein aa man might have rehearſed the pſalm Miferere mei Deus, and there was a great filencekept by all.Baatu himſelffat upon a feat long and broad, like a bed gilt all over, with threeftairs to afcend, and one of his ladies fat befide him. The men there affembled fatdown ſcattering, fome onthe right hand of the faid lady, and fome on the left. Theſeplaces on the one fide, which the women filled not up (for there were only the wivesof Baatu) were fupplied by the men. Alfo at the very entrance of the tent ſtood abench furniſhed with cofmos, and with ſtately cups of filver and gold, richly fet withprecious ftones. Baatu beheld us earnestly, and we him, and he feemed to reſemblein perfonage Monfieur John de Beaumont, whoſe foul refteth in peace; for, like him,he had a freſh ruddy countenance.At length he commanded us to fpeak. Then our guide gave us direction that weſhould bow our knees and ſpeak; on which I bowed one knee, then he fignified thatI ſhould kneel on both my knees; I did fo, being loth to contend about fuch circumſtances; and again he commanded me to fpeak. Then I thinking of a prayer untoGod, becauſe I kneeled on both my knees, began to pray in theſe words: " Sir, webefeech the Lord, from whom all good things do proceed, and who hath given youtheſe earthly benefits, that it would pleaſe him hereafter to make you partaker of hisheavenly bleffings, becaufe the former, without thefe, are but vain and unprofitable:and, indeed, further be it known unto you of a certain, that you fhall not obtain thejoys of heaven, unleſs you become a Chriftian; for God faith, Whofoever believethand is baptized, fhall be faved, but he that believeth not fhall be condemned. "At this he modeftly ſmiled, but the other Moals began to clap their hands and toderide us, and my filly interpreter, of whom efpecially I fhould have received comfortin time of need, was himſelf abafhed, and utterly out of countenance. Then afterfilence made, I faid to him, " I came to your fon, becauſe we heard that he was become a Chriſtian, and I brought to him letters on the behalf of my Sovereign Lord theKingINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 47King of France, and your fon fent me hither unto you; the caufe of my coming therefore is best known unto yourfelf." Then he caufed me to rife up, and he enquiredYour Majefty's name, my name, and the name of my affociate and interpreter, andcaufed them all to be put down in writing. He demanded alfo (becauſe he had beeninformed that you was departed out of your own countries with an army) againſt whomyou waged war? I anfwered againft the Saracens, who had defiled the Houfe of Godat Jerufalem. He afked alfo whether Your Highneſs had ever before that time ſent anyambaſſador unto him or no? To you, Sir, faid I , never.Then he caufed us to fit down, and gave us of his milk to drink, which they accountto be a great favour, eſpecially when any man is permitted to drink cofmos with himin his own houfe: and as I fat looking down on the ground, he commanded me to liftup my countenance, being defirous yet to take a more diligent view of us, or elfe perhaps for a kind of fuperftitious obfervation; for they efteem it a fign of ill luck, or aprognoftication of evil unto them, when any fits in their prefence holding down hishead as if he were fad, eſpecially when he leans his cheek or chin upon his hand.Then wedeparted, and immediately after came our guide to us, and conducting us toour lodging, faid unto me; Your mafter the King, requeſteth that you may remain inthis kingdom which requeſt Baatu cannot grant, without the knowledge and confent ofMangu-Khan; wherefore you and your interpreter muft, of neceffity, go to ManguKhan; but, neverthelefs, your affociate and the other man, fhall return unto the courtof Sartach, and ftay there for you till you come back." Then began my interpreterto lament, eſteeming himſelf but a dead man; my affociate alfo proteſted he wouldfooner lofe his head than withdraw out of my company: I myſelf faid, that without myaffociate I could not go, and that we ſtood in need of two ſervants at leaſt, becauſe ifone fhould chance to fall fick we would not be without another.Upon this, returning unto the court, he told this to Baatu, and Baatu anfwered, letthe two prieſts and the interpreter go together, but let the clerk return to Sartach; andcoming again unto us, he told us fo; and when I would have ſpoken for the clerk tohave had him with us, he faid, no more words, for Baatu is refolved that foit fhall beand therefore I dare not go to the court any more. Gofet, the clerk, had the remainderof the alms-money beſtowed upon him, twenty-fix Yperperas, and no more, ten whereof he kept for himſelf and the lad, and fixteen he gave unto the interpreter for us; andthus were we parted with tears, he returning unto the court of Sartach, and ourſelvesremaining ſtill in the fame place.27. On the eve of the feaſt of Affumption our clerk arrived at the court of Sartach,and the next day after, the Neftorian prieſts were adorned with our veſtments, in the prefence of the faid Sartach. Then we ourſelves were conducted unto another hoft, whowas appointed to provide us houfe-room, victuals, and horfes; but becauſe we had notany thing to bestow upon him, he did all things untowardly for us: then we rode onforward with Baatu, deſcending along by the bank of Etilia, or Volga, for the ſpaceof five weeks together. Sometimes my affociate was fo extremely hungry, that hewould tell me in a manner weeping, that it fared with him as though he had nevereaten any thing in all his life before. There is a fair or market following the court ofBaatu at all times; but it was fo far diftant from us, that we could not have recourſethereto, for we were conftrained to walking on foot for want of horfes. At length certain Hungarians, a fort of clergymen, found us out, and one of them could as yetfing many fongs without book, and was accounted of other Hungarians as prieſt andwas fent for unto the funerals of his deceaſed countrymen.There48TRAVELSOFWILLIAMDERUBRUQUISThefeThere was another of them alfo pretty well inftructed in his grammar, for he couldunderſtand the meaning of any thing that we fpoke, but could not anſwer us.Hungarians were a great help to us, giving us cofmos to drink and ſometimes fleſh toeat alfo, who when they requeſted to have fome books of us, and I had not any to givethem (for indeed we had none except a Bible and a breviary) it greived me exceedingly;and I faid to them bring me fome ink and paper, and I will write for you fo long as wefhall remain here; and they did fo, and I copied out for them the hours of the bleſſedVirgin, and the office of the dead. One day there was a Comanian that accompaniedus, that faluted us, faying Salve Domine; wondering thereat, and faluting him again,I demanded of him who had taught him that kind of falutation? He ſaid, that he wasbaptized in Hungary by our friars, and that of them he learned it: he faid moreover,that Baatu had inquired many things of him concerning us, and that he told him the ſtateof our order. Afterwards I faw Baatu riding with his company, and all his fubjectsthat were maſters of families riding with him, and in my eftimation there were morethan five hundred perfons in all.At length about the end of Holy-rood, there came a certain rich Moal unto us, whofefather was a millanary, which is a great office among them, and told us, I am the manthat muſt conduct you to Mangu- Khan, and we have thither a journey of four monthsto travel, and there is fuch extreme cold in thoſe parts, that ftones and trees burſtafunder therefore I wifh you would advife with yourſelveswhether you be able to endureit or no; I anfwered by God's help I hope we fhall be able to go through that whichother men can endure. Then he faid, if you cannot endure it, I will forfake you bythe way, and I answered it were not juft dealings for you fo to do, for we go notthither upon any bufinefs of our own, but by reafon that we are fent thither by ourlord; wherefore fince we are committed to your charge, you ought in no wife to forfake us. Then he faid, all fhall be well. He caufed us to fhewhim our garments,and whatſoever he deemed to be leſs needful for us, he bid us leave behind in the cuftody of our hoſt. On the morrow they brought unto each of us a furred gown madeall of ram's fkins with the wool ftill upon them, and breeches of the fame, boots according to their faſhion, fhoes made of felt, and hoods alfo made of ſkins and aftertheir manner. The fecond day after Holy-rood we began to fet forward on ourjourneyhaving three guides to direct us, and we rode continually eastward till the feaſt of AllSaints throughout all that region, and beyond alfo, were the people Changles inhabitants,who were defcended from the Romans. On the north fide of us we had Bulgaria theGreater, and on the fouth the Cafpian fea.When we had travelled twelve days journey from Etilia we found a mighty rivercalled Jagac, which river iffuing out of the north from the land of Paſcatar, or of theHungarians, which all is one, and they are all of them fhepherds, not having any cities; and their country bordereth upon Bulgaria the Greater on the weft frontier;from the north- eaft part of the country there is no city at all. Out of the faidregion of Paſcatir proceeded the Hunnes of old, who afterwards were called Hungarians. Next unto it is Bulgaria the Greater. Ifidore reporteth concerning the peopleof this nation , that with fwift horfes they traverfed the impregnable walls and boundsof Alexander, which with the rocks of Caucafus, ferve to reftrain thoſe barbarous andblood-thirſty people from invading the regions ofthe fouth, infomuch as they hadtribute paid unto them as far as Egypt, and they wafted all countries even unto France.If fo they were more mighty than the Tartars as yet are, and unto them the Blaciansand the Bulgarians and the Vandals joined themfelves: for out of Bulgaria the GreatercameINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 49came thofe Bulgarians. As for them who inhabited beyond Danubius, near untoConftantinople, and not far from Pafcatir, are called Ilac, which (faving the pronunciation) is all one with black, for the Tartars cannot pronounce the letter B; from whomalfo defcend the people which inhabit the land of Haffan, for they are called Ilac (boththefe and the other) in the Language of the Ruffians, and Polonians, and the Bohemians.The Sclavonians fpoke one language with the Vandals, all which confederate with theHunnes, and now, for the moft part, they unite themſelves to the Tartars, whom Godhath raiſed up from the utmoſt parts of the earth, according to that which the Lordfaith; " I will provoke them to envy by a people which is no people, and by a foolishnation will I anger them. " This prophecy is fulfilled, according to the literal fenfethereof, upon all nations, which obferve not the law of God. All this which I havewritten concerning the land of Pafcatir, was told me by certain friars, who travelledthither before ever the Tartars camè; and, from that time, they were fubdued untotheir neighbours the Bulgarians, being Saracens; for which reafon many of themproved Saracens alſo.Other matters concerning thefe people may be known out of hiftory; for it is manifeft, that thofe provinces beyond Conftantinople, which are now called Bulgaria, Valachi, and Sclavonia, were of old provinces belonging to the Greeks; alfo Hungary washeretofore called Panonia, and we were riding over the land of Changle from the feaftof Holy-rood, until the feaft of All-faints, travelling almoft every day, according tomy account, as far as it is from Paris to Orleans, and fometimes farther, according aswe were provided with poſt-horſes; for fome days we had change of horſes twice orthrice in a day, fometimes we were two or three days together, not finding any people,and then we were conftrained not to ride fo faft. Of twenty or thirty horfes we hadalways the worst, becauſe we were ftrangers, for every one took their choice of thebeſt horſes before us. They provided me always a ftrong horfe, becauſe I was corpulent and heavy; but whether he went a gentle pace or no, I durft not make any queſtion,neither durft I complain, although he trotted very hard; for every man muft here be contented with his lot as it falls. We were often exceedingly troubled, becauſe our horſestired before we could come at any people, and then we were conftrained to whip ourhorfes, and to lay our garments on other horfes, and fometimes two of us to ride uponone horfe.29. Of hunger and thirst , cold and wearinefs, there was no end, for they gave usno fleſh-meat, but in the evening. In the morning they uſed to give us a little drinkor fome boiled millet; in the evening they beftowed fleth upon us, as a fhoulder andbreaft of ram's mutton, and every man a quantity of broth to drink. When we hadfufficient of the fleſh broth we were well refreſhed, and it ſeemed to me moſt pleaſant,and moſt nouriſhing drink. Every Saturday I remained fafting until night, withouteating or drinking; andwhen night came I was conftrained, to my great grief and forrow,to eat fleſh: fometimes we were compelled to eat flefh half fodden, or almoſt raw, forwant of fuel to boil it, eſpecially when we lay in the fields, or were benighted beforewe came to our journey's end, becauſe we then could not conveniently gather together the dung of horſes and oxen, for other fuel we found but feldom, except,perhaps, a few thorns in fome places. Upon the banks of fome rivers there arewoods growing here and there, but they are very rare: in the beginning our guidehighly difdained us, and it was tedious unto him to conduct fuch bafe fellows. Afterwards, when he began to know us fomewhat better, he directed us on our way bythe courts of rich Moals, and we were requeſted to pray for them: wherefore had IVOL. VII.нcarried50 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIScarried a good interpreter with me I fhould have had opportunities to have done muchgood.The before-mentioned Zingis, who was the first great Khan or Emperor of the Tartars, had four fons, of whom proceeded by natural defcent many children , every one ofwhich doth at this day enjoy great poffeffions, and they are daily multiplied and difperfed over that huge and vait defart, which is in dimenfions like the ocean. Our guidetherefore directed us, as we were going on our journey, to many of their habitations;and they marvelled exceedingly, that we would not receive either gold or filver, orprecious and coftly garments at their hands. They enquired alfo concerning the greatpope, whether he was of fo lafting an age as they had heard; for there had gone a reportamong them, that he was five hundred years old. They enquired alfo after our countries, whether there was abundance of theep, oxen, and horfes or no? Concerningthe ccean, they could not conceive of it, becauſe it was without limits or banks.Upon the eve of the feaſt of All- Saints we altered our courſe, which hitherto pointedeaft, becauſe the people were now defcended very much fouth, and we went on our journey by certain mountains directly fouthward for the ſpace of eight days together. In thedefart I fawmany affes, which they call Colan, being rather mules; thefe did our guideand his companions chafe very eagerly, though they did but loſe their labour, for thebeafts were too fwift for them.Upon the ſeventh day there appeared to the fouth of us very high mountains; andwe entered into a place which was well watered, and freſh as a garden, and found landtilled and manured. The eighth day after the feaſt of All Saints we arrived at a townof the Saracens named Kenchat, the governor whereof met our guide at the townsend, with ale and cups; for it is their cuſtom, at all towns and villages fubject to them,to meet the meffengers of Baatu and Mangu-Khan, with meat and drink; at this timeof the year they went upon the ice in that country, and before the feaft of Saint Michael they had froft in the defart. I enquired the name of this province, but beingnow in a ſtrange territory, they could not tell me the name thereof, but only the nameof a ſmall city in the fame province; and that there defcended a great river down fromthe mountains, which watered the whole region, according as the inhabitants wouldgive it paffa*ge, by making divers channels and fluices; neither did the river diſchargeitfelf into anyfea, but was fwallowed up by a gulph into the bowels of the earth, and itcaufed many fens or lakes; alfo I fawmanyvines, and drank ofthewine made from them.30. The day following we came unto another cottage near the mountains, and I enquired what mountains they were, which I underſtood to be the mountains of Caucafus,which are ſtretched forth and continued on both fides to the fea from the weſt unto theeaft; and on the weſt they are bordering to the Cafpian fea, into which the river Volgadiſcharges its ſtreams. I enquired alſo of the city of Talas, wherein were certain Germans, fervants unto one Buri, of whom Friar Andrew makes mention, concerningwhom alfo I enquired very diligently in the courts of Sartach and Baatu. I could getno intelligence of them, but only that their lord and mafter Ban was put to death uponthe occafion following. This Ban was not fettled in good and fertile paftures; andupon a certain day being drunk, he fpoke thus to his men: " Am not I of the flockand kindred of Zingis-Khan as well as Baatu? (for indeed he was very nearly relatedto Baatu, ) why then do I not pafs and repafs upon the bank of Etilia, to feed my cattlethere as freely as Baatu himſelf doth?" Which ſpeech of his was reported unto Baatu;whereupon Baatuwrote to his fervants to bring their lord bound untohim, and theydid fo.Then Baatu demanded of him whether he had ſpoken any fuch words; and he confeffed that he had. But becauſe it is the manner ofthe Tartars to pardon drunken men, he6 excufedINTO TARTARY AND CHINA.stexcufed himſelfby faying that he was drunk at the time. How durft you, faid Baatu, oncename me in thy drunkennefs? and having faid this, he caufed his head to be chopped off.Concerning the aforefaid Germans, I could not learn any thing till I came to thecourt of Mangu-Khan, and there I was informed that Mangu-Khan had removed themout of the jurifdiction of Baatu for the ſpace of a month's journey from Talas eaſtwardto a certain village called Bolac, where they are fet to dig gold, and to make armour,fo that I could neither go nor come by them. I paffed very near the faid city in going,that is, within three days journey, but I was ignorant that I did fo, neither could I haveturned out of the way, if I had known fo much. From the aforefaid cottage, we wentdirectly eastward by the mountains, and from that time we travelled among the peopleof Mangu-Khan, who in all places fang and danced before our guide, becauſe he wasthe meffenger of Baatu; for this courte they do to each other, namely, the people ofMangu-Khan receiving the meffengers of Baatu, and fo likewife the people of Baatuentertaining the people of Mangu-Khan, notwithſtanding the people of Baatu are morefurly, and fhew not fo much courteſy to the fubjects of Mangu-Khan as in their turnthey do to them.Afew days after we entered upon thofe mountains where the Cara- Cathayans werewont to inhabit, and there we found a mighty river, infomuch that we were conſtrainedto embark ourſelves, and to fail over it. Afterwards we came into a valley, where Ifaw a caſtle deſtroyed, the walls whereof were only of mud, and in that place the groundwas tilled alfo; and there we found a certain village named Equius, wherein were Mohammedans ſpeaking the Perfian language, but they dwelt a great way off Perfia. Theday following, having paffed over the great mountains fouthward, we entered into amoſt beautiful plain, having high mountains on our right hand, and on the left handof us a certain ſea or lake, fifteen days journey in circuit. All the plain is moſt commodiouſly watered by trenches diftilling from the faid mountains; all which fall intothe lake in fummer time. We returned by the north fide of the lake, and there weregreat mountains on that fide alfo. Upon this plain there ufed to be formerly manyvillages; but for the moſt part they were all wafted in regard of fertile paſtures, thatthe Tartars might feed their cattle there.We found one great city there named Cailac, which was a market, and great numbers of merchants frequented it. In this city we remained fifteen days, ftaying for acertain fcribe or fecretary of Baatu, who ought to have accompanied our guide for thediſpatching of certain affairs in the court of Mangu. All this country was wont to becalled Organum, and the people thereof had their proper language, and their peculiarkind of writing; but it was now inhabited by the people called Contomans. TheNeftorians likewife in thoſe parts uſe the very fame kind of language and writing; theyare called Organa, becauſe they were wontto be moft ſkilful in playing upon organs, aswas reported unto me. Here did I firft fee worshippers of idols; concerning whom, letme obferve to Your Majefty, that there be many fects of them in theſe eaſtern countries.31. The first fort of thefe idolaters are called Jugures, whofe country bordersthe land of Organum, within the faid mountains eastward; and in all their citiesNeftorians inhabit, and they are difperfed likewife towards Perfia in the cities of theSaracens. The citizens of the aforefaid city of Cailac had three idol temples, and Ientered into two of them, and beheld their fooliſh fuperftitions. In the firft I found aman, having a crofs painted with ink upon his hand; whereupon I fuppofed him to bea Chriſtian, for he anfwered like a Chriftian unto all queſtions which I demanded ofhim; and I asked him, " Why therefore have you not the crofs with the image ofJefus Chrift thereupon?" and he anſwered, " We have no fuch cuftom. "H 2uponI there.52 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISI thereupon conjectured, that they were indeed Chriftians, but that for lack of inftruction they omitted the aforefaid ceremony; for I faw there behind a certain cheft,which was unto them inftead of an altar, whereon they fet candles and oblations, animage having wings like unto the image of St. Michael, and other images alfo, holdingtheir fingers as if they would blefs fomebody. That evening I could not find any thingelfe, for the Saracens only invite men thither, but will not have them ſpeak of theirreligion, and therefore when I required of the Saracens concerning fuch ceremonies,they were offended thereat.On the next day after was the new moon, and the Saracens feaft of Paffover, and,changing my inn or lodging the fame day, I took my abode near another idol temple;for the citizens of the faid city of Cailac courteously invite, and lovingly entertain allmeffengers, every man of them according to his ability and ftation; and entering intothe temple, I found the prieſts of the faid idols there; for always at the new moonsthey fet open their temples, and the prieſts adorn themſelves, and offer up the people'soblations of bread and fruits. First, therefore, I will defcribe to you thofe rites andceremonies which are common unto all their idol temples, and then the fuperftitions ofthe aforefaid Jugures, which are, as it were, a fect diftinguifhed from the reft. Theyall of them worship towards the north, clapping their hands together, and proftratingthemfelves on their knees on the earth, holding alfo their foreheads in their hands:whereupon the Neftorians in thofe parts will in no cafe join their hands together in thetime of prayer, but they pray, difplaying their hands before their breafts.They extend their temples in length eaft and weft, and on the north fide they builda chamber in the manner of a veſtry, for themſelves to go into, or fometimes it is otherwife. If it be a four-fquare temple, in the midft of the temple towards the north fidethereof, they take in one chamber in that place where the choir ſhould ſtand , and in thefaid chamber they place a cheft long and broad like a table, and behind the faid chefttowardsthe fouth ftands their principal idol, which I faw at Caracarum, and it was asbig as the idol of St. Chriftopher; alfo a certain Neftorian prieft, who had been inCathay, faid, that in that country there is an idol of fuch bignefs, that it maybe feentwo days journey before a man came at it; and fo they place other idols round aboutthe principal idol, being all of them finely gilt over with pure gold, and upon thecheft, which is in a manner a table, they fet candles and oblations. The doors of theirtemple are always open towards the fouth, contrary to the cuftom of Saracens: theyhave alſo great bells like us, and that is the caufe, as I think, why the Chriſtians of theeaft will in no cafe ufe great bells, notwithſtanding they are common among the Ruffians and Grecians of Gafaria.32. All their pricfts had their heads and beards fhaven quite over, and they are cladin faffron- coloured garments; and being once fhaven, they lead an unmarried life fromthat time forward, and they live an hundred or two hundred of them together in onecloifter. Upon thefe days, when they enter into their temples, they place two longforms therein, and fo fitting upon the faid forms like finging- men in a choir, one halfof them directly over against the other, they have certain books in their hand, whichfometimes they lay down bythem upon the forms, and their heads are bare fo long asthey remain in the temple, and there they read foftly to themfelves, not uttering anyvoice at all. On my coming in among them at the time of their fuperftitious devotions,and finding them all fitting mute in a manner, I attempted feveral ways to provoke themunto fpeech, and yet could not, by any means poffibly. They have with them alfo,whitherfoever they go, a certain ftring with an hundred or two hundred nut- fhells thereupon, much like our beads which we carry about with us; and they do always utterthefeINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 53thefe words, Ou mam hactavi; " God, thou knoweft," as one of them expounded itunto me. And fo often do they expect a reward at God's hands as they pronouncetheſe words in remembrance of God.Round about their temple they always make a fair court like a church-yard, whichthey environ with a good wall; and upon the fouth part thereof, they build a greatportico, wherein they fit and confer together: and upon the top of the faid porticothey pitch a long pole upright, exalting it if they can, above all the buildings in thetown; and by the view of the fame pole, people may know that there ftands a temple ofthe idols. Theſe rites and ceremonies are common to all idolaters in thofe parts. OnceI made a viſit to this idol-temple, and found certain priefts fitting in the outward portico, and thoſe which I faw feemed, by their fhaven beards, as if they had been ourcountrymen. They wore certain ornaments upon their heads like mitres, made ofpaper. The prieſts of the Jugures above mentioned ufe thofe ornaments wherever theygo. They go always in their faffron- coloured jackets, which are very ſtrait laced orbuttoned, from the bofom downwards, after the French faſhion: and they have a cloakupon their left ſhoulder defcending under their right arm, like a deacon carrying thecollector's box in time of Lent. Their letters or writings, the Tartars ufe as well asthey. They begin to write at the top of their paper, drawing their lines right down,and fo they read and multiply their lines from the left hand to the right. They ufecertain little papers and uncouth characters in their magical practices, and their templesare full of fuch fhort fcrolls hanging round about them .Mangu-Khan hath fent letters unto Your Majefty, written in the language of theMoals or Tartars, but in the characters of thefe Jugures; they burn the dead, accordingto the ancient cuſtom, and lay up their afhes onthe top of a pyramid. After I had fata while with theſe prieſts, and entered into their temple, and feen many of their imagesboth great and fmall, I demanded of them, What they believed concerning God?They anfwered, " We believe that there is only one God. "-" Whether do you believe that he is a ſpirit, or fome bodily fubftance?" They faid, " We believe that heis a fpirit." " Then," faid I, " do you believe that God ever took man's nature uponhim?" They anſwered, " No." Again, I faid, " Since you believe that he is a fpirit,to what end do you make fo many bodily images to reprefent him? Since alfo youbelieve that he was not made man, why do you rather reprefent him by the image of aman than of any other creature?" Then they anfwered, " Weframe not thefe imagesto reprefent God; but when any rich man amongſt us, or his fon, or his wife, or anyof his friends dieth, he cauſeth the image of the dead perfon to be made, and to beplaced here, and we, in remembrance of him, do reverence thereunto. " I replied then,Do you theſe things only for friendſhip and out of flattery to men?" " No," faidthey, " but out of regard to their memories."Thenthey demanded of me, in fcorn and difdain, " Where is your God?" To whomI anſwered, " Where is your foul?" They faid, " In our bodies."-" Then," faid I," is it not in every part of our body, ruling and guiding the whole body, and yet, notwithstanding, it is not perceived? Even fo, God is every where, and rules all things,and yet he is invifible, being underſtanding and wifdom itſelf. " I was very defirousto have had fome farther conference with them, but on account that my interpreter wasweary and not able to exprefs my meaning, I was conftrained to keep filence. TheMoals, or Tartars, are in this regard of their fect, that is to fay, they believe there isbut one God, yet they make images of felt, in remembrance of their deceaſed friends,covering them with five moſt rich and coftly garments, and putting them into one ortwo carts, which carts no man dare touch; and thefe are in the cuftody of their foothfayers,54 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISfayers, who are their priests; concerning whom I will give Your Highneſs an accountmore at large hereafter.Theſe foothfayers or diviners always attend upon the court of Mangu, and of othergreat perfonages; as for the poorer or meaner fort, they have them not, except fuchonly as are of the kindred of Zingis; and when they are to remove or take any journey,the faid diviners go before them, as the cloudy pillar went before the children of Ifrael,and they appoint ground where the tents must be pitched; and, firft of all, they takedown their own houſes, and after them the whole court does the like. Alſo on theirfeſtival days, or new moons, they take out theſe images, and place them in order circlewife within the houfe; then come the Moals or Tartars into the fame houſe, bowingthemſelves before the images, and worship them. It is not lawful for any ſtranger toenter the houſe. And, on a certain time, I myſelf would have gone in, but was veryrudely turned out, and obliged to remove, fo that I never after attempted to pry anyfurther into this matter.32. But it is my opinion, that theſe Jugures, who live among the Chriftians and Saracens, by frequent difputes with them, have been brought to believe that there is butone God; and they dwell in certain cities, which were brought into ſubjection to ZingisKhan, and he gave his daughter in marriage unto their King: alfo the city of Caracarumitſelf is in a manner within their territories; and the whole country of King or PrefbyterJohn, and of his brother Unc, lieth near to their dominions, except that they inhabitin certain paſtures northward, and the faid Jugures between the mountains towardsthe fouth.The Moals received their letters or characters from them; and they are the Tartars'principal ſcribes, and all the Neftorians almoſt can read their letters. Next unto them,between the aforefaid mountains eaſtward, inhabiteth the nation Tangut, who are moſtvaliant people, and took Zingis in battle; but after the conclufion of a peace he was fetat liberty by them, and aftewards fubdued them. Theſe people of Tangut have oxenof great ſtrength, with tails like horſes, and with long, fharp hair upon the backs andbellies. Their legs are larger than thofe of other oxen, and they are exceeding fierce;thefe oxen draw the houſes of the Moals; and their horns are flender, long, ftraight,and very ſharp pointed, infomuch that the owners are obliged to cut off the ends ofthem. A cow will not fuffer herfelf to be coupled to one of them, unless they whiftleor fing unto her. They have alfo the qualities of a buffalo; for if they ſee a perfonclothed in red, they run upon him immediately to kill him.Next to this nation are the people of Tibet; men, who had formerly a cuſtom to eatthe bodies of their deceaſed parents, that they might make no other fepulchre for themthan their own bowels. But of late they have left off this cuftom, becauſe thereby theybecame odious to all other nations; notwithſtanding which, at this day, they make finecups of the fculls of their parents, to this end, that when they drink out of them, theyin the midſt of all their jollities and delights, call their dead parents to remem- may,brance: this was told me by one that faw it. The faid people of Tibet have vaſtplenty of gold in their land; whofoever therefore wants gold digs till he hath foundfome, and then taking fo much thereof as will ferve his turn, he lays up the remainderin the earth, becaufe, if he fhould put it into his cheft, or ſtorehouſe, he is of opinionthat God would withhold from him all other gold.I faw fome ofthefe people, being very deformed creatures. In Tangut I faw lufty,tall men, but brown and fwarthy in colour. The Jugures are of a middle ftature, likeFrenchmen. The language of the Jugures is the original and root of the Turkish andComanian languages. Next to Tibet are the people of Langa and Solanga, whofe ambaffadors,INTO TARTARY AND CHINA.55baffadors I faw in the Tartars' court; and they brought ten great carts with them, everyone of which was drawn by fix oxen. They are little brown men, like Spaniards.Thefe people wear jackets, like the upper veſtment of a deacon, faving that the fleeves arefomewhat ftreighter, and they have mitres upon their heads like bifhops; but the forepart of their mitre is not fo hollow within as the hinder part, neither is it fharp-pointed,nor cornered at the top; but there hang down certain fquare laps, compacted of akind of ſtraw, which is made rough through extreme heat, and is fo trimmed that itglittereth in the fun-beams like a glafs, or a helmet well burniſhed. On their browsthey have long bands of the fame manufacture faftened to their mitres, which hover inthe wind as if two long horns grew out of their heads; and when the wind toffes themup and down too much, they tie them over the midſt of their mitre, from one templeto another, and fo they lie acroſs their heads. Their principal ambaſſador to the Tartars' court, had a table of elephant's teeth about him, of a cubit in length, and a handful in breadth, very fmooth; and whenfover he ſpoke to the Emperor himſelf, or toany other great perfonage, he always looked on that table as if he had found thereinthoſe things which he fpake; neither did he caſt his eyes to the right hand or to the leftof thofe with whom he talked.Beyond them, as I was certainly informed, there are other people called Muc, havingvillages, but no one man of them appropriates any cattle to himſelf, notwithſtanding.there are many flocks and droves of cattle in their country, and nobody appointed tokeep them; but when any of them want a beaſt, he goes upon a hill, and there makesa fhout, and all the cattle which are within hearing of the noife come flocking abouthim, and fuffer themſelves to be taken as if they were tame. And when any meffenger,or ſtranger cometh into their country, they fhut him up in a houſe, allowing him thingsneceffary, till his bufinefs be diſpatched; for if any ſtranger ſhould travel through thatcountry, the cattle would fly away at the veryſcent of him, and fo becomewild. BeyondMucis the grand Cathaya, the inhabitants ofwhich, as I fuppofe, were of old called Seres,for from them are brought moft excellent ſtuffs and filk; and this people are calledSeres of a certain town in the fame country. I was credibly informed, that in the ſaidcountry there is a town having walls of filver, and bulwarks of gold. There are manyprovinces in that land, the greater part of which are not as yet fubdued by the Tartars,and the fea lieth between them and India. Thefe Cathayans are men of little ftature,,fpeaking much through the nofe.This is a general remark, that all the people of the eaſt have ſmall eyes. They areexcellent workmen in every art, and their phyficians are well fkilled in the virtue ofherbs, and judge very exactly of the pulfe, but know not any thing concerning urine.Some ofthem I faw, for there are many at Caracarum, and they always bring up theirchildren in the fame trade of their father, and therefore they pay fo much tribute; forthey give the Moals, or Moguls, every day, one thouſand five hundred Caffinos, or Jafcots (Jafcot is a piece of filver weighing ten marks); that is to fay, every day fifty thoufands marks, befides filks, and a certain quantity of victuals, and other fervices whichthey do them. All theſe nations are between the mountains of Caucafus on the northfide of thoſe mountains to the eaſt fea, on the fouth part of Scythia, which the ſhepherds of Moal inhabit, all are tributary unto them, and all given to idolatry, and reportmany fables of a multitude of gods, and certain deified men, and make a pedigree oftheir gods, as our poets do.The Neftorians are intermixed with them as ftrangers, fo are the Saracens as far asCathay. The Neftorians inhabit fifteen cities of Cathay, and have a biſhop there in acity called Segin; but if you proceed further, they are mere idolaters: the prieſtsof56TRAVELSOFWILLIAMDERUBRUQUISof the idols of thofe nations have all broad yellow hoods. There are alfo among themcertain hermits, living in the woods and mountains, of an auftere and ſtrange life. TheNeftorians there know nothing, for they fay their ſervice, and have holy books in theSyrian tongue, which they know not; fo that they fing as our monks do, who are ignorant of grammar, and hence it cometh that they are wholly corrupted. They aregreat ufurers and drunkards, and fome of them alfo, who live among the l'artars, havemany wives in the fame manner as the Tartars have.Whenthey enter into the church they wafh their lower parts, as the Saracens do; theyeat no fleſh on Friday, and hold their feafts on that day, after the manner of the Saracens. The Biſhops come feldom into the countries, perhaps once in fifty years; thenthey cauſe all their little children to be made prieſts, even in the cradle, fo that all theirmen almoſt are prieſts, and, after this, they marry wives, which is directly againſt thedecrees of the Fathers. They are alfo bigamifts, for their prieft themſelves, when theirwife is dead, marry another. They are all Simonifts, for they give no holy thing freely.They are very careful of their wives and children , wherefore they apply themfelves togain, and not to the fpreading of the faith; whence it comes to pafs, while ſome of thembring up the nobility's children of Moal, although they teach them the gofpel, and thearticles of the faith, yet by their evil life and covetoufnefs, they drive them further fromChriſtianity, becauſe the life of the Moals, or Moguls, and Tuinians, who are downrightidolaters, is more juft and upright than their's..34. We departed from the city Cailac on St. Andrew's day, and within three leaguesfound a village of Neftorians. Entering into the church, we fang Salve Regina, &c.with joy, becauſe it was long fince we had feen a church. Departing thence, in threedays we came to the entrance of that province, not far from the fea before mentioned,which feemed to us as tempeftuous as the ocean, and therein we faw a great iſland.My companions drew near the fhore, and wet a linen cloth therein, to taſte the water,which was fomewhat falt, but however might be drank. There was a valley over againſtit, between the great mountains fouth and eaſt, and between the hills was another faltlake or fea; and there ran a river through that valley from the other fea into this, andthere came fuch a continual wind through the valley, that men pafs along the road withgreat danger, fearing the wind fhould carry them into the fea.Therefore we left the valley, and went towards the north, to the hilly countries,covered with deep fnow, which then lay upon the earth, fo that upon St. Nicholas'sday we began to haften our journey, and becauſe we found no people but the Jani, ormen appointed from day's journey to day's journey to conduct the meffengers; for inmany places in the hilly countries the way is narrow, and there are but few fields, fothat between day and night we meet with two Jani, and therefore of two days journeywe made one, and travelled more by night than by day: it was extremely cold there, fothat they lent us their goat-ſkins, turning the hair outward. On the 7th of December,in the evening, we paffed by a certain place, between very terrible rocks, and our guidefent unto me, intreating me to pray to God, which I did. Then we fang with loudvoice, Credo in Deum, &c. and by the grace of God we paffed through unhurt.After that, they began to intreat me that I would write them papers, and I toldthem I would teach them words which they ſhould carry in their hearts, whereby theirfouls and bodies fhould be faved; but when I fought to teach them, I wanted an Interpreter, yet I wrote them the Creed and Lord's Prayer, faying, " Here is writtenwhatſoever a man ought to believe concerning God; here alfo is that prayer whereinwe beg of God whatfocver is needful for a man; now therefore believe firmly what iswritten here, although you cannot underſtand it, and aſk God to do that for you which5 isINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 57is contained in this written prayer, becauſe with his own mouth he taught it his friends,and I hope he will ſave you. " I could not do any thing elſe, becauſe it was dangerousto ſpeak by ſuch an interpreter, nay, almoſt impoſſible, becauſe he was ignorant.35. After this, we entered into the country where the court of Kon Khan was, whichwas formerly called the country of Naymans, who were the peculiar fubjects of Preftre,that is, Prefbyter John, but I faw not that court till my return; yet here I fhall brieflymention what befel his fon and wives. Kon Khan being dead, Baatu defired that Mangufhould be Khan, but I could not well underſtand in what manner happened the deathof Khan. Friar Andrew faid, that he died by a certain medicine given him, and it wasfufpected that Baatu caufed it to be adminiſtered: yet I heard it otherwiſe, for he fummoned Baatu to come and do him homage, and Baatu took his journey with great pompand fplendor, but he and his fervants were much afraid, and he fent one of his brothersbefore, called Stichin , who, when he came to Kon, and ought to have preſented him withhis cup, high words arofe between them, infomuch that they flew one another. Thewidow of Stichin kept us a whole day, that we might go to her houfe, and bleſs her, orpray for her.Kon being dead, Mangu was chofen by the confent of Baatu, and was then chofenwhile Friar Andrew was there. Kon had among others a brother called Siremon, who,by the counſel of Kon's wife and her vaflals, went with a great train towards Mangu,as if he went to do him homage, and yet in reality he purpoſed to kill him, and deftroy his whole court; and when he was near Mangu, and within one or two daysjourney, one of his waggons happened to break in the way; while the waggonerendeavoured to mend it, came one of the fervants of Mangu who helped him; he wasfo inquifitive of their journey, that the waggoner revealed unto him what Siremon purpofed to do. Then turning out of the way, as if he lightly regarded it, he went untothe herd of horſes, and took the beſt horſe he could, and, poſting night and day, camefpeedily to the court of Mangu, reporting what he had heard.The plot being thus difcovered, Mangu quickly affembled all his forces, caufed fourlines of armed men to encompafs his court, that none might go in or out, and ſent thereft againſt Siremon, who took him and brought him to the court with all his followers, who, when Mangu laid the matter to his charge, confeffed it immediately. Thenhe and his eldeſt fon Kon Khan were flain, and three hundred of the nobility of theTartars with them. The noble women alfo were fent for, who were all beaten withburning firebrands, to make them confefs, and, having confeffed, were put to death.His youngeſt fon Kon, who was not capable of entering into the confpiracy, was leftalive, and his father's palace was left him with all belonging unto it, and we paffed byit in our return, nor durft my guide turn in unto it, either going or coming: " Forthe lady of the nations fat there in heavinefs, and there was none to comfort her. "36. We nowwent up again into the high countries, ſteering always towards the north.At length, on St. Stephen's day, we entered into a great plain, where there was not fomuch as a Mole-hill, and the next day, on the feaſt of St. John the Evangelift, we cameunto the palace of that great Lord; but when we were near it, that is to fay, withinfive days journey, our hoft where we lay would have directed us much about, fo thatwe fhould have travelled more than fifteen days; and this was the reaſon, as I underſtood, that we might go by Onam Kerule, their proper country, where the court ofZinghis Khan is. Others faid, that he did it for this purpoſe, that he might make the way longer, and might fhewtheir power the more, for fo they are wont to deal withmen coming from countries not fubject to them; and our guide obtained with greatdifficulty,VOL. VII.I58TRAVELSOFWILLIAMDERUBRUQUISdifficulty, that we might go the right way, for they held us debating this from themorning till three o'clock.By the way alfo the fecretary told me, that it was contained in the letters whichBaatu fent to Mangu-Khan, that we required an army and aid of Sartach againſt theSaracens. Then I began to wonder much, and to be greatly troubled, for I knew thecontents of the letters, and that no mention of any army was made therein , only you advifed him to be a friend to all Chriftians, and that he fhould exalt the crofs; and bearenmity to all the enemies of the crofs; and becaufe alfo the interpreters were Armenians of the greater Armenia, who greatly hated the Saracens, left perhaps they had interpreted any thing in evil part, to make the Saracens more odious and hateful at theirpleaſure. I therefore held my peace, not fpeaking a word forthem or againſt them;for I feared to gainfay the words of Baatu, left I fhould incur fome falfe accufation, andwithout reaſonable caufe.We came therefore the day after into the faid court, our guide had a great houfe appointed him, and we three a little cottage, wherein we could fcarce lay our baggage,make our beds, and have a little fire. Many came to vifit our guide and brought himdrink made of rice, in long ftrait- mouthed bottles, in which I could difcern no differencefrom the beft wine, except that it had not the fcent of wine. Wewere called foon after,and moſt ſtrictly examined upon what bufinefs we came; " I anfwered, that we havingheard Sartach was a Chriſtian, we came therefore unto him. The King our maſter ſenthim a packet by us, he fent us to Baatu his father, and his father fent us hither, he ſhouldhave written the caufe." Whereupon they demanded, whether we would make peacewith them? I anſwered, " he had fent letters unto Sartach as a Chriſtian, and if he hadknown he were not a Chriftian, he would never have fent him letters. That as to atreaty of peace, there was no ground for it, fince he has done you no wrong; if hehad not done any, why fhould you war upon him or his people? He willingly (as ajuft man) would reform himſelf and defire peace. If ye without caufe will make warwith him or his nation, we hope that God ( who is juſt) will help them." Atthis theywondered, always repeating, why came ye not to make peace. For they are now fo puffedup with pride, that they think the whole world fhould defire to make peace with them;whereas, if I might be fuffered, I would preach war againſt them to the utmoſt ofpower. But I would not plainly deliver the caufe of my coming, left I fhould fpeakany thing againſt that which Baatu commanded; I told them therefore the fole caufe ofmy coming thither was, becauſe he fent me.myThe day following we were brought to the court, and I thought I could go barefoot,as I did in our country, and therefore I laid afide my fhoes; but fuch as come to thecourt, alight far from the houſe, where the great Khan is, as it were a bow- ſhot off,where the horfes remain, and a boy to keep them. When we alighted there, and ourguide went with us to the houfe, a Hungarian boy was prefent there, who knew ourorder; and when the men came about us, and ſtared at us as monſters, eſpecially becauſewe were barefooted, and demanded whether we did not need our feet, becauſe theyfuppofed we ſhould by cold have loft them, that Hungarian told them the reafon,fhewing them the rules and practice of our order. Then the chief fecretary, who wasa Neftorian, and a Chriftian, by whofe council and advice almoſt all is done, came to usto fee us, looked earneftly upon us, and called the Hungarian, of whom he asked manyqueftions. Then we were directed to return to our lodging.37. When we returned, at the end of the court, towards the eaft, as far from thecourt as a croſs-bow could ſhoot at twice, I ſaw a houſe, upon which there was a little4 crofs,INTO TARTARY AND CHINA.59erofs, at which I rejoiced much, fuppofing there was fome Chriftian there, and I wentin boldly, and found an altar there, very well furnished; for there, in a golden cloth,were the images of Chrift, the Bleffed Virgin, and St. John Baptift, and two Angels;the lineaments of their bodies and garments diftinguiſhed with pearl, and a great filvercrofs with precious ftones in the corners, and the middle thereof, and many other embroiderings, and a lamp burning with oil before the altar, having eight lights; and therefat an Armenian monk, fomewhat black and lean, clad with a rough hairy coat to themid- leg having upon it a black cloak ofbriftles, furred with ſpotted ſkins, girt with ironunder his hair- cloth.Prefently after we entered in, before we faluted the monk, falling flat uponthe ground,we fang Ave Regina Calorum, &c. and he rifing, prayed with us; then faluting him,we fat by him, having a little fire before him in a pan; therefore we told himthe caufeof our coming, and he began to comfort us, faying, that we fhould boldly ſpeak, becauſe we were the meffengers of God, who is greater than all men. Afterwards hetold us of his coming, faying, he came thither a month before us, and that he was ahermit of the territories of Jerufalem, and that the Lord appeared unto him three times,commanding him to go to the Prince of the Tartars; and when he deferred to go thethird time, God threatened him, and overthrew him upon the ground, faying, he fhoulddie, unleſs he went; and that he told Mangu-Khan that if he would become a Chriſtian ,the whole world fhould be obedient to him. Then I anfwered, " Brother, I will willingly perfuade him to become a Chriftian; I will promiſe him alfo that the French andthe Pope will much rejoice thereat, and account him a brother and a friend; but I willnever promiſe that they fhall become his fervants, and pay him tribute, as theſe othernations, becauſe in ſo doing, I fhould ſpeak againſt my confcience." On which he heldhis peace. We afterwards went together to our lodging, which I found a cold habitation.We had eaten nothing that day, fo we boiled a little fleſh and millet, of which wemade broth for our fuppers. Our guide and his companions were drunk at the court,and little care was had of us. At that time the meffengers of Veftace were there, hardby us, which we knew not, and the men of the court made us rife in great hafte at thedawning ofthe day. I went barefoot with them a little way unto the houſe of the faidmeffengers, and they demanded ofthem whether they knew us. Then the Grecian foldier calling our order, and my companion to remembrance, becauſe he had feen him inthe court of Veftace, with friar Thomas, our minifter, and all his fellows, gave greatteftimony of us. Then they demanded whether we had peace or war with Veftace?We have, faid I, neither war nor peace; and they demanded how that might be? Becaufe, faid I, their countries are far from each other, and meddle not together. Thenthe ambaffador of Veftace faid we had peace, giving me a caution; fo I held mytongue.That morning mytoes' ends were fo frozen, that I could no longer go barefoot; for inthefe countries the cold is extreme fharp, and from the time when it beginneth to freeze,it never ceaſes till May; nay, in the month of May it froze every morning, but in theday-time it thawed, through the heat of the fun; but in winter it never thaws, but the'ce continues with every wind. And if there were any wind there in winter, as there iswith us, nothing could live there; but it is always mild weather till April, and then thewinds rife; and at that time when we were there (about Eafter) the cold rifing with thewind, killed multitudes of living creatures.In the winter little fnow fell there, but about Eaſter, which was in the latter end ofApril, there fell fo great a fnow, that all the ſtreets of Caracarum were full; fo thatthey were forced to carry it out with their carts. Then they firſt brought us (from theI 2 court)бо TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIScourt) ram ſkin coats, and breeches of the fame, and fhoes, which my companion andinterpreter received; but I thought I had no need of them, becaufe I fuppofed myfurred garment, which I brought from Baatu, was fufficient for me. On the 5th ofJanuary we were brought to the court, and there came Neftorian priefts to me, whom Iknew not to be Chriftians, demanding which way we worshipped? I faid, to the eaft,and this they demanded, becauſe we had fhaven our beards, by the advice of our guide,that we might appear before the Khan according to the fafhion of our country, whereupon they thought we had been Tuinians, or idolaters: they made us alfo expound outof the bible. Then they demanded what reverence we would pay to the Khan, whetherafter our own faſhion or theirs? To whom I made anfwer, " We are priefts dedicated tothe ſervice of God; noblemen in our country will not fuffer priests to bow their kneesbefore them for the honour of God: nevertheleſs we will humble ourſelves to all menfor the Lord's fake. We came from a far country, if ye pleafe we will firft fing praifesunto God who hath brought us fafe hither from afar, and afterwards we will do whatfoever pleaſeth this Lord, with this exception, that he command us nothing which may beagainst the worſhip and honour of God. " Then they entering into the houſe, deliveredwhat we had faid; fo their Lord was contented, and they fet us before the entrance ofhoufe, lifting up the felt which hung before the gate, and becauſe it was Chriſtmas, webegan to fing, A Solis ortus cardine, &c.38. When we had fung this hymn, they fearched our bofoms to fee we had no knivesabout us. They made our interpreter ungird himſelf, and leave his girdle and hisknife without, in the cuftody of a door-keeper. When we came in, there ftood in theentrance a bench with cofmos, by which they made our interpreter ſtand, and cauſed usto fit upon a form before the ladies; the whole houfe was hung with cloth of gold, andon a hearth, in the middle of the houſe, there was a fire made ofthorns and wormwoodroots (which grew there very big) and ox dung. The Khanfat upon a bed covered witha fpotted ſkin or fur, bright and fhining like a ſeal's fkin; he was a flat noſed man, of amiddle ftature, about the age of five and forty, and a little pretty young woman hiswife fat by him, and one of his daughters, whoſe name was Cerina, a hard-favouredyoung woman, with other children that were younger, fat next unto them upon a bed;for that was the houfe of a certain Chriftian lady he loved, by whom he had this daughter, and he married the young wife afterwards; yet the daughter was miſtreſs of allthat court which was her mother's.Then he made them afk us what we would drink, whether wine or caracina, that is,drink made of rice, or caracofmus, that is, clear cow's milk, or ball, that is, mead madeof honey; for they ufe thefe four kinds of liquor in the winter? Then I answered,Sir, we are not men who take pleaſure in drink, what pleaſeth you fhall content us.Then he commanded drink of rice to be given us, clear and good as white wine, whereofI tafted a little for reverence of him, and our interpreter, to our misfortune, ftood bythe butlers, who gave him much drink, fo that he was quickly drunk; then the Khancaufed falcons and other birds to be brought unto him, which he took upon his fiſt,and looked upon them, and after a long time he commanded us to ſpeak. We werethen to bow the knee; and he had his interpreter, a certain Neftorian, whom I knewnot to be a Chriſtian; and we had our interpreter, fuch a one as he was, who by thistime was drunk. Then I faid, " We first give thanks and praiſe to God, who hathbrought us from fo remote parts of the world to fee Mangu-Khan, to whom God hathgiven fo great power upon earth; and we befeech our Lord, by whofe command welive and die, that he would grant him a long and profperous life" (for this they defire,that men pray for their lives); then I told him, " Sir, wehave heard of Sartach, that hewasINTO TARTARY AND CHINA.6rwas a Chriſtian, and the Chriſtians who heard it, but efpecially the French King, rejoiced; wherefore we come unto him, and our Lord and King hath fent him letters byus, wherein were words of peace, and amongst other things he teftificth of us whofefervants we are, and entreated him to fuffer us to abide in his country; for it is ouroffice to teach men to live according to the law of God, and he fent us to Baatu hisfather, and Baatu hath ſent us hither unto you; you are they to whom God hath givengreat dominions upon earth, we therefore intreat Your Highneſs to give us leave tocontinue in your country to do the fervice of God for you, your wives, and children.We have neither gold, nor filver, nor precious ftones to prefent unto you , but ourſelves,whom weprefent to ferve and pray unto God for you: at leaft give us leave to continuewhile the cold be paft. My companion is fo weak, that he cannot by any means travelon horfeback without hazard of his life; " for my companion begged me and adjuredme to crave leave to flay. Then he began to anfwer, even as the fun fpreads his beamsevery where, fo our power and Baatu's fhews itfelf every where, fo that we had no needof your filver and gold.Hitherto I understood my interpreter, but farther I could not perceive any perfectfentence, whereby I eafily found he was drunk, and Mangu-Khan himſelf was drunktoo, at leaſt I thought fo; yet he was difpleafed that we came firſt to Sartach, beforewe came to him. Then feeing the defect of my interpreter, I held my peace, this onlyexcepted; I entreated his Highneſs not to be diſpleaſed for that which I fpake of goldand filver, becauſe I ſpoke it, not that he had need of fuch things, or defired them,but becauſe we would willingly honour him with ſpiritual things. Then he made usrife, and fit down again, and after fome few words, and paying our duty to him, wewent out, and his fecretaries, and that interpreter of his ( who had the bringing up ofoneof his daughters) went with us. They began to be very inquifitive concerning thekingdom of France, whether there were many rams, oxen, and horfes there, as if prefently they ſhould enter and take all? And oftentimes I was fain to bridle myſelf muchin diffembling anger and indignation. I anſwered, however, there are many goodthings there which ye fhall fee if you happen to come thither. Then they appointed usone who ſhould have care of us, and we went to the monk; and when we came outagain ready to go to our lodging, the interpreter came to us, faying Mangu-Khan hathcompaffion on you, and gives you two months to ſtay, then the extream cold will be paft;and he offers to fend you ten days journey, where is a good city called Caracarum; ifyou will go thither he will caufe neceffary things to be given you, but if ye will ſtayhere ye may have neceffaries; yet it will be a troubleſome thing for you to follow thecourt.I faid the Lord preſerve Mangu- Khan, and grant him a good and long life. Wehave found this monk here, who we think to be a holy man, and that by the goodpleaſure of God he came into theſe parts; wherefore we would willingly ſtay with him,and we will pray together forthelife of Khan. Then he held his peace, and departed,and we went to our houſe, which we found very cold, and without any fuel, as yet fafting, though it was night. Then he to whom we were recommended, provided us fuel,and a little meat. Our guide was now to return to Baatu, who defired a carpet of us,which we left in the court of Baatu, which we gave him, and he peaceably departed; fokiffing our right hand, and confeffing his fault if he fuffered us to endure hunger and thirft upon the way, we pardoned him, craving pardon of him and his whole family, ifwe had given them any evil example.39. A certain woman of Metz in Lorraine, called Pafcha, found us, who made usgood cheer, according to her power, who belonged to the court of that lady who was a Chriftian62 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISa Chriftian, of whom I fpoke before, who told us of her ftrange poverty which the endured before the came to the court; but now fhe was well to live, for the had a younghufband, a Rutenian (by whom ſhe had three very fair children) who was ſkilful inbuilding, which amongst themis an excellent art. She told us farther, that at Caracarum there was a certain goldfmith called William, born at Paris, whofe furname wasBouchier, and his father's name Lawrence Bouchier, and ſhe believed he hath a brotheryet living uponthe great bridge, called Roger Bouchier; and fhe told me that he hatha certain young man which he brought up, whom he accounted as his fon, who was anexcellent interpreter; but Mangu- Khan delivered to the aforefaid goldfmith three hundred jafects, that is, three thoufand marks, and fifty workmen, to make a piece of work,fo that fhe feared he could not fend his fon to me; for fhe heard fomefay in that court,the men which came from your country are good men, and Mangu-Khan would willingly ſpeak unto them, but their interpreter is good for nothing; therefore ſhe was careful for an interpreter.Then I wrote unto the goldfinith, certifying him of my coming hither, and requeſtinghim, that if he could he would fend me his fon, and he wrote me anfwer, that he couldnot that moon; but the next his work fhould be perfected, and then he would fend himunto me. We flayed therefore with other ambaffadors and it is otherwiſe with ambaffadors in Baatu's court than in the court of Mangu-Khan: for in the court of Baatuthere is one Jani on the eaft fide, who receiveth all fuch as come from the weſt, and foofother countries of the world; but in the court of Mangu they are all together underone Jani, and they may fee and vifit one another. In Baatu's court they know not oneanother, or whether a man be a meffenger or no, becauſe they know not one another'slodging, nor fee one another, but in the court; and when one is called by accident,another is not, for they go not to court unleſs they be fent for. We found there a certain Chriftian in Damafcus, who faid he came in the behalf of the Soldan of Mons Regalis, and of Crax, who defired to become friend and tributary to the Tartars.40. The year before I came thither there was a certain clerk of Acon or Ptolemais,in Syria, who called himſelf Raimund, but his true name was Theodolus, and he tookhis journey from Cyprus with friar Andrew, and went with him into Perfia, and procured certain inftruments of Amoricus, then in Perfia, who remained after friar Andrew. Friar Andrew returning, he went forward with his inftruments, and came toMangu-Khan, and being demanded upon what account he came, faid, " That he waswith a certain holy biſhop, to whom the Lord fent letters from heaven, written in goldencharacters, and commanded him to fend them to the Emperor of the Tartars, becauſe hefhould be Lord of the whole earth, and that he ſhould perfuade men to makewith him." Then Mangu faid unto him, if thou hadst brought theſe letters which comefrom heaven, and the letters of thy Lord, thou hadst been welcome. He answered, thathe brought letters, but they were with other things of his on a wild and pamperedgelding, which efcaping, fled from him through the woods and mountains, fo that hehad loft all. -peaceThen Mangu demanded the name of the bifhop; he faid he was called Odo of Damafcus, and informed him alfo of Mafter William, who was clerk of the Lord Legate.The Khan demanded in whoſe kingdom it was? to whom he made anſwer, that it wasunder a certain king of the Franks, called Moles; for he had heard of that that happened at Maffora, and he would have faid, that they were of your fervants. He allo fold the Khan, that the Saracens were between the Franks and him, who hindered hisway; but if the way had been open, he would have fent ambaffadors, and willinglyhave made peace with him. Then Mangu-Khan aſked him , if he would bring hismeffengersINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 63meffengers to that King, and that Biſhop? He told him he would, and also to thePope.Then Mangu caufed an exceeding ftrong bow to be made, which two men couldſcarce bend, and two arrows of filver, whofe heads were full of holes, which fung,when they are ſhot, like a whiſtle; and he choſe a Moal, whom he ſhould ſend withthe faid Theodolus, and to whom he faid, " Thou fhalt go to the King of the Franks,to whom this man ſhall bring thee, and prefent him with thefe on my behalf; and ifhe will have peace with us, we will win the country from the Saracens, even home tohim, and will grant him the rest of the country unto the weft; if otherwife, bringback the bow and arrows unto us, and tell him we fhoot far and ſtrongly with fuchbows. " Then he caufed Theodolus to go forth , whofeinterpreter Maſter William's fonwas, and in his hearing, heh faid unto the Moal,, " Thou fhalt go with this man, markwell the ways, the countries, and their caftles, men and mountains." For this reafonthe young man blamed Theodolus, faying. he had done ill in conducting the meffengers of the Tartars with him, for they went for no other caufe but to fpy.He answered, that he would fet them on the fea, that they fhould not know whichway to return. Mangu gave alfo unto Moal his golden bull or tablet, to wit, a plateof gold of an hand breadth, and half a cubit long, wherein his orders are engraven:whofo carrieth that . may command what he will and it is done without delay. Sothen Theodolus came to Veftacius, determining to pafs over to the Pope, that he mightdeceive the Pope, as he had deceived Mangu-Khan. Then. Veftacius demandedof him, whether he had letters to the Pope, becauſe he was a meffenger, and fhouldconduct the meffengers of the Tartars; but not being able to fhewthe letters, he tookhim and ſpoiled him of all that he had got, and caft him in priſon, and the Moal fellfick and died there.But Veftacius fent back the golden tablet to Mangu-Khan by the fervants of theMoal, whom I met at Affron in the entrance into Turkey, who told me what had happened to Theodolus. Such fharpers run through the world, whom the Tartars kiltwhen they can take them. Now the Epiphany was at hand; and that Armenianmonk, Sergius by name, told me that he fhould baptize Mangu-Khan upon that holyday. I entreated him to labour, by all means, that I might be prefent, that I mightbear witneſs that I faw it; and he promiſed me he would.41. When this feftival day came, the monk called me not, but at fix of the clockI was fent for to court, and I faw the monk with the prieſts returning from the courtwith his crofs, and the priests with the cenfor, and the gofpel for that day. ManguKhan made a feaſt, and his cuftom is, that on fuch days as his foothfayers appoint him,or the Neftorian prieſts make holy days, he held his court; and on thefe days theChriftians come first, with their furniture, and pray for him and bleſs his cup; thenthey departing, the Saracen prieſts come and do the like: next after them come theidolatrous priefts, and do the fame. The monk told me that he only believes theChriftians, yet will have all to pray for him; but in this he lied, for he believesnone; yet all follow his court as flics do honey. He giveth to all, and all men thinkthey are his familiars, and all prophefy profperity to him. Then we fat before thecourt a long ſpace, and they brought us fleſh to eat; to whom I made anſwer, thatwe would not eat there, but if they would provide us meat, they fhould provide it forus at our houfe; to which they anſwered, get home to your houfe, you were invitedhere for nothing elfe but to eat therefore we returned to the monk, who blufhed atthe lie he had told me, and therefore would not ſpeak a word ofthe matter; yet fome ofthe64TRAVELSOFWILLIAMDERUBRUQUISthe Neftorians affirmed that he was baptized; to whom I faid, that I would never believe it, nor report it to others, feeing I faw it not.We came at laſt to our old and empty houfe, where they provided us bedding andcoverlids; they brought us alfo fuel, and gave us three the carcafe of one little leanram, as meat for fix days, and every day a little platterful of millet, and lent us a cauldron, and a trivet to boil our fleſh, which being boiled, we boiled our millet in thebroth ofthe flesh. This was our meat, and it had well fufficed us, ifthey had fufferedus to eat in peace; but there were ſo many ſtarved fellows, who were not providedwith meat, that as foon as they faw us drefs ours, they thruft in upon us, and wouldeat with us. The cold began then to prevail, and Mangu-Khan fent us three fur coatswith the hair outward, which we thankfully received: they demanded alfo how we wereprovided with neceffary food; to whom I anſwered, that little meat fufficed us, but wehave not an houfe wherein to pray for Mangu-Khan; for our cottage was fo little, thatwe could fcarce ftand upright in it, nor open our books for fmoke after the fire waslighted. Of this they gave him an account, and he fent to the monk, to know if hewould be pleafed with our company, who gladly anfwered that he would. From thattime we were provided with a better houfe, and we went down with the monk beforethe court, where none lodged but we and their foothfayers; but they lodged nearer before the palace of the greateſt lady, and we at the fartheft end towards the eaft, beforethe palace ofthe laft lady; and that was on the thirteenth of January.On the next morning, all the Neftorian priefts came together before day at thechapel, and fmote upon a board inſtead of ringing a bell, and fang matins folemnly,and put on their ornaments, preparing the cenfor and the incenfe; and while theywere waiting thus, behold, in the morning the principal wife, Cotata- Caten by name,(Caten is of the fame import as lady, and Cotata is her proper name, ) came into thechapel with many other ladies, and with her eldeft fon called Baltu, and otherchildren, and they caft themſelves down upon the earth, ducking after the manner ofthe Neftorians; and after this, they touched all the images with their right hands,always kifling their hands after they had touched; and after that they gave their righthands to all that ſtood by them in the church, for this is the cuftom of the Neftorianswhen they come into the church; then the prieſts fang many things, giving the ladyincenfe in her hand, and fhe put it upon the fire; then they perfumed her: after this,when the day was clear, fhe began to put off the ornament from her head, which iscalled Bacca, and I faw her bare head; then the commanded us to go forth, and as Iwent out I faw a filver bafon brought, whether they baptized her or no I know not;but I know they celebrate not maſs in a tent, but in a ſtanding church; and at thefeaft of Eafter I faw them baptize and confecrate a font with great folemnity, whichnowthey did not.While we went into our houſe, Mangu-Khan himſelf came and went into thechurch or Oratory, and a golden bed was brought, on which he fat by his Queen,over-againſt the altar; then we were fent for, who knew not then that Mangu wascome, and the door-keeper fearched us, left we fhould have knives about us; butcoming into the Oratory, having a bible and a breviary in my bofom, I first boweddown to the altar, and after to Mangu- Khan, and fo paffing by we ſtood between themonk and the altar; then they made us fing a pfalm after our manner, and chant it;but we fang Veni Sancte Spiritus, &c. and Khan caufed our books to be brought untohim, the bible and the breviary, and diligently enquired concerning the images, whatthey fignified; the Neftorians anſwered him at their pleaſure, becauſe our interpreter 6 cameINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 65came not in with us; and when I was firſt before him, I had the bible in my boſom,which he commanded to be brought unto him, and he looked earneſtly on it; then hedeparted, and his lady remained there, and diſtributed gifts to all the Chriſtians there;ſhe gave the monk a Jafeot, and to the archdeacon of the prieſts another; fhe cauſed anaffic to be ſpread before us, that is, a piece of cloth as broad as a coverlid of a bed,very large, and a buckram, which, when I would not receive, they fent them to myinterpreter, who had them to himſelf. He brought the naffic to Cyprus, which hefold for eighteen fultanines of Cyprus, but it was much the worſe for the carriage.Then drink was brought us, viz. drink made of rice and red wine, like a wine ofRochelle, and cofmos; then the lady holding the cup full in her hand, defired ableffing upon her knees, and all the prieſts fung with a loud voice, and fhe drank it up,and I and my companion were obliged to fing.Another time, when all of them were almoſt drunk, there was brought the carcafeof one ram, which was preſently devoured, and after that great fishes, which are likeour carp, without falt or bread, whereof I eat a little, fo they paffed the day till theevening; and when the lady herſelf was drunk, fhe took her chariot, the prieſts finging, and went her way. The next Sunday, which was the twenty-third of January,the Khan's fon came (whoſe mother was a Chriſtian ) and did the like, but not withfo great folemnity, for he gave no gifts, but made the prieſts drink, and gave themparched millet to eat. Before the first Sunday in Lent, the Neftorians faft three days,which they call the faft of Jonas, when he preached to the Ninevites. And the Ármenians faft five days, which they call the faft of St. Lorkis, who is the greateſt faintamong them. The Neftorians begin their faft on Tueſday, and end it on Thurſday;fo that on Friday they eat fleſh and all that time I faw the chancellor, who is therecalled Bulgai, give them fmall pieces of fleſh upon the Friday, and they bleſſed the fleſhwith great folemnity, as the pafchal lamb is bleffed, but he eat none with them; andthis I learned of the French goldfmith, who was his very familiar friend.The monk ſent to Mangu to faſt that week, which he did; fo that on the Eaſter ofthe Armenians we went in proceffion to the Houſe of the Mangu, and the monk andwe too went in with the prieſts before him; and while we went in, one of the ſervantswent out, carrying out the fhoulder bones of rams burnt as black as coals. I wonderedat this greatly, as not knowing what it fhould mean; but after I had enquired, I underftood, that the Khan never does any thing before he has confulted theſe bones,which kind of divination is thus performed: when the Khan undertakes any thing, orrather before he undertakes it, he cauſes three of theſe bones to be brought to him unburnt, and holding them, he confiders in his mind the thing he confults about, andwhether he ſhall do it or not, and then delivers the bones to be burnt; and there arealways two little rooms by the houſe where he lies, where theſe bones are burnt, whichare diligently fought for every day through all the lefkar or camp of the Tartars. Whenthey are burnt black, they bring them to him; then he looks upon them, whether thebones, bythe heat of the fire, be cleft lengthways, for then he may do it; but if thebones are cracked athwart, or round pieces fly out of them, then he doth it not;forthe bones are always cleft in the fire or the thin fkin which covers the bone; and ifone be cleft downright, he proceeds in his defign, be it what it will.When therefore we went in before him, having a caution to avoid touching thethreſhold, the Neftorian prieſts brought him incenfe, and he put it upon the cenfor,and they perfumed him; thenthey fung, bleffing his cup; after them the monk pronounced his bleffing, and we bleffed laft: and when he faw us holding up the bibletowards our breaſts, he caufed it to be brought to him that he might fee it, which heVOL. VII.K earnestly66 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISearneftly looked upon; then after he had drunk, and the chief prieſt had waited on hiscup, they gave the prieſts drink, but we went out; but my companion ſtaying laft, whenwe were gone, turned his face to the Khan, bowing himfelf to him, and then haftilyfollowing us, he ftumbled at the threſhold ofthe houſe, while we went in hafte towardsthe houfe of Baltu, the Khan's eldeft fon. They that obferved the threſhold feizedmy companion and made him ſtay, calling one, and commanding him to be carried tothe Bulgai, who is the chancellor, or fecretary of the court, who judgeth thoſe thatare arraigned of life and death, but I knew it not; yet, when I looked back, and didnot fee him coming, I thought they kept him to give him fome lighter garments, forhe was, weak, and fo laden with felt garments that he could fcarce go.Then they called our interpreter, and made him fit with him, but we went to theKhan's eldeſt fon's houfe, who had two wives, and was lodged at the right fide of hisfather's court; who, as foon as hefawus coming, leaping from his bed whereon he fat,caft himſelf upon the earth, fmiting his forehead against the ground, where kiflingthe croſs, and then arifing, caufed it to be laid upon a new cloth, in an high place byhim, very honourably. He hath a ſchoolmafter, a Neftorian prieft called David, adrunkard, who inftructs him . Then he made us fit, and gave the prieſts drink, andhe alſo drank, receiving the bleffing from them; then we went to the court of thefecond lady, which was called Cota, who followed idolaters, whom we found lyingfick a-bed; then the monk made her rife out of her bed, and worſhip the crofs, bowing her knees thrice, and bowing towards the ground, he ſtanding with the crofs atthe weft fide of the houſe, and fhe on the eaft; this being done, they changed places,and the monk went with the croſs unto the eaft, and the unto the weft, and he boldly.commanded her, though fhe was fo weak that fhe could fcarce ftand upon her feet,that ſhe ſhould caft herfelf down thrice, and worship the crofs, towards the eaſt, afterthe manner ofthe Chriftians, which fhe did, and he taught her to make the fign of thecrofs upon her forehead, after fhe laid down upon her bed; and praying for her, wewent unto the third houfe, where a Chriftian lady ufed to be, who being dead, a youngwoman fucceeded her, who, together with the daughter of her lord, joyfully receivedus; and all that whole houfe reverently worshipped the crofs, and he fet it upon a velvetcloth, in an high place, and the ordered meat to be brought, which being fet beforethe lady, the cauſed it to be diftributed to the prieſts; but I and the monk were veryweary of the meat and drink, for the meat being eaten, and much drink drunk, wewere to go to the young lady Cerina, who lodged behind that great houfe, which washer mother's, who, at the coming in of the crofs, caft herſelf down upon the earth,and worf ipped it very devoutly, becauſe ſhe had been taught ſo to do, and ſhe ſet itin a high place, upon a piece of filk, and all thoſe cloths whereon the cross was fet,were givento the monks.A certain Armenian brought his crofs, who came with the monk as he faid, fromJerufalem, and it was of filver, weighing about fome four marks, and it had four precious ſtones in the corners, and one in the middle. It had not the image of our Savoiur, and he had prefented it to Mangu-Khan, and Mangu demanded of him what hedefired? to whom he anſwered, that he was the fon of an Armenian prieſt, whoſechurch the Saracens had deftroyed , and craved his help for the building again thatchurch. Then he aſked him for how much it might be built again? he anſwered, fortwo hundred jaſcots, that is, for two thouſand marks; and he commanded letters to begiven him, to him who received the tribute in Perfia and Armenia the Greater, that theyfhould him the faid fum in filver. This crofs the monk carried with him every where, payand the priests fecing the gain he made thereof began to envy him. We were therefore5 inINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 67in the houſe of the young lady, and fhe gave the priests much drink; from hence wewent up into the fourth houfe, which was the laft , for he uſed not to come often untothat lady, and her houfe was very old, and herſelf not over gracious; but afterEafter, the Khan made her a new houfe, and new chariots. She likewife, as wellas the fecond, knew little or nothing of chriftianity, but followed foothfayers andidolaters; yet at our coming in, the worfhipped the crofs as the monk and the prieſttaught her. There alfo the prieſts drank again, and from this place we returned toour oratory, which was not far from thence, the prieſts accompanying us with greathowling and outcries in their drunkenneſs, which is not confidered there as blameable,either in man or woman. A little after, my companion was brought home, and themonk ſharply rebuked him, becauſe he touched the threshold . The next day Bulgaicame (who was a juftice) and diligently enquired whether any had warned us to takeheed of touching the threshold; and I anfwered, Sir, we had not our interpreter withus, and if they did, how could we underſtand? Then he pardoned him , but wouldnever after ſuffer him to come into any of the houſes of Mangu-Khan.43. Sometime afterwards, it happened that the lady Cota was fick, almoſt to death,and the divination by lot of the idolaters did her no good at all; then Mangu fent untothe monk, demanding of him what might be done for her, and the monk indifcreetlyanfwered, that if he were not cured he fhould cut off his head. Having made thatanfwer, the monk called us, declaring the matter unto us with tears, intreating us towatch with him that night in prayer, which we did; and he had a certain root whichis called rhubarb, and he beat it almoſt to powder, and put it in water, with a littlecrucifix which he had, whereon the image of our Saviour was advanced, whereof hereported, that by it he knew whether the fick would recover or die; for if theyfhould eſcape, it ſtuck to the breaft of the fick, as if it were glued; if otherwiſe, itftuck not at all; and I ftill thought that rhubarb had been ſome holy relick, which hehad brought from the holy land of Jerufalem. And he gave all fick perfons of thatwater to drink, fo that it could not be, but their bowels fhould be griped with fobitter a potion; which alteration in their bowels they accounted a miracle. Then Itold him, he fhould prepare fome of that holy water which is made in the church ofRome, which hath great virtue to expel devils, becauſe I underftood fhe was vexed ofa devil; and at his requeſt, we made him fome holy water, and he mingled rhubarb,and put his crucifix all night long in the water to temper it. I faid, moreover, that ifhe were a prieſt, that the order of priesthood had great power to expel devils; and hefaid it was very true, yet he lied, becauſe he had no order, nor knew any one letter;but was a weaver, as I underſtood after, in his country, when I returned.The next morning therefore, I and the monk, and two Neftorian prieſts, went untothe lady, and fhe was in a little houfe behind her greater houſe. When we came in,fhe fat in her bed, and worshipped the crofs, and fet it honourably by her, upon a clothoffilk, and drank of the bleffed water with rhubarb, and washed her breaft, and themonk requeſted me to read a gofpel overher; fo I read the paffion ofourLordaccording toJohn; at length fhe was cheered, and felt herfelf better, and fhe cauſed four jafcotsto be brought, which fhe firſt laid at the feet ofthe crofs, and after gave them to themonk, and reached me one, which I would not receive; then the monk ftretchedforth his hand, took it, and gave each of the prieſts one; fo that at that time ſhe gaveforty marks. Then fhe caufed wine to be brought, and gave it the prieſts to drink,and I was forced to drink thrice from her hand in honour of the Trinity: fhe beganalfo to teach me the language, jefting with me, becauſe I was filent, as not having anyinterpreter.K 2The་68 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISThe next day again Mangu-Khan, hearing that we came that way, made us comein to him, becauſe he understood that the lady was fomewhat better; and we found himwith a few fervants, taking a fort of meat made of paſte, for comforting the head, andthe burnt fhoulder- blades of a ram lay before him, and he took the crofs in his hand,but that he worshipped it, I faw not; he looked upon it indeed, and afked fome queftions, but I know not what. Then the monk craved leave to carry the croſs aloft,upon a lance, becauſe I had ſpoken to the monk before concerning this, and Mangu anfwered, carry it as you think beft; then paying our duty to him, we went unto thelady, and wefound her ftrong and cheerful, and the ſtill drank of the holy water, andwe read the paffion over her, and thofe miferable prieſts never taught her the faith, noradviſed her to be baptized; but I fat there mute, not able to ſpeak any thing, yet fheſtill taught me the language; the prieſts found no fault with any kind of forcery, forthere I faw four fwords half drawn out ofthe fheath, one at the head ofthe lady's bed,another at the feet, and two others, on either fide of the door one. I faw alfo thereone filver chalice, of our chalices, which very probably was taken out offome church.in Hungary, and it hung againſt the walls full of afhes, and upon thofe afhes there wasa black ftone, and concerning fuch things, the prieſts never teach them that they areevil; nay, they themſelves do teach fuch things. We vifited her three days, fo that.ſhe was restored to perfect health; after that, the monk made a banner full of croffes,and got a cane as long as a lance, and we carried the croſs aloft.I honoured him as my Biſhop, becauſe he could fpeak the language, yet he didmany things that did not pleaſe me; for he cauſed a chair, which may be folded, to bemade for him, fuch as biſhops uſed to have, and gloves, and a cap ofpeaco*ck's feathers,and upon it a little crofs ofgold; I was well pleafed with the crofs. He had fcabbedfeet, which he endeavoured to palliate with ointments, and was very prefumptuous infpeech; the Neftorians alfo repeated certain verſes of the Pfalter upon two rods, whichwere joined together, being held by two men. The monk was preſent at ſuch things,and many other vanities appeared in him, which difpleafed me, yet we joined ourſelvesto his ſociety for the honour ofthe croſs, for we carried the crofs advanced through allthe tents, finging, Vexilla Regis prodeunt, &c. Whereupon the Mohammedans weremuch dejected.44. Fromthe time we came to the court of Mangu-Khan, he rode but two journiestowards the fouth, and from that time he began to return towards the north, whichwas towards Caracarum; whereon I noted all the way athing of which Mafter BaldwinofHannonia had spoken to me at Conftantinople, that he had feen this only wonderful,that he always afcended in going, and never defcended; for all rivers came from theEaft to the Weft, either directly or indirectly, bending towards the South or the North,and I enquired of the prieſts which came from Cathaya, who teftified the fame. Fromthe place where I found Mangu-Khan to Cathaya were twenty days' journey: goingtowards the fouth and eaft to Oman Kerule, which is the proper country of Moall,where the court of Zingis is, were ten days' journey right eaft; and in thoſe parts ofthe eaſt there was no city, yet there were people which are called Su-Moall, that is tofay, Moal of the waters, for Su is water. Theſe people live upon fiſh and hunting,having neither flocks or herds. Towards the north likewife there is no city, but a poorpeople feeding cattle, who are called Kerkis; the Orangin are alfo there, whobindfmooth filed bones under their feet, and thruft themſelves forward upon the congealedfnow and ice with fuch ſwiftnefs, that they take birds and beafts; and many other poorpeople there are on the north fide, fo far as they may fpread themſelves for the cold;and they join onthe weſt with the country of Paſcatir, which is Hungary the Greater,10 whereofINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 69whereof I have fpoken before. The bound or fummit of the north corner is notknown for the extremity of the cold; for in that place there are continual mountainsof fnow.I was inquifitive of the monſters, or monftrous men, whereof Ifidorus and Solinusmake report: they told me they never faw any fuch, and I therefore doubt whetherit be true or no. All theſe nations are poor, yet they muſt ferve in fome trade, for itwas the commandment of Zingis, that none ſhould be free from fervice, till he were foold, that he could labour no longer by any means. Once I remember a certain prieſtof Cathaya fat with me clothed in a red-coloured cloth, and I demanded of him whencehe had fuch a colour, and he told me, that in the eaſt parts of Cathaya there were highcraggy rocks, wherein certain creatures dwell, having in all parts the ſhape of men;but that they bow not the knees, but leap inſtead of walking, which are not above onecubit long, and their whole body is covered with hair, who have their abode in caves,which no man can come unto; and they who hunt them, go to them, and carry ſtrongdrink with them, and make pits in the rocks like wells, which they fill with that ſtrongdrink; for Cathaya hitherto has had no wine, though now they begin to plant vine--yards; but the ftrong liquor before mentioned is made of rice. The hunters hidethemſelves, and then thefe creatures come out of their holes and taſte the drink, andcry, chin-chin; on this they come together in great multitudes, and drink till they aremade drunk, fo that they fleep there. Then the hunters come and bind them handand feet, while they are fleeping, and afterwards open the veins in their neck, anddraw forth three or four drops of blood from every one, and let them go free; andthat blood, as he told me, is the most precious purple.He told us alfo a truth, (which, however, I do not believe, ) that there is a provincebeyond Cathaya, into which, at whatever age a man enters, he continueth in the fameage wherein he entered. Cathaya is on the ocean, and the goldfmith fo often mentionedtold me, that there arrived meffengers from a certain people which are called Tanteand Manfe, who inhabit iſlands, the fea of which is frozen in the winter, ſo that theTartars may invade them, who offered two thouſand Tuemen or Jafcots yearly, fo theywould let them live in peace. Tuemen is a piece of money containing ten marks. Thecommon money of Cathaya is paper made like paſteboard, the breadth and length ofan hand, upon which they imprint lines like the feal of Mangu; they write with a pencil, like that with which painters paint, and in one figure they make many letters comprehending one word. The people of Thibet write as we do, and they have charactersvery like ours. They of Tangut write from the right hand to the left, as the Arabiansdo, and multiply the line afcending upwards; the Jugures, as I faid before, from aboveto the bottom of the line. The common money ofthe Rutenians are little ſpotted andgrifled fkins. When we came with the monk, he charitably admonished us to abſtain:from fleſh, and that our fervants ſhould eat fleſh with his fervants; but he would promiſe us meal, and oil , or butter, which we did, though it much grieved my companionby reafon of his weaknefs; wherefore our food was millet and butter, or pafte boiledin water, with butter, or four milk, and unleavened bread baked on ox-dung, or horfedung .45. When our Quinquagefima came, which is the Lent time of all the people of theeaft, the great lady Cota, with all her company, faſted that week, who came everyday to our Oratory, and gave meat to the prieſts and other Chriſtians, of whom a greatmultitude flocked thither the first week to hear their duty, and fhe gave me and mycompanion each a coat and breeches of grey Samito, furred with coarſe hair, becauſemy companion complained much of the weight of his fkins, which I received for hisfake,70 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISfake, excufing myſelf, nevertheleſs, that I would not wear fuch clothes; I gave to myinterpreter what belonged to me. Then the porters of the court, feeing that fuch amultitude came daily to the church, which was within the bounds of the keepers of thecourt, they fent one of their attendants to the monk, to let him know, that they wouldnot have fuch a multitude come within the precincts of the court; to this the monkroughly anſwered, that he would know whether they commanded this from ManguKhan, and he added certain fpeeches, as if he would accufe them to Mangu-Khan; butthey preventing him, accuſed him before Mangu, that he was too full of words, andthat he gathered together too great a multitude to hear him ſpeak.Afterwards being called to the court, we came in before the Khan himſelf, who havingthe burnt fhoulder- blade of a ram in his hand, looked upon it, as it were reading it,began to reprove the monk feverely, telling him, that feeing he was a holy man, hefhould pray unto God, and afked why he fpoke fo much with men? But I ftood behindwith my head bare. Then the Khan faid to him, Why doft thou not put off thy capwhen thou comeft before me, as that Frank doth? and commanded me to be callednearer; then the monk being much abaſed , put off his cap contrary to the cuſtom of theGreeks and Armenians, and when Khan himſelf had ſpoken fharply to him, we wentout; the monk then delivered me the croſs to bear to the Oratory, becauſe he couldnot carry it for fhame. After a few days he was reconciled to him, promifing that hewould go to the Pope, and that he would bring all the nations of the weft to his obedience. Whereupon he returning to the Oratory, after that conference had with theKhan, began to enquire of me touching the Pope, if I believed he would fee him, if hecame unto him in the behalf of Mangu, and if he would furnish him with horſes untoSt. James in Gallicia. He demanded alfo of Your Majefty, if I thought you wouldfend your fon unto Mangu? Then I counfelled him, that he ſhould take heed that hedid not promiſe falfehoods to Mangu, becauſe the laft error would be worſe thanthe firſt, and that God needeth not our lies, or that we ſhould ſpeak deceitfully forhim.At that time there aroſe a certain queſtion between the monk and a prieſt, a learnedman, whofe father was an archdeacon, and the other priests accounted him an archdeacon. For the monk faid, that man was created before Paradife, and that the Scripture faid fo; then was I called to be an arbitrator of the queftion, but I being ignorantthat they contended about this, anſwered, that Paradife was made upon Tueſday, whenthe other trees were made, and that man was made the fixth day. Then the monkbegan to fay, did not the devil bring earth the firſt day from the four parts ofthe world,and making clay, made the body of man therewith, and God infpired his foul? Thenhearing this herefy of the monk, and that he fo publicly and fhamefully recited it, I reproved him fharply, faying, he fhould put his finger upon his mouth, becauſe he knewnot the Scriptures, and that he fhould take heed what he faid; and he began to fcornme, becauſe I was ignorant of the language.I departed therefore from him, going to our houfe; it fell out afterwards, that heand the prieſts went in proceffion to the court without calling me, becauſe the monkwould no longer fpeak to me as he was wont; when, therefore, they came beforeMangu, he earnestly demanded where I was, and why I came not with them? Thepriefts being afraid, excufed themfelves, but returning, they told me the words ofMangu, and murmured at the monk. After this the monk was reconciled to me, andI to him , entreating him, that he would help me with his language, and I would helphim in the Holy Scripture: " For a brother that is holpen of a brother, is as a ſtrongcity." After the first week of faſting, the lady ceaſed to come unto the Oratory, and togiveINTO TARTARY AND CHINA, 71give meat and drink, which we were wont to have; for the monk fuffered it not to bebrought, faying, that mutton fat or fuet was put in the fauce; and fhe gave no oil, butvery ſeldom; fo that we had nothing but brown bread and paſte, boiled in water,though we had no water but of diffolved fnow or ice, which was exceeding bad. Mycompanion began to be much grieved; fo I acquainted David, the ſchoolmafter of theKhan's eldeſt fon, with our neceffity, who made report thereof to the Khan, and hecommanded to give us wine, flour, and oil.Neither the Neftorians or Armenians eat fish by any means in lent; but the monkhad a cheſt by him under the altar, with almonds and raifins, and dried prunes, andmany other fruits, which he eat all day, whenever he was alone. We eat once a day,and that in great affliction; for as foon as they knew that Mangu had given us wine,moft impudently they came in upon us like dogs, both the Neftorian priefts, who weredrunk all the day in the court, and the Moals alfo, and the fervants of the monk. Themonk alfo, when any came unto him to whom he would give drink, he ſent to us forwine, ſo that the wine caufed us more trouble than comfort, becauſe we could not denyit without offence. If we gave, we wanted ourſelves; nor durft we, that being ſpent,defire any more from the court.46. About the middle of lent the French goldfmith's fon came, bringing with hima filver croſs made after the French faſhion , having the image of Chriſt all of filver ·faſtened upon it at the top, which the monks and priests feeing, put it away: Thiscrofs he was to preſent in the behalf of his maſter to Bulgai, who was the chief fecretary of the court, which when I heard I was offended. The fame young man alfo declared to Mangu-Khan, that the work which he had commanded to be made, was finiſhed, which work I deſcribed unto you. Mangu hath at Caracarum a great court hardby the walls of the city, inclofed with a brick wall, as the priories of monks are incloſed with us. In that court there is a great palace, wherein he held his feaſts twice ayear, once in Eafter, when he paffeth that way, and once in fummer, when he returneth; but the latter is the greater, becauſe then all the nobles meet together at his court,and then he gives unto them garments, and fhews all his magnificence. There aremany other houſes there as large as our farms, wherein his victuals and treafures areftored. In the entrance of that great place, becauſe it was indecent to have flaggonsgoing about, as in a tavern, William the goldfmith made him a great filver tree, atthe root whereof were four filver lions, having one pipe fending forth pure cows' milk;and the four pipes were conveyed within the tree unto the top thereof, whofe top ſpreadback again downward, and upon every one of them was a golden ferpent, whofe tailstwined about the tree; and one of theſe pipes run with wine, another with caracofmos,that is, clarified whey, another with ball, that is, drink made of honey, another withdrink made ofrice, called teracina; and every drink had a veffel prepared of filver atthe foot of thetree to receive it. Between theſe four pipes, at the top, he made anangel holding a trumpet, and under the tree he made an hollow vault, wherein a manmight be hid, and a pipe afcending up the heart of the tree unto the angel. He firſtmade bellows, but they gave not wind enough. Without the palace there is a chamber,wherein the liquors were laid, and there were fervants ready to pour it out when theyheard the angel founding the trumpet; and the boughs of the tree are of filver, and foare the leaves and pears that are on it; when, therefore, they want drink, the butlercommands the angel to found the trumpet; he who is hid in the vault hearing, blowsthe pipe ftrongly, which afcending to the angel, he fets his trumpet to his mouth, andthe trumpet foundeth very fhrill; then the fervants hearing, which are in the chamber,pour liquor into the proper pipe, and the pipes pour it from above, and they are receivedbelow72 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISbelow into veffels prepared for that purpoſe. Then the butlers draw them, and carrythem through the palace to men and women.The palace is like a church, having the middle aifle and the two fides beyond tworows of pillars, and three gates on the fouth; before the middle gate ſtands the tree,and the Khan himſelf fits in the north front on an high place, that he may be ſeen ofall; and there are two flights of ſteps afcending to him; by one he that carries the cupgoes unto him; and by the other he comes down. The fpace which is in the middle,between the tree and the ſteps by which they aſcend , is void; for there ſtands he thatwaits on his cup, and the meffengers which bring prefents, the Khan fitting there abovelike a god. On the right fide, towards the weft, are the men; on the left, women;for the palace ſtretched out in length from north to fouth: on the right fide are placesfull offeats, on which his fons and brethren fit; on the left fide are the like, where hiswives and daughters fit; one woman only fits above by him, but not fo high as he.When, therefore, he had heard that the work was finiſhed, he commanded the chiefworkman to fet it up in its place, and make it fit.About Paffion Sunday he went before with his ſmall houſes, leaving his greater houſesbehind; and the monk and we followed him; and he fent us another bottle of wine.The Khan, in his march, paffed between the hilly countries, where there was greatwind, and extreme cold, and there fell a great fnow; whereupon he fent about midnightto the monkand us, entreating us to pray unto God, that he would mitigate the windand cold, becauſe all the beafts which were in the train were in jeopardy; eſpeciallybecauſe all that time they were with young, and ready to bring forth. Then themonk fent him incenfe, requiring him to put it upon the coals, and offer it to God;which whether he did I know not; but the tempeft ceafed, which had continued twodays.On Palm Sunday we were near Caracarum in the dawning of the day; we bleffedthe willow- boughs, whereon as yet there appeared no bud; and about nine we enteredthe city, carrying the crofs aloft, with the banner, paffing through the middle of theſtreet of the Saracens, where the market and fair are, to the church, and the Neſtorians met us in proceffion; and entering into the church, we found them prepared tocelebrate the mafs; which being celebrated, they all communicated; and they aſkedme whether I would communicate? I anfwered, that I had drank before, and thefacrament ſhould not be received but fafting. Mafs being faid, it was evening, andMaſter William the goldfmith brought us with joy to his inn to fup with him. He hada wife who was the daughter of Mohammedan parents, though born in Hungary herſelf,who could ſpeak French, and the language of Comania. Wefound alfo there one otherman, called Baffilius, the fon of an Engliſhman, born in Hungary, who alſo was ſkilfulin the fame languages. Supper being ended, they brought us to our cottage, which theTartars had appointed in a certain plat of ground near the church, with the Oratory ofthe monk.On the next morning the Khan himſelf entered into his palace, and the monkand I and the prieſts went to him; they fuffered not my companion to go becauſe heftumbled on the threſhold. I much deliberated with myſelf what I fhould do, whether I ſhould go or no; and, fearing offence, if I fhould depart from other Chriftians,and becauſe it pleafed him, and fearing left that good might be hindered which I hopedto obtain, I choſe rather to go, though I faw their actions full of idolatry and forcery,nor did I any other thing there but pray for the whole ' church with a loud voice,and alfo for the Khan himſelf, that God would direct him to the way of eternalSalvation. Wetherefore went into the court, which was very neat, for in the fummerriversINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 73rivers are conveyed into every place whereby it is watered. After this we entered intothe palace full of men and women, and ſtood before the Khan, having the aforefaidtree at our backs, which with the veffels thereof took up a great part of the palace.The prieſts brought two little loaves and fruit in an earthern difh, which they preſentedunto him, bleffing them; and the butler brought them unto him, fitting above on avery high place, and he prefently began to eat one of the loaves, and fent the other tohis fon and a younger brother of his, who was brought up by a Neftorian, and knewthe gofpel, who alfo fent for my bible, that he might fee it. After the prieſts, themonk faid his prayer, and I after the monk; then he promiſed that the next day hewould come unto the church, which is great enough and fair, and all the ceiling abovewas covered with filk wrought with gold; the next day he departed, defiring the prieſtsto excuſe him, that he durft not come to the church, becauſe he underſtood the deadwere carried thither: but we and the monk remained at Caracarum with the otherprieſts of the court, that we might celebrate Eafter there.47. The feaſt of Eaſter was now drawing near, and we had not our veſtments; and Ilikewife, confidered the manner howthe Neftorians made the facramental bread, and wasmuch troubled what I fhould do, whether I ſhould receive the facrament from them orfhould celebrate in their veſtments and chalice, and upon their altar, or fhould altogetherabſtain from the facrament. There was a great multitude of Chriftians; Hungarians,Allans, Rutenians, Georgians, and Armenians, all which had not feen the facrament fincetheywere taken priſoners, becauſe the Neftorians would not admit them into their church,unleſs they were baptized by them, as they ſaid; yet they made no mention of that to us,and they offered their facrament freely to us, and made me ſtand in the door of the choir,that I might ſee their manner of confecration. Onthe vigil of Eaſter I ftood bythe fountthat I might fee their manner of baptizing. Theyfay they have of the ointment wherewith Mary Magdalen anointed the feet of our Lord; and they pour in as much as theythink fit ofthat oil, with which they knead their bread; for all the people of the Eaſt putfat in their bread inftead of leaven, which fat is butter, or fuet out of a fheep's tail, or oil.They fay alfo, they have of the flour of which the bread was made which the Lordconfecrated, and always add as much freſh as the quantity of the flour they lay aſide; andthey have a chamber, hard by their choir, and an oven where they bake their bread,which they next confecrate with great reverence. They therefore make one loaf of anhand's breadth, with the before-mentioned oil, which they firſt break into twelve pieces,accordingto the number ofthe apoftles, and after divide thofe pieces according tothe multitude of the people, and the prieſts give the body of Chrift to every one in his hand;andthen every one taketh it out of the palm of his hand with reverence, and ſtretchethhis hand to the top of his head. The Chriftians I mentioned before, and the monks,very earneſtly intreated us, for God's fake, that we would celebrate. Then I madethem be confeffed by an interpreter as I could, reckoning the ten commandments, andthe feven deadly fins, and other things, for which every man ought to be penitent andconfeffed; all of them publicly excufed themſelves concerning theft, faying, that withouttheft they could not live, becaule their maſters provided them neither food nor raiment.Then confidering that they had taken away their perfons and their fubftance withoutjuft caufe, I faid unto them, that they might lawfully take neceffaries of the goods oftheir maſters, and I was ready to maintain it to the face of Mangu-Khan.Some of them alfo were foldiers, who excuſed themſelves, that they muſt go to thewars or elfe they fhould be flain: I forbad them to go againſt theChriſtians, and that theyfhould not hurt them, and that they ſhould rather fuffer themſelves to be flain, for fotheyſhould become martyrs. And I ſaid, that if any would accufe me of this doctrine VOL. VII. L before74 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISbefore Mangu-Khan, I would be ready to preach the fame in his hearing: for the Neftorians themſelves of the court were prefent when I taught this, of whom I wasfufpicious they might report ill of us. Then mafter William the goldfmith caufedan ironto be made for us to make hofts; and he had certain veftments which he hadmade for himſelf, for he had fome knowledge in learning and officiated as a clerk. Hecaufed the image of the bleffed Virgin Mary to be graven after the French faſhion, andengraved the hiftory of the gofpel very fair; and made a filver box to lay up the bodyof Chrift, and the relicks in certain little holes, curiouſly wrought in the fide of the box.He made alfo a certain oratory upon a chariot, very fairly painted with fcripture hiſtories; I therefore took his veftments and bleffed them; and we made hofts after our manner, very fair: and the Neftorians affigned me their fount for baptifm. And their patriarch fent them from Baldach a fquare hide like a portable altar, made with chrifm,which they ufe inítead of confecrated ftone , therefore I celebrated on the day of theLord's fupper, in their filver chalice and diſh, which were very great veffels. I did thelike alfo on Eafter-day, and we communicated the people with the bleffing of God, asI hope; but they baptifed in the vigil of Eafter more than threefcore perfons veryorderly. There was great joy for this generally among all Chriftians.48. After this, it happened that mafter William the goldfmith was grievoufly fick,and when he was upon the recovery, the monkvifiting him, gave him rhubarb to drink,fo that he had almoft killed him. Then vifiting himwhen I found him fo ill, I aſked himwhat he had eat or drank? and he told me the monk had given him the potion, and hedrunk two little difhes full, thinking it had been holy water. Then I went to themonk, and faid to him, either go as an apoftle, doing miracles indeed by virtue ofprayer and the Holy Ghost, or as a phyfician according to the art of medicine; yougive a ſtrong potion of phyfick to drink to men not prepared, as if it were an innocentthing; for which you will incur a foul fcandal, if it come to the knowledge of men..From that time he began to fear and to be weary of him.It happened at that time, that the prieſt too was fick, who was as it were the archdeacon of the reft, and his friends fent for a certain Saracen, who was a foothfayer,.who faid untothem, a certain lean man, who neither eateth or drinketh, nor fleeps ina bed, is angry with him; if he can obtain his bleffing, he may recover; then theyunderstood it was the monk, and about midnight the prieſt's wife, his fifter, and his fontcame, intreating that he would come and bless him; they alfo raifed us up to intercedewith the monk, who anfwered us upon this occafion, let him alone, becauſe he, with:three others, who likewife tock evil courfes, confulted to go to the court, to procureMangu-Khan, that I and you ſhould be expelled from thefe parts; for there aroſe acontention among them, becaufe Mangu and his wives fent four Jafcots, and pieces offilk, upon Eafter eve, to the monk and priests, to diftribute among them; and themonk had kept unto himſelf one Jafcot for his part and of the other three one was:counterfeit, for it was copper. The priests thought therefore that the monk had kepttoo great a fhare to himfelf, whence (it might be) that they had fome words among▸themſelves, which were reported to the monk.When day came, I went to the prieſt, who had extreme pain in his fide, and fpit.blood, whence I thought it was an impoftume; then I adviſed him, that if he had anything that was another's to reftore it; he ſaid he had nothing. Ifpoke unto him alſo ofthe facrament of extreme unction; who anſwered, we have no fuch cuftom, neither doour prieſtsknow how to do it; I intreat you that you would do it for me, as you knowbeſt.I adviſed him alfo , concerning confeffion, which they frequent not; and he fpake a little.in the ear of a certain priceft, one of his companions. After this, he grew better, and:intreatedINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 75intreated me to go for the monk; fo I went, but the monk would not come at first;but when he heard he wasfomewhat better, he went with his crofs, and I alfo went, andcarried the body of Chrift, which I had referved upon Eafter-day, at the intreaty ofmaſter William; then the monk began to kick him with his feet, and he most humblyembraced his feet; then I faid unto him, it is the cuftom of the church of Rome, thatthe fick fhould receive the body of Chrift, as it is the beft provifion for their journey,and a defence against all the deceits of the enemy; turning next to the fick man, I faid ," Behold the body of Chrift, which I confecrated on Eafter day, you must be confeffedand defire it." Then faid he, with great faith, " I defire it with all my heart; " whichwhen I had offered to him, he with great affection faid, " I believe that this is myCreator, and my Saviour, who gave me life, and will reftore it again unto me after deathin the general refurrection; " and fo took the body of Chrift (from my hand), made afterthe manner of the church of Rome; the monkthen ſtayed with him, and gave him, inmy abfence, I knownot what potions.The next day he began to have the pangs of death upon him; then taking their oil ,which they faid was holy, I annointed him according to the church of Rome, as theyentreated me. I had none of our oil, becauſe the priests of Sartach kept it all. Whenwe fhould have fung a dirge, and I would have been prefent at his end, the monkfent to me, bidding me depart, becauſe if I were prefent, I could not come into thehouſe of Mangu- Khan for one whole year; which, when I had told his friends, they faidit was true, and defired me to depart, left I might be hindered in that good which Imight promote. As foon as he was dead , the monk faid unto me, " Never mind it, Ihave killed him with my prayers; this man only was learned, and oppofed himſelfa*gainſt us, the reſt know nothing: henceforth Mangu- Khan himſelf, and they all willcouch at our feet." Then he declared unto me the before-mentioned anfwer of thefoothfayer; which not believing it, I enquired of the prieſts who were friends of thedeceaſed, whether it were true or no, who faid it was; but whether he was pre-inftructed or not, that they knew not.Afterwards I found that the monk called the foothfayer and his wife into his chapel,and cauſed duft to be fifted for him to divine to him, for he had a certain Ruteniandeacon who divined to him; which, when I underfood, I was amazed at his fooliſhneſs,and faid to him, Brother, a man full of the Holy Ghoft, which teacheth all things,fhould not demand anfwers or counfels from foothfayers, feeing all fuch things are forbidden, and they are excommunicated who follow fuch things. Then he began to excufe himſelf, that it was not true that he fought after fuch things; but I would notdepart from him, becauſe I was placed there bythe commandment ofthe Khan himſelf,nor could I remove without his fpecial command.49. As to the city of Caracarum , Your Highneſs may be pleaſed to know this; that,excluding the palace of the Khan himſelf, it is not fo good as the caftle of St. Dennis,and the monastery of St. Dennis is worth ten times that palace and more too. There aretwo ſtreets there, one of the Saracens or Mohammedans, where the fairs are kept, andmany merchants refort thither, by reaſon of the court which is always near, and for thenumber of embafladors. There is another ofthe Cathayans, who are all artificers. Without thoſe ſtreets there are great palaces, which are the courts of the fecretaries; thereare there twelve kinds of idolators of divers nations, two mofques, where the law ofMohammed is proclaimed, and one church of the Chriftians at the end of the town.The town is encloſed with a mud wall, and hath four gates; on the east part millet andother grain is fold, which, as yet, is feldom brought thither; on the weſt ſheep andgoats, on the fouth oxen and waggons are fold; and on the north horſes.L 2 Following76 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISFollowing the court, we came thither on the Sunday before the Afcenfion; the nextday after we were called before Bulgai, who is their juftice and chief fecretary; boththe monk and all his family, and we and all the meffengers and ſtrangers likewife whofrequented the houfe of the monk, were called before Bulgai feverally, firſt themonk, and after us, and they began diligently to enquire whence we were, and forwhat purpoſe we came, and what our errand was? and this enquiry was made becauſeit was told Mangu-Khan, that four hundred affaffins or fecret murderers were goneforth in divers habits to kill him. About that time the Khan's lady was reftored tohealth, and ſhe ſent for the monk, and he, not willing to go, anfwered, ſhe hath fentfor idolators about her, let them cure her if they can, I will go no more.Upon Afcenfion eve, we were all in the houfe of Mangu-Khan and I faw as oftenas he was to drink, they caft Cofmos to their idols of felt; then I ſaid to the monk,"What fellowship hath Chrift with Belial? what part hath our ' crofs with thofeidols?" Mangu-Khan hath eight brethren, three by the mother, and five by the father. One of them of his mother's fide he fent into the country of Affaffines, whoare called by them Mulibet, and he commanded him to kill them all.. Another wentto Perfia, and is now entered therein to go, as is thought, into Turkey, from thenceto ſend armies to Baldach and Vaftacius. One of the others he fent into Cathaiaagainſt ſome that rebelled: his youngeſt brother of the fame venter, he kept himſelf,whoſe name was Arabucha, who holds his mother's court, who was a Chriſtian, whoſefervant maſter William is: for one of the brothers on the father's fide took him ina certain city called Belgrade, where there was a. Norman biſhop, of Belle Ville nearRoan with a nephew of the bishop's, whom I faw there at Caracarum, and he gavemaſter William to Mangu's mother, becauſe ſhe was defirous to have him. But whenfhe was dead, maſter William came back again to Arabucha, with all things elfe pertaining to the court of his mother; and from him he came to the knowledge of ManguKhan, who, on finiſhing of the aforefaid work, gave unto mafter William one hundredJafcots, that is, a thoufand marks.On the Eve ofthe Afcenfion, Mangu-Khan ſaid, he would go to his mother's courtand vifit her, and the monk faid he would go with him, and give his bleffing to hismother, with which Khan was well contented. In the evening of the day ofthe afcenfion, the aforefaid lady was very ill , and the chief of the foothfayers fent to the monk,commanding him that the table fhould not be fmitten. On the morrow, when thewhole court removed, the court of the lady remained ftill: and when we came to theplace where the court fhould ſtay, the monk was commanded to depart farther from thecourt than he was wont, which he did: then Arabucha met his brother the Khan: fothe monk and we, ſeeing that he was to pafs by us, met him with the croſs; and hecalling us to mind, becauſe fometimes he had been at our Oratory, ſtretching forth hishand made a crofs unto us like a bishop; then the monk taking horſe followed him,bearing certain fruits; but he alighted before his brother's court, waiting while he camefrom hunting: the monk alighted there alfo, and offered him the fruit, which he received; and hard by him fat two Saracens of the nobility of the court of Khan; butArabucha underſtanding of the contention between the Chriftians and the Saracens,enquired of the monk if he knew theſe Saracens, and he anfwered, I know they aredogs, whyhave you them fo near you? But they replied, why, fay they, do you wrongto us, when we do none to you? To whom the monk faid, I ſpeak the truth, and yeand your Mohammed are vile dogs: then they began to blafpheme Chriſt, but Arabucha forbad them, faying, Speak not fo blafphemously, for we knowthat the Meffiah isGod,INTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 77God. That very hour there arofe a great wind over all the ftreet, and after a whilethere came a rumour that the lady was dead.The next morning the Khan returned towards the court another way; for this is arule amongſt them, that they never return the fame way they come. While the courtremained here none dare paſs that way (neither horfe-man nor foot-man, ) where thecourt ſtayed, fo long as any fhew of the fire made there remaineth. That day certainSaracens kept company with the monk, upon the way, provoking him, and diſputingwith him; and when he could not defend himſelf with argument, and they made lightof him, he would have lafhed them with the whip which he held in his hand, and hewent fo far that his words were reported at the court, and we were commanded to depart to the fame place with other meffengers, and not to abide before the court as wewere wont. I hitherto always hoped the King of Armenia would come. There camefome about Eaſter from Bolac, where thofe Germans are, for whofe fake chiefly I wentthither, who told me, that the Dutch prieſt ſhould come to court; therefore I moved noqueſtions to Mangu concerning our ſtay or departure; for at the beginning he gave usleave to ſtay two months, and now five months were paft. This was done about the endof May, and we had continued there all February, March, April and May; but hearing no news of the King or the faid prieft, and fearing left we fhould return in thewinter, the fharpnefs of which we had experienced, I caufed it to be demanded ofMangu-Khan, what his pleaſure was concerning us, becauſe we would ſtay there, if fohe pleaſed, or if we muſt return, it were eaſier for us to return in fummer, than in the winter.He preſently ſent to me, commanding that I ſhould not go far off, becauſe his pleaſurewas to ſpeak with me the next day: to which I anſwered, if he would ſpeak with me,.he fhould fend for maſter William's fon, for my interpreter was not fufficient, and hethat brought this meffa*ge to me was a Saracen, who had been a meſſenger to Vaftacius,and, blinded with rewards, counfelled Vaftacius to fend ambaffadors to Mangu-Khan, andthe mean while the time paffed, for Vaftacius thought he would prefently enter theircountry, fo he fent, and after he knewthem, he little regarded them, nor made a peacewith them; neither did they yet enter his country, nor will they be able fo long as theydare defend themfelves; nor did they ever take any country by force, but by deceit;and becauſe men make peace with them, under colour of that peace they circumventthem and overthrow them. Then he began to be very inquifitive of the Pope, and ofthe King of the Franks, and of the way to go to them; but the monks hearing this,adviſed me fecretly not to anſwer him, becauſe he would procure that an ambaffadorfhould be fent. I therefore held my peace, not willing to anſwer him; and hefpake to me I know not what injurious words, for which the Neftorian prieſts wouldhave accufed him, fo that he had either been flain or beaten, but I would not agreeto it.50. The very next day they brought me to the court, and the chief ſecretaries of thecourt came to me, one ofthem a Moal, who waiteth upon the Khan's cup, and the reftSaracens, enquiring on the behalf of the Khan, wherefore I came? Then I told him inthe very fame words I did before, how I came to Sartach, and from Sartach to Baatu,and how Baatu fent me thither. Whereupon I faid unto him, I have nothing to ſpeakonthe behalf of any man, unleſs I fhould ſpeak the words of God unto him, if he wouldhear them, for the Khan fhould beſt know what Baatu hath written unto him. Theyftuck upon this, demanding what words of God I would fpeak unto him; thinkingwould prophefy unto him fome profperous thing, as many uſe to do.ATo78TRAVELSOF WILLIAMDE RUBRUQUISTo whom I anfwered, if ye will that I fpeak the words of God unto him, get me aninterpreter, who faid, we have fent for him, yet fpeak by this interpreter as you may,we fhall underſtand you well, and they urged me much to fpeak. Then I faid , " Thisis the word of God. To whom more is committed, more is required at his hands.Another alfo, to whom more is forgiven, he ought to love more. Out of thefe truewords of God, I faid to the Mangu himfelf, that God hath given him much for the.power and riches which he hath, the idols of the Tuinians hath not given him , but theomnipotent God, who hath made heaven and earth, in whofe hands all kingdoms are,and he tranflateth them from nation to nation for the fins of men, wherefore if he lovehim , it fhall go well with him; if otherwife, let him knowthat God will require all theſethings at his hands, even to the uttermoft farthing." Then faid one of the Saracens, isthere any man that loveth not God? I anfwered, " God faith, ifany man love me, hewill keep my commandments; therefore he that keepeth not the commandments ofGod, loveth not God." Then faid he, Have ye been in heaven, that ye might know thecommandinents of God? " No, faid I, but he hath given them from heaven to holymen, and at the laft himſelf defcended from heaven, teaching us, and we have thefethings in the fcriptures, and we fee by the works of men whether they keep themor no."Whereupon he replied, Will ye then fay that Mangu Khan keeps not the commandments of God? To whom I faid your interpreter will come as ye fay. Then beforeMangu-Khan, if it pleaſe him, I will recite the commandments of God, and he fhall behis ownjudge, whether he keep them or not; fo they departed and told him that I faidhe was an idolater, or a Tuinian, and kept not the commandments of God. The nextday he fent his fecretaries unto me, faying, Our Lord fends us unto you, faying, ye arehere, Chriftians, Saracens, and Tuinians, and every of you faith, his law is better, andhis books are true: wherefore he would that ye all come together, and make comparifon that every one write his words, that he may knowthe truth. Then I faid, " Bleffedbe God, that hath put this in the heart of Khan; but our fcripture faith, the fervant ofGod muſt not be contentious, but meek unto all. Wherefore I am ready without ftrifeand contention to render an account of the faith and hope of Chriftians to every onethat fhall require it." Then they wrote my words, and brought them unto him.Then the Neftorians were commanded to provide themfelves, and write what theywould ſpeak, and the Saracens likewife, and the Tuinians alfo. On the next morninghe fent the fecretaries again, faying, Mangu-Khan would know wherefore ye came tothefe parts? To whom I faid, he may know by the letters of Baatu: to this theyanfwered, Baatu's letters are loft, and he hath forgotten what Baatu hath wrote to him.Wherefore hewould know ofyou.At this fomewhat embolden, I faid, " The duty or office of our religion is to preachthe goſpel unto all. Whereupon when I heard of the fame of the people of Moal, Ihad a defire to come unto them, and while I was thus minded we heard of Sartach thathe was a Chriftian; then I directed my journey unto him, and my Sovereign Lord theKing of the Franks fent him letters containing good words, and other words befideswhich teftify of us unto him what men we are, when he made requeſt that he wouldfuffer us to remain with the people of Moal; then he fent us to Baatu, and Baatu toMangu- Khan; whereupon we intreated, and yet intreat him to fuffer us to ſtay. " Theywrote all, and made relation thereof unto him. On the morrow he fent to me again,faying, the Khan knows well enough that ye have no meffa*ge unto him, but ye came topray for him as many other pricfts do; but he demandeth whether ever any of your ambaffadorsINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 79ambaffadors were with him, or ours with you. Then I declared all unto them concerning David and friar Andrew, fo they putting all in writing, reported the fameto him.Then he fent again unto me ſaying, Our Lord Khan faith ye have ftaid long here;his pleaſure is, that ye return unto your own country, and he further demands, whetherye would conduct his ambaffadors with you? To whom I made anfwer, that I durftnot carry his ambaſſadors beyond his own country, becauſe there is a warlike nation between us and you, and the fea and mountains, and I am a poor monk, and thereforedare not take upon me to be their guide; fo they having fet down all in writing, returned and reported it to the Khan. When Whitfun-Eve came, the Neftorians wrotechronicles from the creation ofthe world to the paffion of Chrift, and paffing over thepaffion, they ſpake ofthe refurrection of the dead, and of the afcenfion, and ofthe coming ofjudgment, wherein many things were to be reprehended, which I told them; andwe likewife wrote the fymbol or creed, Credo unum Deum. Then I demanded of themhow they would proceed? They faid they would firft difpute with the Saracens; Ifhewed them this was not the proper method, for the Saracens in this agree with us,that they affirm there is but one God, and therefore you may have them to help youagainſt the Tuinians, fo they were contented. Then I aſked them, if they knew howidolatry had its first original in the world, and they could not tell? I told them, andthey faid you fhall.clear thefe things to them, and then let us fpeak, for it is hard tofpeak by an interpreter; to whom I faid, try how you can behave yourſelves againſtthem, I will take the Tuinians part, and you the Chriſtians.Suppoſe I am of that fect that fay there is no God, prove ye there is a God, for thereis a fect there which faith, that every virtue in what thing foever, is the God thereof,and that otherwife there is no God. Then the Neftorians knew not how to prove anything, but only that which their writing declareth: I faid, they believe not the fcriptures, if ye fhew one, they will thew another. Then I directed them to let me firſttalk with them, becauſe if I fhould be overcome, they might ftill have liberty offpeech; whereas if they fhould be overcome, I ſhould have no hearing: they agreedunto it.Wetherefore gathered together at our Oratory, and Mangu-Khan fent three writersto be judges, one Chriftian, one Saracen, and one Tuinian, and it was firft proclaimed," This is the commandment of Mangu- Khan, and none dare fay that the commandment of God is otherwife. He commandeth that none fpeak contentious or injuriouswords to another, or make any tumult, whereby this buſineſs may be hindered, uponpain of his head." Then all were filent, and there was a great affembly there, forevery party invited the wifeft of their nation, and many others came flocking thither.Then the Chriftians fet me in the middle of them, willing the Tuinians to fpeak withThen they began to murmur againſt Mangu-Khan, becauſe never any Khan attempted thus to fearch into their fecrets. Then they oppofed one to me, who camefrom Cathaya, having his interpreter, and I had Mafter William's fon. And he firft faid to me," Friend, if thou be brought to a nonplus, who muft feek a wifer thanyourfelf?" But I held my peace..me.Then he demanded whereof I would difpute, either How the world was made, orwhat becomes of the fouls after death? To whom I anfwered, " Friend, this fhouldnot be the beginning of our fpeech. All things are of God, and he is the fountainand head of all, and therefore we ought to fpeak firft of God, ofwhom ye think otherwife than ye ought to do, and Mangu defires to know who believes better?" Thenthe arbitrators allowed this to be reafonable, they would willingly have begun with the7. following80 TRAVELS OF WILLLIAM DE RUBRUQUISfollowing questions; becauſe they hold them for the ſtrongeſt, for they are all of theherefy of the Manichees, believing two principles, the one bad, and the other good; andconcerning fouls they all think they país from body to body, infomuch that one of thewifeft of the Neftorian prieſts demanded ofme concerning thefouls of brute beafts, whethertheycould fly to any place where they ſhould not be compelled to labour after death?For confirmation alfo thereof, as the goldfmith told me, a certain child was brought fromCathaya, who by the fize of his body appeared to be three years old, yet was capable ofany reafon, who affirmed of himſelf, that he had been three times in feveral bodies, andknew letters, and how to write.ToI ſaid to the aforefaid Tuinian, " We firmly believe with the heart, and confefs withthe mouth, that there is a God, and there is but one God, and one in perfect unity,what believe you?" He faid, fools fay there is but one God, but wife men fay thereare many. Are not there great Lords in your country, and here is a greater Lord,Mangu-Khan? fo it is of the Gods, becauſe in divers countries there are divers.whom I faid, you make a bad compariſon of men with God; for fo every mighty manin his own country may be called a God. And when I would have folved the fimilitude, he prevented me, enquiring what manner of God is yours, whereof you ſpeak,that he is but one? I anfwered, " Our God, befide whom there is no other, is omnipotent, and therefore needeth not the help of another. Nay, all we have need of hishelp, it is not ſo with men; no man can do all things, and therefore there muſt bemany Lordsin the earth, becauſe no one can ſupport all. Again, he knows all things,therefore he needs not a counſellor; nay, ail wifdomis from him; moreover he is perfectly good, and needeth not our good. Nay, in him we live, move, and have ourbeing fuch is our God, and therefore you muſt not hold that there is any other. " Itis not fo, faith he. Nay, there is one higheſt in the heavens, whoſe generation we knownotyet, andten are under him, and under them there is one inferior, and in the earth thereare infinite. Then he would have added other fables: ſo I aſked him of that higheſtGod, whether he thought him omnipotent, or of any other God? and fearing to anfwer, he demanded, if your God be fuch as you fay, why made he the half of thingsevil? It is falle, faid I, whoſo maketh any evil is no God, and all things whatſoeverare good. At this word all the Tuinians marvelled, and ſet it down in writing, as falfeand impoffible. Then he began to afk, whence therefore cometh evil? You aſk amifs,faid I; for firft you should demand what evil is before you afk whence it is. Butto returnuntothe firſt queſtion, whether do you believe that any God is omnipotent? and afterI will anſwer you to whatſoever you demand. Then he fat a long time and would notanfwer, infomuch that the writers on the behalf of the Khan were forced to commandhim to anſwer. At length he anſwered, that no God was omnipotent. Then all theSaracens broke out into a great laughter. Silence being made, I faid therefore none of.your Gods can fave you in all dangers, becauſe fuch a chance may happen wherein hehath no power. Again, no man can ferve two mafters. Howthen can you ferve fomany Lords in heaven and in earth? The auditory decreed him to anfwer, but heheld his peace.Then when I was about to alledge reaſons to prove the truth of divine effence, andthe Trinity, in every man's hearing, the Neftorians of the country faid, that it wasenough, becauſe they meant to ſpeak; fo I gave them place; and whenthey would havedifputed with the Saracens, they answered, we grant that your law is true, and whatfoever is in the gofpel is truth, wherefore we will not difpute with you in any thing, andthey confeffed, that they beg at the hands of God in their prayers, that they may diethe death of the Chriftians. There was there a certain old peace of the fect of Jugures,whoINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 81who confefs one God, yet they make idols, with whom they talked much, fhewing alltill the coming of Chrift to judgment, declaring the Trinity to him, and the Saracens byfimilitudes; all of them hearkened without any contradiction , yet none of them faid, 1believe and will become a Chriftian. The conference ended, the Neftorians and Saracens fang together with a loud voice, the Tuinians holding their peace, and after that,they all drank moſt plentifully.51. On Whitfunday, Mangu-Khan called me before him, and the Tuinian withwhom I difputed; and before I went in, Mafter William's fon, my interpreter, ſaid tome, that we muſt return to our country, and that I fhould fpeak nothing against it ,becauſe he underſtood it for a thing determined. When I came before him, I kneeled,and the Tuinian by me, with his interpreter. Then he faid unto me, " Tell me thetruth, whether you faid, when I fent my writers unto you, that I was a Tuinian?"Then I answered, " My Lord, I faid not fo; but if it pleafe Your Highneſs, I will tell youthe words I fpake;" then I recited what I had ſpoken, and he antwered, " I thoughtwell you faid not fo; for it was a word which you ſhould not fpeak, but your interpreterhath ill interpreted it." So he reached forth his ftaff towards me whereon he leaned,faying, " Fear not." I fmiling, faid foftly, " If I had feared, I had not come hither;then he demanded of the interpreter what I faid? So he repeated my words unto him:afterwards he began to confefs his faith unto me." We Moalians," ſaid he, " believe that there is but one God, through whom welive and die, and we have an upright heart towards him; "-" Then," faid I, " Godgrant you this, for without his giftit cannot be;" and he demanded what I faid, fo theinterpreter told him; then he added further, " That God who hath given to the hand divers fingers, fo he hath given many ways to men: God hath given the Scriptures toyou, and the Chriftians keep them not: ye find it not in the Scriptures, that one of youfhall difpraiſe another: do you find it?" faid he. " No," faid I; " but I fignifiedunto you from the beginning, that I would not contend with any; "-" I ſpeak it not,"faid he, " touching you. In like manner ye find it not that for money a man oughtto decline from juftice. "-" No, Sir," faid I, " and truly neither came I into theſeparts to get money, nay, I refuſed that which was given me;" and there was a ſcribeprefent there, who gave teftimony that I had refufed a jafeot, and certain pieces of filk."I fpeak it not," faid he, " for that God hath given you the Scriptures, and ye keepthem not; but he hath given us foothfayers, and we do that which they bid us, and welive in peace." He drank four times, as I think, before he difclofed theſe things; andwhile I hearkened attentively, whether he would confefs any thing elſe concerning thisfaith, he began to ſpeak of my return, faying, " You have ftaid a long time here, mypleaſure is therefore that you return: you faid, you durft not carry my ambaffadorswith you, will you carry my meffenger, or my letters?" And from that time I couldneither have place nor time to fhew him the Catholic faith; for a man cannot ſpeakbefore him fave what he pleafeth, unlefs he were an ambaffador, but an ambaffador may ſpeak what he will, and they always demand, whether he have any thing elfeto ſay.But he ſuffered me ta fpeak no more; but I must hear him, and anfwer as to interrogatories. Then I anſwered, that if he would make me underſtand his words, and that .they were fet down in writing, I would willingly carry them to my power. Then he aſkedmeif I would have gold or filver, or coftly garments? I anſwered, " We receive nofuch things; but we have not wherewith to bear our expences, and without your help,we cannot get out ofyour country." Then faid he, "“ II will will provide you you all neceffariesthroughout my country, will you have any thing more?" I answered, " It fufficethVOL. VII. M me.82 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISccme. Then he demanded, " Howfar will you be brought?" I faid, " Let our pafsbring me to the Armenian country; if I were there, it were enough. " He answered," I will caufe you to be conveyed thither, and after look to yourſelf; " and he added," there are two eyes in one head, and though they be two, yet there is one object toboth and whither the one directeth the fight the other doth. You came from Baatu,and therefore you must return by him. " When he had thus faid, I craved leave to ſpeak;Speak on," faid he; then faid I, " Sir, we are not men of war; we defire thatthey have dominion of the world, who would moft juftly govern it according to thewill of God; our office is to teach men to live according to the will of God; for thispurpoſe came we into thefe parts, and would willingly have remained here, if it hadpleafed you; but feeing it is your pleaſure that we return, it must be fo; I will return,and carry your letters according to my power, as ye have commanded. I would requeft Your Magnificence, that when I have carried your letters, it may be lawful forme to return to you, with your good liking, chiefly becauſe you have poor fervants ofyours at Balac, who are of our language, and they want a prieft to teach them and theirchildren their law, and I would willingly ftay with them. " To this he anſwered," Know you whether your Lords would fend you back to me?" I answered, " Sir,I know not the purpofe of my Lords; but I have licence from them to go whither Lwill, where it is needful to preach the word of God; and it feems to me as if it wereneceffary in thofe parts: whereupon, whether they fend ambaffadors or no, if it pleaſeyou, I will return." Then he held his peace, and fat a long ſpace, as it were in amufe; and my interpreter defired me to ſpeak no more, and I carefully expected whathe would anſwer.At length, he faid, " You have a long way to go, make yourſelf ſtrong with food,that you may come lufty into your country," and he caufed them to give me drink;then I departed from his prefence, and returned not again. If I had been endowedwith power to do wonders, as Mofes did, peradventure he had humbled himſelf.A52. The foothfayers therefore, as he confeffed, are their priests, and whatſoever theycommand to be done, is performed without delay; whofe office I fhall defcribe untoyou, as I could learn of Maſter William, and others, who reported unto me things liketo be true. They are many, and they have always one head, or chief prieft, who alwaysplaces his houſe before the great houfe of Mangu-Khan, within a ftone's caft; underhis study are the chariots which bear their idols, the others are behind the court, inplaces appointed for them, and they who have any confidence in that art, come untothem from divers parts of the world. Some of them are fkilful in aftronomy, andefpecially the chief of them, and they foretel to them the eclipfes of the fun and moon.And when they are to come to país, all the people prepare them food, fo that theyneed not go out of the door of their houfe; and when there is an eclipfe, they playupon their timbrels and organs, and make a great noife, and fet up loud fhouts. Whenthe eclipfe is paft, they give themſelves to feafting and drinking, and make great cheer.They foretel fortunate and unlucky days for all bufinefs; therefore they never levy anarmy, or undertake war, without their direction: and they had long fince returnedinto Hungary, but that their foothfayers will not fuffer them: they make all thingsthat are fent to the court pafs between fires, and have a due portion of them.They alſo purify the houfhold ſtuff of the dead, drawing them between theſe fires;for when any one dieth, all things whatſoever which appertain to him are feparated,and not mingled with other things of the court till all be purged bythe fire; fo did Ifee it done to the court of the lady who died while we were there; whereupon therewas a double reaſon why Friar Andrew and his fellows fhould go between the fires,bothINTO TARTARY AND CHINA.83both becauſe they brought prefents, and alfo for that they belonged to him who wasdead, to wit, Khon-Khan; no fuch thing was required of me, becauſe I brought nothing.Ifany living creature, or any thing elfe, fall to the ground while they thus make thempaſs between the fires, that is theirs; they alfo on the ninth day of the month of May,gather together all white mares ofthe herd and confecrate them. The Chriftian prieſtsalfo muſt come together with their cenfors; then they caft new cofmos upon the ground,and make a great feaft that day, becauſethen they think they drink cofmos firft, as it is thefaſhion in fome places with us, as for wine on the feaſt of St. Bartholomew, or Sixtus;and for fruits, on the feaft of St. James and Chriftopher.They alſo are invited when any child is born, to foretel its deftiny. They are fentfor alfo when any is fick, to uſe their charms, and they tell whether it be a naturalinfirmity, or byforcery; in regard to which that good woman of Metz I mentioned before, told me a wonderful thing. On a certain time, very coftly furs were preſented,which were laid down at the court of her lady, who was a Chriftian, as I faid before,and the foothfayers drew them through between the fires, and took more of them thanwas their due, and a certain woman under whofe cuftody the treaſure of her lady was,accuſed them thereof unto her lady, whereupon the lady herſelf reproved them. Itfell out after this, that this lady herſelf began to be fick, and to fuffer certain fuddenpains in divers parts of her body; the foothfayers were called, and they fitting far off,commanded one of thofe maidens to put her hand upon the place where the grief was,and if the found any thing, ſhe ſhould ſnatch it away; then the arifing did fo, and fhefound a piece of felt in her hand, or of fome other thing: then they commanded herto put it upon the ground, which being laid down, it began to creep, as if it had beenfome living creature; then they put it into the water, and it was turned as it were intoa horfe-leech; and they faid fome witch hath hurt you thus with her forceries, andthey accuſed her that had accufed them of the furs, who was brought without the tentsinto the fields, and received the baſtinado ſeven days together there, and was afterwards tormented with other puniſhments to make her confefs; and in the mean timeher lady died, which fhe underſtanding, faid unto them, " I know my lady is dead,kill me that I may go after her, for I never did her hurt;" and when the confeffed nothing, Mangu-Khan commanded the fhould live.Then the focerers accuſed the lady's daughter's nurſe, of whom I fpake before, whowas a Chriſtian, and her huſband was the chief among all the Neftorian prieſts; fo fhewas brought to puniſhment, with a maid of her's, to make her confefs, and the maidconfeffed, that her miftrefs fent her to fpeak with a certain horfe to demand anſwers.The woman alſo herſelf confeffed fomething ſhe did to be beloved by her lady, that ſhemight do her good, but ſhe did nothing that might hurt her. She was demanded alſowhether her huſband were privy to it; fhe excufed him, for that he had burnt the cha-,racters and letters which he had made. Then ſhe was put to death, and Mangu-Khanſent the prieſt her huſband to the Biſhop, who was in Cathaya, to be judged, althoughhe was not found culpable.In the mean time it fell out, that the principal wife of Mangu-Khan brought forth afon, and the foothfayers were called to foretel the deſtiny of the child, who all prophefiedprofperity, and faid he fhould live long, and be a great Lord. After a few days ithappened that the child died; then the mother enraged called the foothfayers, ſaying," You faid myfon fhould live, and he is dead. " Then they faid, " Madam, behold, wefee that forcerefs, the nurſe of Chrinia, who the other day was put to death, the hathkilled your fon, and behold we fee fhe carries him away." Now there remained onefon and a daughter of that woman, grown to full age, in the tents; and the lady fentM 2preſently84TRAVELSOFWILLIAMDERUBRUQUISpreſently for them in a rage, and caufed the young man to be flain by a man, and themaid by a woman, in revenge of her fon, whom the foothfayers affirmed to be killedby their mother. Not long after Mangu- Khan dreamed of theſe children, and demanded in the morning what was become of them? His fervant was afraid to tell him,and he being troubled, the more demanded where they were, becauſe they had appeared to himin a vifion bynight: then they told him; after which, he, prefently fending for his wife, demanded whence the learned that a woman fhould give fentence ofdeath, without the privity of her huſband? And he caufed her to be fhut up feven days,commanding to give her no meat; but the man ( who flew the young man) he caufedto be beheaded, and the head to be hung about the woman's neck who had killedthe maid, and ordered her to be cudgelled with burning firebrands through allthe tents, and after to be put to death; he had alfo put his wife to death, but for thechildren he had by her; and he went out of his court, and returned not till afterone moon.The forcerers alfo trouble the air with their charms; and when the cold is fo greatnaturally, that they cannot apply any remedy, then they ſearch out fome in the camp,whom they accufe that the cold comes through their means; fo they are put to deathwithout inquiry or delay. Alittle before I departed from thence, one of the concubines was fick, and languifhed long, and they mumbled their charms over a certainGerman flave of hers, who flept three days, who, when the came to herfelf, they demanded what fhe had feen, and fhe had feen many perfons, of all which fhe judged theyfhould fhortly die; and becaufe fhe faw not her miftrefs there, they judged the fhouldnot die of that ficknefs. I fawthe maid, while her head was yet aching by reafon ofthat fleep. Some of them alfo call upon devils, and gather them together (who willhave anſwers from the devil ) in the night, unto their houfe; and they put boiled fleſhin the midft; and that Knan who invoketh, beginneth to fay his charms, and havinga timbrel, fmites it ftrongly against the ground; at length he begins to rave, andcaufeth himſelf to be bound; then the devil comes in the dark and gives him fleſh toeat, and makes him anſwer. Once at fuch a time, (as Mafter William told me) a certain Hungarian hid himſelf with them, and the devil being upon the houfe, cried thathe could not come in, becauſe a certain Chriftian was with them; he hearing this, fledwith hafte, becauſe they began to fearch for him. Theſe things, and many other theydo, which are too long for me to repeat.53. After the feaft of Pentecoft, they began to prepare their letters, which they intend to fend unto Your Majefty; in the mean time, the Khan returned to Caracarum,and held a great feaft about the 15th of June, and he defired that all the ambaſſadorsfhould be prefent. The laft day he fent for us, but I went to church to baptize threechildren of a certain poor German whom we found there. Mafter William was chiefbutler at that feaſt, becauſe he made the tree which poured the drink, and all the poorand rich fung and danced, and clapped their hands before the Khan. Then he beganto make an oration unto them, faying, " I have fent my brethren far off, and have fentthem into danger, into foreign nations: now it fhall appear what you will do when Ifhall fend you, that our commonwealth may be enlarged." Every day in thofe fourdays he changed garments, which he gave them, all of one colour, every day, fromthe fhoes to the ornament ofthe head. At that time I fawthe ambaffador ofthe Khansof Bagdad who caufed himſelf to be carried upon a horfe litter between two mules, tothe court, of whom fome faid that he made peace with them, on condition thatthey fhould give him ten thouſand horfes for his army; others faid, that Mangudeclared he would not make peace with them, unleſs they would deſtroy all their am2 munition;INTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 85munition; andthe ambaffador anſwered, when you will pluck off your horfe's hoofs,we will deftroy our ammunition.I faw alfo there the ambaffadors of a Soldan of India, who brought with him eightleopards, and ten hare-hounds, taught to fit upon the horfe's buttocks, as leopards do.When I enquired of India which way it lay from that place, they fhewed me towardsthe weft, and theſe ambaffadors travelled with me almoſt three weeks together, alwaysweftward. I faw alfo the ambaffador of the Soldan of Turky, who brought him richprefents; and he anſwered, as I heard, he needed neither gold nor filver, but men,wherefore he required of him an army. On the feaft of St. John, he held a great feaft,and I caufed one hundred and five carts, and ninety horfes to be numbered, all ladenwith cow's milk; and onthe feafts ofthe apoftles St. Peter and St. Paul, in like manner.At length, the letters being diſpatched which he fent to you, they called me, and interpreted them, the fubftance whereof I wrote, as I could underſtand them by myinterpreter, which is this: " The commandment of the eternal God is this: there is butone eternal God in heaven, upon earth let there be but one Lord, Zengis- Khan, Son ofGod, and Mangu-Tingij , that is to fay, the found of iron. This is the word which isfpoken to you; whatſoever Moals we are, whatſoever Namans, whatſoever markets,whatfoever Muffulmen, wherefoever ears may hear, wherefoever horfe may go, caufeit to be heard and underſtood; that fuch as have heard my commandment, and wouldnot believe it, and would levy an army againft ús, fhall be as having eyes and not feeing;and when they would hold any thing they fhall be without hands; and when theywould walk they fhall be without feet. This is the commandment of the eternal God,by the virtue of the eternal God, by the great Monarch of the Moals, the commandment of Mangu-Khan is given to the French King, King Lodowick, and all other Lords -and Prieſts, and to the great world of the Franks, that they underſtand my words, andthe commanments of the eternal God, made to Zengis- Khan; neither but from Zengis--Khan ever came this commandment unto you. Acertain man, called David, cameunto you as an ambaffador of the Moals, he was a liar; and with him. you fent yourambaffador to Khen-Khan. After Khen-Khan was dead, your ambaffador came tohis court; Charmis, his wife, fent you cloth, called Naffick. But to know matters appertaining to war and peace, and to fettle the great world in quiet, and to fee to dogood, that wicked woman, more vile than a dog, how could the know how to do it?Thoſe two monks which came from you unto Sartach, Sartach fent them to Baatu;but Baatu, becaufe Mangu- Khan is the greateſt over the world of the Moals, fent themunto us. But now, that the great world, and the pricfts, and the monks might live inpeace and enjoy their goods, that the commandment of God might be heard amongyou, we would have fent our ambaffadors of Moal with your priefts; but they anfwered, that betwixt us and you there was a warlike nation, and many bad men andtroubleſome ways, fo as they were afraid they could not bring our ambaffadors fafe untoyou. But if we would deliver unto them our letters, containing our commandments totheir King Lodowick, they would carry them. For this caufe we fent not our ambaffadors with them; but we have fent the commandments of the eternal God by your faidprieſts. It is the commandment of the eternal God which we have given you to underftand; and when you fhall hear and believe it, if you will obey us, fend yourambaffadors unto us, fo fhall we be fatisfied whether you will have peace with us orwar. When, by the power of the eternal God, the whole world fhall be in unity, joy,and peace, from the rifing of the fun unto the going down of the fame, then fhall itappear what we will do. But if ye fhall fee and hear the commandment of the eternalGod, and will not hearken to it, or believe it, faying, Our country is far off, our hills areftrong,86 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISſtrong, our fea is great; and in this confidence fhall lead an army againſt us to knowwhat we can do; He that made that which was hard eafy, and that which was far offnear, the eternal God himſelf knows that alone." And as they called us your ambaffadors in the letters, I faid unto them, call us not ambaffadors, for I faid to the Khanthat we were not the ambaffadors ofthe King Louis: then they went unto him and toldhim; but when they returned, they faid unto me that he held it much for our good,and that he commanded them to write as I fhould direct them: then I told them theyſhould leave out the name of ambaſſadors, and call us monks and prieſts. In the meantime, while thoſe things were doing, mycompanion hearing that we muſt return by thewilderneſs to Baatu, and that a man of Moal fhould be our guide, he ran, without myknowledge, to Bulgai, the chief fcribe, fignifying to him by figns, that he ſhould die ifhe went that way; and when the day came wherein we fhould have our paſs, viz. afortnight after the feaft of St. John, when we were called to the court, the ſcribe ſaidunto my companion , Mangu's pleaſure is, that your companion return by Baatu; andyou ſay you are fick, and it appeareth fo: Mangu therefore grants, ifyou will go withyour companion, go, but let it be your own fault, becauſe it is poffible you may remainwith fome Jani that will not provide for you, and it will be a hindrance to your companion; but if you will ftay here, we will provide neceffaries for you, till fome ambaffadors come, with whom you may return more eafily, and by a way where thereare villages.The friar anfwered, God grant the Khan a profperous life; I will ſtay: then I faidto my companion, Brother, be adviſed what you do, I will not leave you. You leavenot me, faid he, but I leave you, becauſe, if I go with you, I fee the death of my bodyand foul, becaufe I have no patience under intolerable labour. Then they brought usthree garments, or coats, and faid unto us, Ye will not receive gold or filver, and yetye have ftayed long here, and prayed for the Khan; he entreats you, that, at theÍcaft, every one of you will receive a fingle garment, that ye depart not empty fromhim. Then we were forced to receive them for reverence of him, for they accountit a very evil thing when their gifts are contemned. Firft he caufed us to be aſkedwhat we would have? and we always anfwered the fame thing; fo that the Chriftiansinfulted over the idolaters, who feek nothing but gifts; and they anfwered that wewere fools, becaufe, if he would give them his whole court they would willingly takeit, and would do wifely too; receiving therefore the garments, they entreated us tomake our prayers for the Khan, which we did, and afterwards we went to Caracarum .But it happened, while we were with the monks, far from the court with otherambaffadors, that the monk caufed the table to be ftruck fo hard that Mangu-Khan heardit, and demanded what it was; they told him. Upon which he aſked why he wasremoved fo far from the court; they told him, becauſe it was troubleſome to bringhim horfes and oxen every day to the court; and faid further, that it were betterthat he ſhould ſtay at Caracarum. Then the Khan fent unto him, faying, if he wouldgo to Caracarum , and ſtay there near about the church, he would give him all thingsneceffary but the monk anfwered, I came from the holy land of Jerufalem hitherthe command of God, and left that city, wherein are a thouſand better churches thanthat of Caracarum; if he pleaſe that I ſtay here, and pray for him as God commandedme, I will ftay; if not I will return to the place from whence I came.So that everyevening oxen were brought him yoked to the carts, and in the morning he wasbrought to the place where he uſed to be before the court; and a little before we departed thence, a certain Neftorian came, who feemed to be a wife man; Bulgai, the5chiefINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. , 871chief fecretary, placed him before the court, to whom the Khan fet his children thathe fhould blefs them.54. We came therefore to Caracarum, and while we were in Mafter William thegoldfinith's houfe, myguide came to me and brought meten jafcots, five of which he leftin Mafter William's hands, commanding him to fpend them on the behalfofthe Khan,for the friar's uſe, while he remained there; he alfo left the other five in the hands ofmy interpreter, commanding him to ſpend them in the way, for my fubfiftence; forMafter William had given them fuch inftructions without our knowledge. I prefentlychanged one into fmall money, and diftributed it to the poor Chriftians which werethere, for all their eyes were fixed upon us. We fpent another in buying things neceffary for us, as garments and other things, which we wanted. With the third myinterpreter himſelf bought fome things, by which he gained fomewhat. We ſpentthe reſt, becauſe after we came into Perfia fufficient neceffaries were no where givenus, nor yet among the Tartars, amongſt whom we feldom found any thing to be.fold.Mafter William, Your Majefty's citizen and fubject, fends you a certain girdle fet:with a precious ſtone, which they uſed to wear againſt thunder and lightning, and moſthumblyfalutes you, always commendingyouto God in his prayers. We baptized therein all fix fouls. When we departed from each other, it was with tears, my companionremaining with Mafter William, and I returning with my interpreter, my guide, andone fervant, who had directions to take one mutton in four days for us four. Wecame, therefore, in two months and ten days from Caracarum to Baatu, and never fawa town, nor fo much as the appearance of any houfe, but graves, except one village,wherein we did not fo much as eat bread, nor did we ever reft in thefe two months andten days, fave one day, becauſe we could not get horſes. We returned for the moſtpart by the fame kind of people, and yet through other countries, for we went in thewinter, and returned in the fummer, and by the higher parts of the north, except thatfifteen days journey we were obliged to go and return by a certain river between themountains, where there is no lodging but by the river fide. Wewent two days; andfometimes three, without taking any other food but cofmos.. Once we were in greatdanger, not being able to find any people, our provifion failing us, and our horfestired.When I had travelled twenty days, I heardthat the King of Armenia had paffed by.In the end of Auguft I met with Sartach, who went to Mangu-Khan with flocks andherds, and with his wives and children, yet the bulk of his families remained betweenTanais and Etilia. I fent my duty to him, faying, I would willingly ftay in his country,but Mangu-Khan would have me return and carry his letters. He anfwered, that I muſtperform the will of Mangu-Khan. Then I afked Coiac for the children? He answeredthey were in the court of Baatu, carefully provided for. I alfo afked him for our cloathsand books again? He anfwered, did ye not bring them to Sartach? I faid I broughtthem unto Sartach, but I did not give them unto him, as you know; and I put him inmind what anſwer I made when he demanded whether I would give them to Sartach?Thenhe anſwered, you fay truth, and none can refift truth. I left your goods with myfather, who remaineth near Sarai, which is a new town Baatu hath made upon Etilia onthe eaſt fhore; but our prieſts have fome of the veſtments. If any thing pleaſe you,faid I, keep it, fo my books be reſtored.Then he told me he would report my words to Sartach. I muſt have letters, faid I,to yourfather, to reſtore me all. But he was ready to be gone, and faid unto me, thetrain of the ladies followeth us near at hand, ye fhall alight there, and I will fend Sartach's188 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIStach's anfwer by this man. I was very careful he ſhould not deceive me, yet I dare notcontend with him: late in the evening the man came unto me, and brought two coatswith him, which I thought had been all of filk, and he faith unto me, behold two garments, the one Sartach hath fent unto you, and the other, if fo it pleaſe you, you ſhallprefent to the King on his behalf; to whom I anfwered, I wear no fuch garments, I willpreſent them both to my King, in honour of your Lord. Then faid he, do with themwhat you pleafe; now it pleafed me to fend them both unto you, and I fend them to youby the bearer of thefe prefents. He delivered me letters alfo to the father of Coiac toreftore me all which appertained unto me, becauſe he had no need of any thing whichwas mine; fo we came to the court of Baatu, the fame day I departed thence a year before, viz. the fecond day after the exaltation of the bleffed crofs, and I found our youngmen in health, yet much afflicted with poverty, as Goffet told me; and if the King ofArmenia had not comforted them, and recommended them to Sartach, they had perifhed, for they thought I had been dead. The Tartars alfo demanded of them, if theycould keep oxen, or milk mares: for if I had not returned, they had been brought intofervitude bythofe people.After this Baatu ordered me to come to him, and made the letters which ManguKhan fends unto you to be interpreted unto me; for fo Mangu wrote unto him, that ifit pleaſed him to add any thing, or leave out, or change, he fhould do it. Then faid he,Ye fhall carry thefe letters, and caufe them to be underfood. He demanded alſo whatway I would go, whether by fea or land? I faid, the fea was froze, becauſe it was winter, and I must go by land, for I thought you had been ſtill in Syria, fo I directed myjourney towards Perfia, for if I had thought you had paffed into France, I would havegone into Hungary; for I ſhould fooner have come into France, and by a more eafy waythan through Syria; then we travelled a month with him before we could obtain aguide; at length they appointed me a certain Jugure, who underſtanding I would givehim nothing, and that I would go forthwith into Armenia, caufed letters to be made toconduct me to the Soldan of Turkey, hoping he fhould receive gifts of the Soldan, andthat he ſhould gain more that way; then we took our journey ſpeedily fifteen days before the feaſt of All Saints, towards Sarai, going directly fouthward, defcending near toEtilia, which is there divided into three arms, every one whereof is almoſt twice as big as the branch ofthe river of Nile at Damieta.-It divides afterwards into four leffer arms, fo that we paffed the river in feven placesby boats. Upon the middle branch is the village called Sumerkant, without a wall, butwhen the river overflows, it is compaffed with water. The Tartars were eight yearsabout it before they could take it, and the Alani and the Saracens were nine. Therewe found one German with his wife, a very good man, with whom Goffet ſtayed in thewinter; for Sartach fent him thither to eafe his court. About theſe parts was Baatu onthe one fide of the river and Sartach on the other about Chriſtmas, and they go no farther down; and when it happens that all the river is frozen they pafs over. Here isgreat ftore of grafs; and there among the caves, thieves hide themfelves till the icemelt. Coiac's father receiving Sartach's letters, reftored myveftments unto me, except my albs, and an almic trimmed with fine filk, a ftole, a girdle, and a tualia,adorned with golden embroidery, and a furplice. He reſtored alfo to me all the filverplate, except the cenfer, and the little box where the chriſm was, all which the prieſtwhich was with Sartach had. He returned my books, except our lady's pfalter, whichhe kept with my leave, becauſe I could not deny him; for he faid Sartach took muchdelight in it. He alfo requeſted me, that if it happen that I return unto thoſe partsagain, I would bring them a man that knewhowto make parchment, for he had builta greatINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 89a great church by the command of Sartach upon the weft fide of the river, as he faid,and a new town; yet I knew that Sartach meant no fuch matter. Sarai and the palaceof Beatu are upon the eaft fide of the river, and the valley through which the arms ofthe river are fpread abroad containeth more than feven leagues in breadth. There isgreat ftore of fish there, a bible alſo in verfe, and a certain book in the Arabian language worth thirty Sultalines, and many other things I never recovered.55. After our departure from him on the feaft of All Saints, going towards the fouthuntil the feaft of Saint Martin, we came to the mountains of the Alani, between Baatuand Sarai. In fifteen days, we found no people but one of his fons, who went beforehim with falcons and his falconers, who were many, at one little village; from the feaſtof All Saints for five days we met not with fo much as a man, and we were in greatdanger by reafon of thirft, one whole day and a night, finding no water till about threeof the clock the next day. The Alani in fome mountains yet hold out, fo that of ten ofthe fubjects of Sartach two muſt come and guard the narrow paffa*ges of the hills, leftthey come forth of the mountains, and carry away the cattle in the plain. Between theAlani and Porta Ferrea, which is two days journey from thence, where the plain of theAlani beginneth, between the Cafpian fea and the mountains, there are certain Saracens,called Lefgi, inhabiting the mountains, who likewife are free; fo that thoſe Tartars who dwell at the foot of the mountains of the Alani were obliged to give us twenty men tobring us beyond the Iron Gate, or Porta Ferrea; and I was glad, becauſe I hoped tofee them armed, for I could never fee their armour, though I had been very defirousof feeing it; and when we came to this dangerous paffa*ge, of the whole twenty therewere but two who had harbergions, and I demanded of whom they had them? Theyfaid they had them ofthe Alani, who were able workmen in fuch things, and excellentfmiths. I think they have ſmall ſtore of armour, but quivers and bows, and leatherjackets; I faw them prefented with iron plates, and iron fkull-caps out of Perfia, andfawtwo alfo who prefented themſelves to Mangu, armed with coats made of hogs' (kins,bent inward, of rough leather, which were very clumfy and unweildy.Before we came to Porta Ferrea, we found one caftle of the Alans, which was Mangu-Khan's, for he had fubdued that country. There we first found vineyards anddrunk wine; the day following we came to Porta Ferrea, or the Iron Gate, which Alex-- ander the Macedonian King made, and it is a city whoſe eaſt end is upon the fea fhore;and there is a little plain between the fea and the mountains, through which the cityextends in length to the top of the mountain, which bordereth upon it on the weſt, fothat there is no way above for the ruggedneſs of the mountains, nor below for the fea,but immediately through the midſt of the city, where there is an iron gate, from whencethe city hath its name. This city is more than a mile long, and on the top of a hill is aftrong caftle; and it is as much in breadth as a ſtone's caft. It hath very ſtrong walls,without trenches and turrets, of large poliſhed ftones. But the Tartars have deſtroyed the tops of the turrets and the bulwarks of the walls, laying the turrets even with thewall. Below that city, the country was formerly like a paradife. Two days journeyfrom hence wefound another city called Samaron, wherein there were many Jews, andwhen we paffed it, we faw walls defcending from the mountains to the fea; and leavingthe way by the fea by thofe walls, becauſe it turns towards the eaft, we went up intothehigh countries towards the fouth.The next day we paffed through a certain valley, wherein the foundations of wallsappearedfrom one mountain to another, and there was no way through the tops ofthemountains. Theſe were in times paft the inclofures, or walls erected by Alexander forreſtraining the fierce nations, the fhepherds of the wilderneſs, that they could not invade VOL. VII.N the90 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISare.the inhabited countries and cities . There are alfo other walls and inclofures where JewsThe next day we came to a certain great city called Samach, and after this weentered into a great plain called Moan, through which the river Cur or Cyrus runs,from which the Curgi or Curdi have their names, whom we call Georgians; and itrunneth through the middle of Tefflis, which is the metropolis of the Čurgines, andcomes directly from the weft, running to the east into the Cafpian fea, and in it are excellent falmon. In that plain we found Tartars again. Alfo by that plain runs theriver Araxes, which cometh from the Greater Armenia, from betwixt the fouth andweft, from which it is called the land of Ararat. Whereupon in the book of the Kingsit is faid of the fons of Senacherib, that having flain their father, they fled into theland of the Armenians. And in Ifaiah it is faid that they fled into the land ofArarat. To the welt then of that moſt beautiful plain is Curgia. In that plain theCrofinini were fettled formerly. And there is a great city in the entrance of the mountains called Ganges, which was their metropolis, ſtopping the Georgians that they couldnot come down into the plain. Then we came to the bridge ofboats, which was faftenedtogether with a great iron chain , flretched forth crofs the river, wherein Cur and theAraxes met together, but the Cur lofeth its name there.56. We proceeded thence, till travelling up the Araxes, of which it is faid, Pontemindignatus Araxes, Araxes difdains a bridge, leaving Perfia and the Caſpian mountainson the left hand towards the fouth, having on the right hand Curgia and the Great Sea.towards the weft; going all the way fouthward, we paffed through the meadows of Bacchu, who is General of that army which is there within the river Araxes; he has likewife made the Curgi, and Turks, and Perfians, fubject to him. There is likewiſe another governor in Perfia, at Tauris, over the tribute called Argon, both which Mangu-Khanhath called home to give place to his brother, who is going into thofe countries. Thecountry which I have defcribed to you is not properly Perfia, but was fometimes calledHyrcania. I was in Bacchu's houfe, and he gave us wine to drink, and he himſelf drankcolinos, which I would willingly have drank if he had given it me; yet it was the beſtnew wine, but cofmos is more wholefome for a half-ftarved man as I was. Wewent uptherefore by the river Araxes from the eve of St. Clement until the fecond Sunday inLent, till we came to the head of the river, and beyond the mountains where it rifeth,there is a good city called Arforum, which belongs to the Soldan of Turkey, and nearthereabouts Euphrates rifes towards the north, at the foot of the mountains of Curgia, towhofefpringI had gone, but thefnow was fo great that no man could go out of the common.path, andon theother fide ofthe mountains of Caucafus towards the fouth rifeththeTigris.When we departed from Bacchu, my guide went to Tauris to fpeak with Argon, carrying my interpreter with him; but Bacchu caufed me to be brought to a certain citycalled Naxuam, which heretofore was the head or capital of a great kingdom, and thegreateſt and faireſt city in thoſe parts, but the Tartars have made it a wilderneſs; andthere were anciently eight hundred churches of the Armenians there; now there arebut two little ones, for the Saracens have deftroyed them; in one of which I held thefeaſt of Chriſtmas as I could with our clerk, and the next day following the prieſt ofthe church died, to whofe burial came a certain biſhop with twelve monks from the highcountries; for all the bishops of the Armenians are monks, and ofthe Greeks likewifefor the moſt part. The bifhop told me that there was a church near this place whereSt. Bartholomew, and likewife St. Judas Thaddeus were martyred, but there was noway open for fnow. He told me alfo that they had two prophets, the firſt or chiefMethodius the martyr, who was of their country, and plainly prophefied of the Ifmaelites, which prophecy is fulfilled in the Saracens. The other prophet is called Acacron,I who,INTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 91who, when he died, prophefied of a nation of archers that fhould come from the north,faying, " That they fhould conquer all the countries of the eaft, and fhould fpare thekingdoms of the eaft, to affift them in obtaining the kingdoms of the weft; and theyfhall poffefs the countries from the north to the fouth, and fhall cometo Conftantinople,and fhall take the gate of Conftantinople, and one of them who fhall be called a wifeman, fhall enter the city, and feeing the churches and rites of the Franks, fhall caufehimſelf to be baptized, and fhall counſel the Franks how they may kill the Emperor ofthe Tartars, and there they fhall be confounded. Hearing this, the Franks which fhallbe in the middle of the land, viz . at Jerufalem, fhall fet uponthe Tartars who fhall border upon them, and with the help of our nation, that is, the Armenians, fhall purfuethem; fo that the French King fhall place his royal throne at Taurinum in Perfia, andthen all the eaſt countries and all the unbelieving nations fhall be converted to the faithof Chrift; and there fhall be fo great peace in the world, that the living fhall fay to thedead, Woe be unto you wretches! that lived not until thefe times." And I read thisprophecy brought to Conftantinopleby the Armenians which remain there, but I madelight of it. Yet when I fpake with the Biſhop, calling it to mind, I regarded it fomewhat the more. But throughout all Armenia they as firmly believe this prophecy asthey dothe Gofpel.He ſaid to us alfo, even as the fouls in Limbo expect the coming of Chrift for theirdelivery, fo do we look for your coming, that we may be freed from this flavery whereinwe have fo long lived. Near the city Naxuam there are mountains on which they faythe ark of Noah refted; and there are two, one greater than the other, and Araxesrunning at the foot of them; and there is a little town there called Comanium, whichis in their language Eight; for they fay it was fo called of the eight perfons which cameforth ofthe ark and built it. Many have attempted to climb the great hills, and couldnot; and the Biſhop told me that a certain monk being very much troubled thereat, anangel appeared to him and brought him a piece of the wood ofthe ark, bidding him totrouble himſelf no more. That piece of wood they had in their church as he told me,neither is the hill fo high in appearance but the men might well get up it. A certainold man gave me however this worthy reaſon why no one fhould climb it. They callthat mountain Maffis; and as this word is of the feminine gender in their tongue, noman, faid he, muft climb up Maffis, becauſe it is the mother of the world.tryIn the city ofNaxuam, Friar Barnard, a Catalan, of the order of the preaching friars,found me, who lives in Georgia, with a certain friar of the fepulchre, who poffeffethgreat lands there, and he had learned fomewhat of the Tartar language; he formerlywent with a certain Hungarian friar, who returned with me to Tefflis, with one fervant;but Friar Barnard remained at Tauris with a certain lay friar, whofe language he underſtood not. We went out of the city of Naxuam, about the Epiphany, for we hadſtayed long there, by reafon of the fnow; we came therefore in four days to the counof Sabenfa, a Curdiſh Prince, heretofore mighty, but now tributary to the Tartars,who deſtroyed all his ammunition, whoſe father Zacharias poffeffed himſelf ofthe countryof the Armenians, having delivered them from the hands of the Saracens; and thereare many fair villages of true Chriftians, having churches like the Franks; and everyArmenian hath in his houfe, in an honourable place, a wooden hand, holding a crofs,and fets a burning lamp before it; and that which we do with holy water, fprinkling itto drive away wicked fpirits, they do with frankincenfe; for every evening they burnfrankincenfe, carrying it through all the corners of the houſe, to rid them of all kinds ofenemies. I eat with Sabenfa, and he did me great reverence, both he and his wife, andhis fon Zachary, a very comely and wife young man, who demanded of me, whether ifN 2he92 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIShe ſhould come to you, you would entertain him; for he is fo uneafy under the dominion of the Tartars, that though he hath a plenty of all things, he had rather travel®into a ſtrange country, than endure their violent exactions. They faid further, thatthey were true fons of the church of Rome, and if the pope would fend them any aid,they would bring all the bordering nations unto the fubjection of the church of Rome.From that town of his, in fifteen days, we entered the country of the Soldan ofTurkey, on the first Sunday in Lent: and the firft caftle we found is called Marfeugen; all in the caſtle were Chriftians, Armenians, Curgines, and Greeks: the Saracens only have the dominion. There the captain of the caſtle faid, he had receivedcommandment, that no victuals could be given to any Franks, or to the ambaſſador ofthe King of Armenia, or of Veftacius; fo that from the place where we were the firftSunday in Lent, quite to Cyprus, whither I came, eight days before the feaft of St.John the Baptift, we were forced to buy our own provifion. He who was my guideprocured me horſes, and took money for the victuals, and put it in his purfe. Whenhe came into the fields, feeing a flock, away he went, and without more to do, took.one ſheep, and gave it to his family to eat, and wondered I would not take part of hisrobbery. In the purification, I was in a certain city called Ayni, which was Sabenfa'swhofe fituation is ftrong; and there are an hundred Armenian churches, and twomofques, of the Saracens: the Tartars place an officer there.At this place five preaching friars met me, whereof four came fromProvence in France,and the fifth joined himſelf to them in Syria, they had but one fick boy who couldfpeak the Turkish language and a little French, and they had the pope's letter to Sartach,and to Mangu-Khan, and to Buri, fuch as Your Highneſs gave me letters of requeft,that they would fuffer them to continue in their country, and preach the word of God,&c. But when I told them what I had feen, and how they fent me back again, theydirected their journey to Tefflis, where there are friars of their order, to confult whatthey ſhould do; I anſwered them, they might well pafs by thoſe letters if they would; butthey fhould be well affured, to endure much labour, and render an account of their coming; for feeing they had no other meffa*ge but the office of preaching, they would.care but little for them, and chiefly becauſe they had no interpreter; what they didafter, I know not, and cannot therefore report.58. Onthe fecond Sunday in Lent we came to the head of Araxes, and paffing beyond the top of the mountain, we came to Euphrates, by which we defcended eightdays going to the weft a certain caftle called Camath; where Euphrates bends to thefouth towards Halapia. But we paffing the river went through very high mountainouscountries, and through the deepeft fnowto the weft. There was fo great an earthquakethere that year, that in one city called Arfengan, ten thoufand perfons, according totheir regiſter, perifhed , befide poor men ofwhom there was no notice taken. Ridingthree days together, we faw the gaping of the earth, as it was cleft by the earthquake,and the heaps of earth that came from the mountains, and filled the vallies, fo that ifbut a little more of the earth had been moved, that which Iſaiah ſpeaketh had been literally fulfilled, " Every valley fhall be filled, and every mountain and little hill ſhall behumbled." We paffed throughthe valley where the Soldan of Turkey was vanquishedbythe Tartars. It were too long to write how he was overcome; but a fervant of myguide's who was with the Tartars faid, that the Tartars were not above ten thouſand inthe whole; and a certain Curd of the Soldan's faid that there were two hundred thoufand with the Soldans all horſe-men. In that plain where the battle was, there brokeout a great lake at the time of the earthquake; and it came into my mind, that all theearth opened her mouth to receive yet more blood of the Saracens. We were in Se--10 baftaINTO TARTARY AND CHINA: 93Baſta a town of the Leffer Armenia in Eafter week; here we visited the tombs of fortymartyrs; there the church of St. Blafe ftandeth, but I cold not go thither, becauſe itwas above in the castle.On the fucceeding Sunday we came to Cæfaria of Cappadocia, where there is achurch of St. Bafil the Great. About fifteen days after, we came to Iconium, makingfmall journies, and refting in many places, becauſe we could not readily procure horfes,and my guide did this on purpoſe, taking upon him to folicit his own buſineſs threedays in every town, at which I was much diffatisfied, but durft not ſpeak becauſe hemight have fold or flain me and our fervants, and there was none to hinder it. Ifound many Franks at Inconium, and a certain merchant called Nicholas de SanctoSyrio, who with a companion of his, a Venetian, called Boniface de Molandino, carriedall the allum out of Turkey, fo that the Soldan could not fell any but to thoſe two;and they made it ſo dear, that what was worth but fifteen Bizantines, is now fold forforty. My guide prefented me to Soldan; the Soldan faid he would willingly caufeme to be conveyed to the fea of Armenia, or Cicilia, though the above-mentionedmerchant knowing that the Saracens made little account of me and that I was much burthened with the company of my guide, caufed me to be conveyed to Curuma, a portbelonging to the King of Armenia. I came thither before the Afcenfion, and ſtayedtill the day after Pentecoft; then I heard that ambaſſadors came from the King to hisfather; then I went fpeedily tothe King's father to demand whether he had heard anynews from his fon, and I found him fet with all his fons, one excepted, called BarumUfin, who refided in a certain caſtle, and he received news from his fon that he wasreturned, and that Mangu- Khan had much eafed his tribute, and had given him a privilege that no ambaffador ſhould come into his country; whereupon the old man himſelf,with all his fons, made a banquet, and he cauſed me to be conveyed to the fea, to thehaven called Aijax; and thence I paffed over into Cyprus; and at Nicofia I found ourprovincial, who the fame day carried me with him to Antiocha, which is in a very weakftate. We were there on the feaft of St. Peter and Paul, and from thence wecameto Tripolis, where our chapter was held on the affumption of the bleſſed Virgin.59. Our provincial being determined that I fhould have my refidence in our convent at Acon, would not fuffer me to come to you; but commanding me to write untoyou what I would by the bearer of theſe prefents; and not daring to reſiſt contraryobedience, I did, according to my power and underſtanding, craving pardon ofyour clemency for my fuperfluities or wants, or for any thing that fhall be indifcreetlyor foolishly fpoken, as for a man of little underſtanding, not accuſtomed to write longhiftories. The peace of God which paffeth all underftanding preferve your heart andfortify your mind. I would willingly fee Your Highnefs, and certain fpiritual friends,which I have in your kingdom. Wherefore if it fhould not be contrary to Your Majefty's liking, I would befeech you to write to our Provincial, that he would let mecome unto you and return fhortly again into the Holy Land. Concerning Turkey, YourMajefty fhall understand, that the tenth man there is not a Mohammedan, nay, they are all Armenians and Greeks, and children rule over them; for the Soldan, who wasconquered by the Tartars, had a lawful wife of Iberia, by whom he had one feeble fon,concerning whom he charged that he ſhould be the Soldan. He had another of aGreek concubine, whom he committed to a certain great admiral. The third he hadbya Turk, to whom many Turks and Turcomans being gathered together, they pro-..pofed to have flain all the fons of the Chriftians. They had determined alfo , as I underftood, that after they had got the victory, they would deſtroy all the churches, andkill as many as would not become Mohammedans; but he was overcomein battle, andto mymany94 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUISmany of his men flain. He recruited his army however, a fecond time, and then wastaken, and is ſtill in prifon. Pacefter the fon of the Greek concubine, procured foonafter that he might be Soldan, becauſe the other was weak whom they fent to the Tartars; whereupon his kindred on the mother's fide, fuch as the Iberians and the Curds,were angry; fo that, at prefent, a child ruleth in Turkey, having no treaſure, fewfoldiers, and many enemies. The fon of Veftacius is weak, and at war with the fonof Affau, who likewife was a child, and worn out with the fervitude of the Tartars.If therefore an army of the church fhould come to the Holy Land, it were a very eaſything to fubdue all theſe countries, or to pafs through them.The King of Hungary hath not above thirty thouſand foldiers. From Cologna toConftantinople, are not above threefcore days journey by waggons; from Conftantinople are not fo many days journeyto the country of the King of Armenia. In oldtime, valiant men paffed through thofe countries and profpered; yet they had moſt valiant opponents, whom God hath now deftroyed out of the earth, and we need not bein danger of the fea, or the mercy of failors; and the price which we ſhould give forfreight were fufficient for expences by land . I ſpeak it confidently, if our countrymenwould go as the Kings of the Tartars go, and be contented with fuch victuals, theymight win the whole world. It feemeth not expedient, as I think, that any friar ſhouldgo to the Tartars any more, as I did, or as the preaching friars do; but if our lordthe pope would fend a bishop in an honourable manner and anſwer their follies, aboutwhich they have thrice writ to the Franks, once to Pope Innocent the Fourth, of facredmemory, and twice to Your Majefty, once by David, who deceived you, and now byme, he might ſpeak unto them what he would, and alſo cauſe them to put theſe thingsin writing, for they hear whatſoever an ambaſſador will ſpeak, and always demand ifhe will fay any more; but he must have a good interpreter; nay, many interpreters,and be at large expences.60. Such is the relation of the monk Rubruquis, who had the beſt opportunity thatany man had to that time, of looking into the affairs of the Tartars, of examiningtheir force, of enquiring into the form of their government, and making himſelf perfectly acquainted with their manners and cuftoms, of which he has given fo large, focurious, and fo accurate an account. Before we proceed to our remarks thereon, itmay not be amiſs to clear up a few difficulties that occur in this relation, and which, forwant of being clearly refolved, may occafion fome doubts in the mind of our inquifitive reader; and this is the more neceffary, becauſe hitherto nothing of this kind hasbeen done, at leaſt in our language; but the relation has been left naked and unfupported to the cenfure of the perufer, without the leaſt notice taken of thoſe facts thatmuft neceffarily embarraſs him, and in a great meaſure affect the credit of the author.I am very fenfible, that many of my readers may be of opinion, that I might ſparemyſelf fome part of the trouble I take in illuftrating thofe old writers; but I beg leaveto obferve once for all, that it is not either for their intereft or mine, that I fhould dofo. If I had not been thoroughly fatisfied that theſe travels were the beſt in their kind,I ſhould not have inferted them: but with refpect to the world, this is not enough;for though I have it in my power to give them what ſeems to be moft proper for fucha collection, yet I owe it to them, and to myfelf, to make it as evident as it is poffible,that I diſcharge this truft as I ought, and that I give them nothing which is not truly worthy of their perufal; and this can no otherwiſe be done, than by obviating every difficulty that may poffibly incline them to differ from me in fentiment, and therefore Ihope this will juftify me in the pains I am ſtill to take with regard to this author, who,as he was a writer of great candour and fincerity, fo he has mentioned many particulars,INTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 95lars, which, though they were well known in his time, and more eſpecially to thePrince, to whom this work was addreffed, yet are fo imperfectly known to us, thatwithout a ſtrict ſearch into the hiftories of thofe times, it is not eafy to conceive, howthey can be reconciled to the reft of his narration .We will ſtate thefe plainly, and then the truth of my obfervation will be manifeft.In the firſt place, it feems extraordinary that the King of France fhould be ſo muchdeceived with respect to the embafly that was fent him from the Tartars, which occafioned the whole of this tranfaction; but with refpect to this, it appears clearly fromthe hiftorians that have written the reign of St. Louis, that thefe ambaffadors camefrom a Tartar prince called Ercalthay, and brought with them letters which are ſtillextant, and which poſitively affert, that it was the defign of the Khan to co-operatewith the Chriftians in order to reduce the power of the Mohammedans. At the headof this embaffy was one David, who is named in the letters as one to whom the King ofFrance might give entire credit, to which His Majefty might be more inclined, becauſehe had in his company Friar Andrew de Lontumal, whom the pope had formerly fentinto Tartary, and who affured the King, that he had known David in a poft of diftinction. This ambaffador it was, that pofitively afferted, that the Khan was become aChriſtian, and that there was no difficulty in procuring a clofe alliance between him andthe Chriſtians. Upon this the King firft fent Friar Andrew with a confiderable numberof perfons in his train, back with the Tartar ambaffadors, in the beginning of theyear 1250 , but as to the fuccefs of this negociation, we have no account. There isanother thing a little dark in our author's account, and that is with refpect to his character , for though it appears plainly, that he was fent by the King his mafter withletters to Sartach, yet he frequently tells us, that he did not affect to be thought anambaffador, but defired rather to be confidered as a monk, who vifited Tartary fromhis zeal for the Chriftian Religion.His reafon for acting thus, was to preferve the honour of the King, from fufferingthrough any ill treatment that he might meet with, to which he was induced by manyreafons, but particularly by theſe two. In the first place, he was perfectly fatisfied,that what had been reported as to the converfion of Sartach was falſe; and next becauſe he was aware the Tartars were informed, that the King his mafter had been beatin Egypt, and taken prifoner there by the infidels; whence he concluded, that he fhouldnot meet with a very good reception. He therefore takes great care to inform theKing that whatever ufa*ge he received, could reflect no difhonour upon His Majefty,becauſe of the precaution he had taken to affume no higher character than that of amonk, who came to preach the Chriſtian religion to the Tartars. But the readers mayvery probably wonder why the Tartar prince Ercalthay, fhould take fuch a ſtep as thisin order to miſlead fo great a monarch, and yet, if he adverts to the account our author has given of the genius and difpofitions of the Tartars, he will eafily perceive,that this was a ftroke of their policy, and no very bad one. They had a mind to beperfectly acquainted with the defign of the Franks, their forces, and the manner inwhich they intended to carry on the war againſt the Saracens; nor could they fall upona way more proper than this for accomplishing their ends. The character afforded, byour author of the Tartars, is juftified by all writers, both antient and modern; fortheir policy with refpect to foreign countries confifts entirely in cunning and 'fubtilty;for not having the advantages that other nations have offree commerce and conftant intercourfe with the inhabitants of diftant countries, they fupply themſelves with intelligence by fuch artifices as thefe. Some petty Tartar prince takes upon him to fendminiſters to foreign courts, whoſe buſinefs it is, under colour of a negotiation, to getthe96.TRAVELSOF WILLIAMDE RUBRUQUISthe beft accounts they can of the regions in which they refide, in order to ferve theircountrymen whenever occafion offers as harbingers or guides; and as they dependon thefe arts in time of peace, fo they place all their confidence in war in the quicknefs of their motion, and in that rapidity with which they over-run even great countries, befor the inhabitants have time to take proper meafures for their defence.It was for thefe reafons, and to fave the honour of the King his mafter, that ourauthor denied that any ambaffadors had been fent to Mangu-Khan, for he confideredFriar Andrew as fent onlyto the Prince, who wrote to the King his mafter, and not tothe great Khan, of whom it does not appear that the French had any juft ideas, tillthey were derived to them by this relation. We may add to all this, that our authorwas fomething diffident as to the character which David affumed, by his giving us tounderſtand, that in thofe days there were a certain bad fort of people, who in theferemote parts of the world, made a practice of giving themfelves out for the miniſtersof Princes they fcarce knew, and made a livelihood by fuch ftrange exploits. Helikewiſe ſeems to be fully fatisfied that the eastern Chriſtians in general were men ofgreat vivacity, and fo fertile in their imaginations, that every thing they faw or heardappeared to them in the light of a wonder, and as fuch they reported it wherever theycame, to ferve their own purpoſes.Upon theſe principles he grounds the political part of his work, in which he ſeemsto labour with all his force to eſtabliſh theſe two maxims. The firft, that it was noteither fafe or honourable to aim at making alliances with the Tartars, who were in hisfentiments a fierce intractable fort of people, very proud of their extraordinary fucceffesand whounderſtood all applications made to them as proceeding from fear. The ſecond,that their power was nothing near fo great as it had been reprefented, fo that there wasfar lefs danger like to accrue from the regarding them as enemies, than from treatingwith them as friends, into which notion he was led by obferving, that their difciplinewas not exact, that they were utterly unacquainted with the regular art of war, and noway capable of carrying it on againft fuch as ftood upon their guard, and were preparedto meet them in the field with well difciplined armies. That which feems to be the leaſtdefenceable part of his work, is his ftrong attachment to the pope, and his high notions of his power, both of which, however, are in fome meaſure excufable, confidering the age in which he lived, and the conduct of the popes in thofe times, who tookupon them to excommunicate and depofe the greateſt princes in Chriſtendom, as thecafe then was with the Emperor, or to fend them into the moſt diſtant parts of theworld, under pretences of religion, as appears from the expeditions undertaken byhis mafter King Louis, which were as unfortunate in their event, as ill founded in theirprinciples.But it is now time to add a few obfervations with refpect to the uſefulneſs of thiswork, as it ftands in this collection, and to fhew how far the travels of Rubruquiscontributed to make the weſtern parts of the world acquainted with the paffa*ges intothe eaft, as well as with what was doing there, and the force of the feveral monarchsthat were in poffeffion of thoſe countries at the time he vifited them.61. The travels of Rubruquis are equally aſtoniſhing in whatever light they are confidered. Take them with refpect to length, and they extend to upwards offive thoufand miles one way, and to near fix thoufand another. I mean from Conftantinoplein his going out, and to Acon or Ptolemais in his return, which is fuch a ſpace ofground as it will not be eafy to find any man that has traverfed, and left us fo diftin&tan account of what he has feen. But if travels are not fo confiderable from theirlength as from the nature ofthe countries that are travelled through, then here againisINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 97is a new proof of the value of this performance, fince it is certain no European, except John Carpin, ever travelled ſo far before, neither have we any accounts of travelsofthe fame kind fince, that only excepted, which follows in the next fection , and fromwhich we have received here in Europe the firft certain accounts of China, and thefirft notice we had of there being in the world fuch a country as Japan. We fhall apprehend this matter better, if we take a fhort view of the countries through which ourmonk paffed, by the names they are known to us at prefent. It is plain, that fromConftantinople he failed crofs the Black fea to the port of Caffa; from thence he travelled by land all the reft of the way, this is to fay, firft through Crim Tartary, thencroffing the great rivers Tanais and Volga, he came in the country of Bolgar, and tothe camp of Baatu, thence through the vaft country of the Calmukes, and fo northeastward to the court of Mangu-Khan, which according to his defcription, muſt havelain in the latitude of fifty degrees north, or fomewhat more, and confiderably higherthan what is now called the Chineſe Tartary. In his return he paffed through all thevaft defarts of Great Tartary, through the country of the Moguls, and fo by the headofthe Cafpian fea, and then along the weft fide of it through the countries of Georgia,Armenia, Curdiſtan, Diarbeck, and fo into Syria; all which countries then were, andmost of them are ftill, in the hands of the Tartars, of whom he has given us fuch anaccount as is not only very confiftent with itſelf, and carries therein the ſtrongeſt marksofveracity, but is very agreeable alfo to the beft accounts we have fince received ofthofecountries.As our author was not acquainted with the language of the Tartars, and did notremain long enough amongst them to acquire it in that degree of perfection which wasneceffary to read and to underſtand their hiftories, we need not at all wonder at fomeſmall errors that have eſcaped him in points of no great confequence. As for inſtance,in what he tells us of Zingis-Khan, whom he makes a farrier, as other writers have donea blackſmith. I fhall not trouble the reader with remarks of the right ſpelling of thisword Zingis, which I have already given them as it ought to be fpelt, and have finceconformed to our author's manner of writing it, that the reader might find lefs difficulty in comparing this with other books of the fame kind. I fay, I fhall not infiſt onfuch trifles, but ſhall content myſelf with obferving, that Zingis, however fpelt, is anadjective, and fignifies properly the glittering or thining of fteel; whence fprung thenotion, that this Prince was originally of fome trade in which iron or fteel was employed, becaufe all the Tartars reprefented him as a man who from low beginningshad raiſed himſelf to univerfal empire, and afperfed him at the fame time, from theconfideration of his having deprived them of their freedom and independency; butamong the Tartars themſelves, this appellation was taken in an honorable fenfe, Zingisfignifying with them illuftrious, and Zingis- Khan fignifies literally the moft illuftrious monarch.As to the religion ofthis Prince, it was undoubtedly that of his country, concerningwhich we have a great deal in Rubruquis agreeable to what he faw or heard, but notfo clearly expreffed, as that we fhould be able to fay preciſely what is the faith oftheTartars. Our author is certainly in the wrong as to Prefbyter John, of whom ſuch anoife has been made in the world, and about whom fo little can fill be faid with anycertainty. What led him into the miſtake was this; Tujan was the Khan of the Naymans, defeated and killed by Zingis- Khan, and it was from the likenefs of his name toJohn, that our author took it for granted he was that John the prieſt fo well known tothe world. But after all, the Prefbyter John is ftill in being, and is no other than theGrand Lama, or fupreme pontiff of the Tartars, who refides, as we have before obVOL. VII. 0 ferved,98TRAVELSOF WILLIAMDE RUBRUQUISferved, in the kingdom of Tangut, and is, in the opinion of the whole Tartar nation ,immortal. The truth of the matter is , that he is an ecclefiaflical Prince, whofe fameand credit is very extenfive, though his power be very reſtrained . He refides in a monafteryfurrounded by his monks, who, whenever he dies, fupply his place from amongthemfeves, and keep this fecret fo religiouſly, that all the Tartars are as firmly perfuadedthat their Grand Lama lives for ever, as that the fun always fhines. This ferves to explain another circumflance, that at first fight might feem very idle and ridiculous tothe reader, I mean the queftion put to Rubruquis, whether the Pope was not four orfive hundred years old. It is very plain from hence, that they confidered the Pope asthe Grand Lama of the Weft, and having heard the Romish priests infift much on theperpetuity of the church, they referred all this to the perfon of the Pope, and ſuppoſedthis fpiritual monarch to be immortal like their own.If I durft avow my own fentiments plainly, I fhould fay, that there is no better evidence of the idolatry of the Tartars than of the Papifts; and this without intendingany high reflection on the members of the Romifh church; for both have images oridols, both feem to worship them, and yet both, when charged with it, abfolutely denythe fact. Our author plainly owns, that Mangu-Khan told him exprefsly he worfhipped but one God, and that the Tartar priefts, whom he charges very freely withidolatry, difowned it themfelves, and affirmed that they reverence their images only,.and did not worship them. But after all, it plainly appears, that they kept the fecretof their religion fo well, that our author never fo much as heard of the Grand Lama,.and confequently could know nothing at all of the grounds of their religion, which, todeal plainly with the reader, remains full as great a myſtery to this day.It is a point that the Tartars will never be brought to explain in any manner whatever; and after all the pains that I have been able to take in order to obtain ſome fortof certainty on this head, I am able to fay no more of it than this, that what doctrinesthe lamas or prieſts teach publicly, are reftrained to theſe three points: 1. That thereis one God the fountain of being, the Creator of all things , the Ruler of all things, andthe fole object of Divine worship. 2. That all men in general are his creatures, andtherefore ought to confider each other as brethren defcended from one common parent,,and alike entitled to all the bleflings he beftows, and that therefore it is great impietyto abufe thofe bleffings, or to injure each other. 3. That inafmuch as the commonreafon of mankind hath taught them to eftablish property, it is neceflary that it ſhouldbe preferved, and that it is therefore the duty of every man to be content with his own,and to be just to his neighbours. This religion thefe priefts not only teach, but practife with irreproachable exactnefs; and therefore Rubruquis very fairly owns, thatthe regularity of their manners hindered the progrefs of the Chriftian religion, notbecause the doctrines of the latter were at all inferior in fanctity to thofe ofthe former,but becauſe in point ofpurity of manners the Neftorians and other Chriftians were very.deficient.After fetting this fubje&t in the beft light we are able, the reader will not find it atall difficult to apprehend a thing that extremely puzzled, not only our author, but allwho have wrote of the affairs of the Tartars, and it is this; that they are abfolutely indifferent as to other religions, entertaining all with equal refpect, whether Chriftians ,Mohammedans, or Jews, which proceeds from their finding the fundamental principles of their own religion taught bythem all, and practifed by none that come amongſtthem better than by themſelves, or by their pricfts .Wefind in Rubruquis fome mention made ofa nation called Alhafifin, of whom it willbe requifite to give the reader fome account; they are the fame that are mentioned byourINTO TARTARY AND CHINA. 99our ancient hiftorians, under the feveral names of Haffeffins, Affeffins, Affaflins, Affanites, and Chafians, and were in truth as odd a fort of people as ever exifted. Theypoffeffed a tract of country which contained twelve caftles and villages in the neighbourhood of Tyre, were a mixed race of men, and for a long time made no profeffion ofany religion, but practifed a looſe kind of Mohammediſm , and were tributaries, firſtto the Knights Templars, and then to the Chriftian Earls of Tripoly. In the eleventhcentury they would have declared themfelves Chriftians, if they might have been releafed from that tribute; but this was refufed, and they grew thenceforward the moſtbitter enemies the Chriftians had.Theſe people were governed by a Prince flyled by our old hiftorians, the old Manof the Mountain, who finding himſelf furrounded by ftates much more powerful thanhis own, deviſed a new and ftrange way of making himfelf equally dreadful to hisneighbours and to ftrangers. He gave out, that he only was thetrue vicar of Mohammed, and that he had the keys of Paradife in his hands; to fupport which notion , hecaufed a fine garden to be laid out in a valley near his palace, adorned in every reſpect,To as to reſemble the Paradiſe of that prophet; he likewife provided a fort of opiate,and whenever he faw a young man of a daring and refolute temper, he fent for him,and promiſed him the perpetual enjoyment of all fenfual delights, if he would executeboldly whatever he commanded; and by way of earneft, having given him the opiateto drink, cauſed him to be carried while afleep into his garden, where, when he awoke,he found every thing he could wish for, and many beautiful women to attend him;when he had remained there a certain time, theopiate was again adminiſtered, and hewas conveyed back, when aſleep, to the palace, where the Old Man of the Mountainpromiſed him, that provided he fulfilled all his commands during life, he ſhould dwellafter death perpetually in that garden.By this artifice, he eſtabliſhed an order of men ready to venture on whatever hecommanded, and when any Prince made war upon him, he diſpatched three or fourof theſe young villains to his court, or camp, with inftructions to murder him, whichthey never failed to perform. It was by their hands that Louis of Bavaria was killedin the year 1231 , and in 1251 he difpatched four of them with the like commiffion tothe court of Louis IX.; but fuddenly altering his mind, he difpatched four more withcounter orders, who made fuch hafte, that they arrived at the French court before theformer, and difcovering themfelves to King Louis, remained always near his perfon,to preferve him from their companions, whom they likewife difcovered at their arrival ,and for this fervice the French monarch fent them back to their mafter loaded withprefents. By this means the Old Man of the Mountain became terrible, even to themoft powerful monarchs; and from the practice of his defperate bravos, we have theword affaffins, and the phraſe of affaffination, for murders of this nature. This practice was continued to the time of which our author fpeaks, a little after which thewhole nation was extirpated by the Tartars.Theſe are all the facts mentioned in his writings, that ſeem to ftand in need of explanation, unleſs we except what he has delivered concerning the witchcraft and forceriesof the Tartars. As to theſe we can only ſay, that they are ftill much addicted to ſuchfuperftitions, and are thereby expofed, as he has fhewn us, to many impoftures, andabundance of miſchiefs that attend them. But in one particular he is miſtaken, whichis in confounding the forcerers with the lamas, or Tartar prieſts, whereas they are quitedifferent perfons. What he relates of the divination by the blade-bones, is confirmedby all other travellers, and is a fort of folly practifed by the Laplanders and othernorthern nations. A folly ridiculous and abfurd indeed, but not more fo than the0 2other100 TRAVELS OF WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIS, &c.other arts of divination, which have prevailed in politer countries, and which are notperhaps wholly extinguifhed at this day. What he fays in relation to the ſprinklingof afhes on the floor, relates to another fuperftitious cuftom of the fame kind, whichgave birth to that kind of fortune-telling called geomancy, which was transferred toEurope; and about which feveral treatifes have been written, and one particularly inour tongue, not many years ago, which I mention to fhew not only the probability ofwhat Rubruquis has related, but likewife to demonftrate, that the giving into fuchfoolish practices is not peculiar to fuch nations as we eſteem barbarous; though I fhallreadily allow, that it is a mark of ftupidity and barbarity wherever it appears.We have no certain account how this relation of Rubruquis was received by the Kinghis mafter, but in all probability it was very agreeable to him, fince, though thatPrince, after his return to France, took all imaginable pains to fet the affairs of hiskingdom in order, and to reform the abufes that had crept into it during his abfence,yet he ftill retained a ftrong defire of repairing alfo the difgrace he had fuftained in hisformer expedition, by renewing the war againſt the Infidels, which determined him tomake another expedition against them, and this, notwithſtanding all the oppofitionthat could be made to it, he undertook in the fpring of the year 1270. He tranfportedon this occafion a numerous army into Africa, refolving to begin the operations of thewar with reducing the kingdom and city of Tunis, to which he laid fiege. But before he had made any great progrefs towards taking the place, the plague brokeout in his army, and the King being infected therewith, died on the 25th of Auguft thefame year.The beſt French hiftorians, as well as thofe of other nations, condemn theſe kindsof expeditions as idle and romantic; and yet it cannot be denied, that if this ſpirit ofmaking war againſt the Infidels had not been raiſed at that time, it is more than probable, that the Mohammedans would have over-run the beſt part of Europe; whereasin confequence of this fpirit, they were driven out of Portugal and Spain, to which Imuft crave leave to add, that the travels of Rubruquis and others into different parts ofthe Eaſt, firſt infpired that paffion for difcoveries, which has fince produced fuchmighty effects. Before that time, we knew little or nothing in this part of the worldof the fituation of diftant countries; and thofe who affected to be thought great wits,laboured to difcredit whatever was delivered in relations of this kind, which prevailedin fome places; and if it had prevailed in all, we had been at this day as ignorant, aspoor, and as much flaves as our anceſtors were before that ſpirit of commerce aroſe,that has not only diſcovered both the Indies, but has taught men of courage, thatthe whole world is their country; and that he who improves uſeful knowledge, if notproperly encouraged at home, will be a welcome gueft wherever he goes.THE( 101 )THECURIOUS AND REMARKABLE VOYAGES AND TRAVELSOFMARCO POLO, A GENTLEMAN OF VENICE,Whoin the Middle of the thirteenth Century paffed through a great part of Afia, all the Dominionsof the Tartars, and returned Home by Sea through the Iflands of the Eaſt Indies.[ Taken chiefly from the accurate Edition of Ramufio, compared with an original Manufcript in HisPruffian Majefty's Library, and with most of the Tranflations hitherto publiſhed. ]1. Afuccinct Introduction to this Work. -2. An Account of the Author from Ramufioand other Writers. - 3. Thefeveral Editions and principal Tranflations that have beenpublished of thefe Travels. -4. An Account of the Objections that have been raiſedagainst them.-5. The Characters given of this Performance byfeveral eminent Critics.-6. The Author's introductory Account, containing an Abridgment of his Travels tothe Time of his Return to Venice. -7. A Defcription of Armenia the Leffer, oftheCountry ofthe Turks, of Armenia the Greater, ofthe Province of Zorzania, the Kingdom of Moful, of the City of Baldach, or Bagdat, of the City of Tauris, with an Account of a remarkable Earthquake. -8. Of the Country ofPerfia, the City of Jafdi,the City of Cerman, of the Town of Camandu, and of the Country where Rhubarbgrows. -9. Offeveral other Countries, and theprincipal Curiofities in them. - 10. TheHiftory ofthe Affaffins, and of the Manner in which their Prince was killed, togetherwith the Defcription of many other Countries. - 11 . Of the City of Samarcand, theTown of Lop, and of the great Defart in its Neighbourhood, with other remarkablePaffa*ges.-12. Of the Province of Camul, andfeveral other Countries to the City ofEzina, and another great Defart. - 13. Of the City of Caracarum, and of the Tartars, with a complete History ofthat Nation, and of their Monarchs. - 14. Ofthe vaſtCountries to the Northward ofTartary, and many other curious Particulars. 15. Ofthe great Power of Cublai-Khan, of his Government, Family, Dominions, &c.16. Of his Palace in the City of Cambalu, a particular Defcription of that City, andother remarkable Obfervations. -17. Ofthe Magnificence of the Court of the GrandKhan, and of the Manners and Customs of his Subjects. 18. A copious Account ofthe Countries between the Place ofhis Refidence, and the Country of Thibet.— 19. Alarge Defcription of the last mentioned Province, and of many others, with an Accountof the Obfervations made by the Author in his Progrefs through them. - 20. OftheProvince of Mangi, and of the Manner in which it was reduced under the Power ofthe Tartars, together with an Account ofthe Provinces and Cities afterwards reducedunder their Dominion. -21 . Ofthe noble City of Quinfai, and of the vast Revenuesdrawn from thence by the Emperor of the Tartars.-22. Of the land of Zipangri,and of the Attempt made by the Tartars to conquer it, and their Mifcarriage in them.· 23. A large Account of various Countries, Provinces, Cities, and lands in theEaft Indies. - 24. Ofthe great Ifland ofCeylon, ofthe Kingdom of Malabar, and theState of other Countries vifited by the Author. -25. Ofthe Kingdom ofMurfili, theDiamond Mines there, and other Countries adjacent. - 26. Ofthe land of Madagafcar102 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.car, the Country of Ethiopia, and other Parts of Africa. -27. Of the Province ofAden, and offeveral Countries reputed to be inacceffible. -28. Many obfcure Paffa*gesin this Performance explained. - 29. Remarks and Obfervations.1. IT is with ancient writers as with ancient coins, fuch as underſtand them valuethem above meafure, while fuch as will not be at fufficient pains to examine them, notonly defpife them, but alfo fuch as admire them. Thus none are more governed byprejudice than thofe who declaim againſt it, and none greater bigots than fuch as areattached to their own opinions, from a notion that they think freely. Yet this zealfor freedom of thought ought to be amended rather than difcouraged, as being in itſelfcommendable, though fometimes dangerous, by being mifapplied . It may, and to faythe truth, to many it does feem a tedious and difa*greeable labour to look fo far back asthe firft fprings and dawnings of knowledge; yet, however, they may colour thiswith pretences to refined tafte, it is in fact no better than an excufe for idlenefs, anda diflike to the taking thofe pains which are requifite to fucceed in fuch enquiries.The travels of Marco Polo are indeed very old , and are come into our hands withconfiderable defects, but they are very valuable for all that, and very well worthy ofour attention. He was the Columbus ofthe Eaft Indies, the firſt that gave a certainand diſtinct account of the fea beyond China, and of the free paffa*ge thereby throughall the iſlands of the Eaft Indies, back into thofe countries that are very well known.It is true, that a great part of what he related, though delivered with much folemnity,and confirmed by the ſtrongeſt affeverations, was much called in queftion, and thoughtin fome meaſure beyond all belief. But fubfequent difcoveries have baniſhed this incredulity, and what were once efteemed fables have been fince found true relations;and the difcourfes of Marco Polo, that were rejected by the fupercilious wits of hisown time, have been raked out of the duft of old libraries, decyphered in a mannerfrom the barbarous Latin of monkiſh tranſlators, and brought into the form we nowhave them bythe indefatigable pains of the learned Ramufio; a man whofe countenance alone might be fufficient to give credit to this, or any other work; thoughfrom the notes we have added, it will appear that there are intrinfic marks of its valuein the performance itfelf: yet we owe to Ramufio the being able to diſcover theſe, andtherefore to him we willingly afcribe all the glory that refults from the vindication ofthis curious piece, and the honour of its illuftrious author. To the fame excellentperfon is due the account we have received of feveral particulars relating to the perfonal hiſtory of Marco Polo and his family, of which in as few words as poffible wefhall give the reader a relation; which, though not abfolutely neceffary to the underſtanding of the book, will be found uſeful and entertaining.2. Signior Nicolo Polo, the father of our author, and his brother Signior Maffio,began their travels from Conftantinople in the year 1250, and having proceeded to thecourt ofthe Grand Khan of Tartary, refided there for many years, and returned, asthe reader will fee, to Venice about the year 1269, where they found the wife ofSignior Nicolo deceafed, and her fon, of whom fhe was left big at the time of theirdeparture, a well accompliſhed youth, of nineteen years of age. Him they carriedback with them to the court of the Khan, and after having fpent twenty-fix years morewithout any news being heard of them by their friends at Venice, returned fafelythither in the year 1295. On their arrival at their own houfe in St. John Chryfiftom'sstreet, they found themſelves in a ſtrange fituation, being not only worn entirely out5ofTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 103of the memory of their family and acquaintance, but having loft in a manner the verytokens of their country, being become Tartars in their ſpeech as well as their habit,and therefore under a neceflity of taking fome extraordinary ſteps to recover therefpect and reverence due to them, by convincing the world that they were really nobleVenetians, and the individual perfons who had been fo long loft to their country andfriends.It was with this view that they gave a magnificent entertainment to their relations, atwhich they all three came forth in rich fuits of crimfon fatin; of which, when theguests were feated, they ftripped themfelves, and gave them to the fervants; appearing next in crimfon damafk, thefe alfo they put off at the laft fervice, and beſtowedlikewife on the fervants, being then dreffed in crimſon velvet. When dinner was over,and all who waited withdrawn, Marco Polo brought out their coats of Tartarian clothor felt, and out of their foldings produced an incredible quantity of rich jewels, amongwhich there were fome well known to thofe prefent, and which indifputably provedthefe ftrangers of the Polo family. Signior Mathio Polo became a worthy magiftrateof Venice, and lived and died in peace.As for our author Signior Marco, a few months after his return, the GenoefeAdmiral Lampa Doria coming with a fleet of ſeventy gallies to the iſland of Curzola,they fitted out from Venice, under the command of Andrea Dondalo, a great navalforce, in which he had the command of a galley, and was fo unlucky as to be takenprifoner and carried to Genoa, where he remained in fpite of all the offers that weremade for his ranfom feveral years; fo that his father, defpairing of his return, and de--firous that his own offspring might inherit his riches, married a fecond time, and hadthree children. In the time of this impriſonment all the young nobility of Genoa .reforted to our Marco to hear the recital of his voyages and adventures, which gavethem fo great fatisfaction , that one of them prevailed upon him to fend for his notes fromVenice; and when thus affifted, wrote from his own mouth the following hiſtory inLatin; from whence it was tranflated into Italian; and this Italian was again tranflated .into Latin, and abridged;. whence grew that prodigious corruption fo juftly complainedofin the first printed copics. This work of Marco's was fupported by the teftimony of hisfather, and by that of his uncle on his death bed. At last Marco himſelf obtained hisliberty, returned to Venice, married, and had two daughters, Moretta and Fautina,but had no male iffue. He died as he lived, beloved and admired by all who knew orconverfed with him; for with the advantages of birth and fortune he was humble, andmade no other ufe of his great intereft in the ſtate than to do good.3. We have already fhewn, that this work was originally written in Latin, and ifnot by the author's hand, at leaft from his mouth; but after the Italian verfion thatwas made of it, the copies ofthe Latin manufcript became extremely rare, infomuchthat the Italian tranflation was taken for the original. One Francis Pepin, a monk,tranflated it into Latin, and abridged it at the command of his fuperiors; and it is acopy of this manufcript that is in the library ofthe King of Pruffia. It was printed atBafil bythe care of the celebrated Reinecius, and afterwards in other places. It wasfrom one oftheſe copies that it was tranflated by Hakluit, of which Purchas fo heavily,and at thefame time fo juftly complains. Ramufio took a great deal of pains, as wellin reftoring the fenfe of the text of our author, as in juftifying his character, and fupporting the credit of his work by his learned diſcourſes. He was affifted therein by acopy of the original Latin manufcript, which was lent him by his friend Signior Chifi,without which it had been impoffible for him to have brought it into fo good order aswe now fee it.There104 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.There has been, befides the tranflations already mentioned, at least two in the German language. It was printed in Portugueſe at Lifbon in 1502, and it has been feveral times tranflated into Dutch. I have been the more particular in the account ofthefe additions and tranflations, becauſe they differ very much from each other; fothat the only way to come at a complete view of the author, is by collecting and comparing thefe; a work of infinite pains and labour, in which however we have the affiftince of Andrew Muller, a learned German critic, and of Peter Bergeron, a Frenchman, who, next to Ramufio, was, of all others, the moft capable of fuch an undertaking, and has fucceeded in it the beft.There was, however, one thing wanting, which was the juftifying the dates, verifying the facts, and explaining the obfcure names of places which occur in thefe travels; and this we have done to the beſt of our ability in this tranflation, fo that thereader may be fatisfied that he has the work of this ancient writer as intire, and in asgood condition as it was in our power to give it him.4. There have been abundance of objections raifed againſt the credit and authority ofthis writer, many of which, as they were founded on the errors of tranfcribers andtranflators, are taken away by reftoring our author's genuine fenfe, and therefore weneed not mention them particularly; but there are others which deferve more regard. Itis faid, that our author mentioned fome countries and many places that were never heardof before or fince. A fhrewdobjection this, inafmuch as it feems to reprefent all thepains that has been taken about his writings, as entirely thrown away. In anfwer tothis we muft obferve, that he wrote according to the lights he received, and thofelights were chiefly from the Tartars; whence it might very well happen that the namesof places mentioned by him fhould appear ftrange and uncouth in this part of theworld. But it fo happens, that we have fince received fuch helps as enable us to getpretty well clear of this difficulty; for though we have retained in the text the namesufed by our author, yet we have afforded , from the affiftance given us by orientalwriters, fuch explanations as remove, in every reſpect, thefe geographical obfcurities,fo as to leave no fort of doubt either as to the capacity, or the veracity of MarcoPolo.Another charge againſt him is, that he does not agree with other writers, or ratherother writers do not agree with him: but when examined to the bottom, this chargewill not be found to have any great weight, as having chiefly ariſen from the miſtakesmade as to the true fenfe of what this writer delivered; fo that very often, what wasimputed as ignorance to him, was, in fact, no more than temerity in thofe who pretended to find fault with them. The laft, and indeed the greateſt objection is, thathe has related many things that are abfurd, fome that are incredible, and not a few thatare impoffible. Againft this charge we cannot pretend to vindicate him, though muchmay be faid to excufe him. The facts he tells us of his own knowlede are ſurpriſinglyverified by authentic and indifputable evidence; and grant that he might be impofedupon in what he gives us on the authority of others, we muſt be content, the ratherbecauſe it is our happineſs to live in an age when men are lefs liable to be cheated andmifled; therefore this ought to make us the more ready to bear with failings in onewho wanted this advantage, who lived in a time of darkneſs and obfcurity, when credulity paffeth for faith, and when confequently errors of this fort were rather a man'smisfortune than his fault.5. In fpite however of all thefe charges, there have been fome great men in all ageswho have done juftice to our author's merit. Among thefe we may reckon the famous Voffius, in his account of the Latin hiftorian, the great geographer SebaftianMunfter,ITHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 105دوMunſter, the learned naturalift Conrad Gefner, the accurate hiftorian Leunclavius,the celebrated Jofeph Scaliger, and many others. The learned German critic WilliamSchickard, in his hiftory of the Kings of Perfia, gives our author this character:" Marco Polo, the Venetian, fays he, is a very good writer, and thofe things whichhe reports, and were heretofore thought incredible, are now verified daily by later difcoveries.' But of all who have undertaken the caufe of our author, none has doneit with greater capacity, with more good will, or better fuccefs, than Father Martini,to whom we owe the beft, defcription of China, and who was confequently a betterjudge than any other of the merit or demerit of this work. He affures us, that thereis not the leaft reafon to doubt the truth of our author's relations on account of theobfcurity of the names of places; for, fays he, he wrote them after the Tartar pronunciation, whereas later writers ftudy to imitate as well as they are able the pronunciationofthe Chineſe.I will add to thefe but one teftimony more, which is that of an author very able tohave detected him , if he had caught him in untruths, and who was far enough frombeing tender of men's reputations if he thought them to blame. The author I meanis Athanafius Kircher, who in his account of China confeffes, that none of the oldauthors have more fully or more accurately defcribed the remoteft countries of theeaft than Marco Polo has done; yet he readily admits, that there are many things inhim fo very dark, that they may be in a manner ftiled inexplicable; but then, withgreat good fenfe and candour, he attributes this to the author's want of ſkill in geography and aftronomy; and if we confider how young he was when his father carried him into Tartary, and how little opportunity he had of acquiring that fort of knowledge that was moft neceffary for preventing thoſe miſtakes, we may eafily concur inopinion with ſo many eminent and learned writers, that in confideration of the manycurious and uſeful paffa*ges in his writings, thefe blemiſhes, eſpecially as they were ina manner unavoidable, may very well be forgiven. After having thus cleared theway, we will no longer detain the reader from the perufal of theſe travels, whichtheir author has thus digefted. He first gives a fuccinct account of his father's anduncle's peregrinations, and then of his own; after which, he enters into a more particular defcription of the countries and places through which they paffed, and relatesalfo fuch remarkable things as he was informed of in the courſe of his voyages.6. At the time that Baldwin was Emperor of Conftantinople, in the year of ourLord 1250, two gentlemen ofthe moft illuftrious family of Paolo or Polo, at Venice,embarked on board a veffel freighted with various kinds of merchandize on their ownaccount; and having traverſed the Mediterranean and the Bofphorus, they came witha fair wind, and the bleffing of God, to Conftantinople. There they continued forfome time to repofe themſelves, and then croffing the Pontus Euxinus, arrived at acertain port called Soldadia, from whence they went to the court of a great Tartarprince, called Barha, to whom they fhewed the fine jewels they had brought, andprefented him with fome of the moſt valuable. That monarch was far from beingungrateful; he kindly accepted their prefents, and in return gave them others ofgreater value. They remained a full year at his court, and then difpofed all thingsfor their return to Venice. But before they had an opportunity of departing, therebroke out a war between this Prince Barha and another Tartar king, whofe namewas Alan; and this difpute being decided by a battle, the army of Barha was defeated. This unlucky accident exceedingly embarraffed the Venetians, who knewnot what meaſures to take, or how to get fafely back into their own country. Atlength, however, they took a refolution of efcaping, as well as they could, out of theVOL. VII. P country106 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO,country where they were, and by ſeveral by-roads eſcaped to a city called Guthacam,feated on the river Tygris. They continued their journey from hence through a greatdefart, where there were neither inhabitants nor villages, till at laft they arrived atBochara, a confiderable city on the confines of Perfia. It was, at the time of theirarrival, the refidence of a Prince called Barach, in whofe court, meeting with a goodreception, and not knowing how otherwife to difpofe of themfelves, they remainedthree years. At that time a certain perfon of diftinction was fent ambaffador from thefaid Prince Alan to the Great Khan, who is the fuperior monarch of all the Tartars,refiding in the remoteft countries ofthe earth, betwixt the north-eaft and the eaſt , calledCublai Khan; who coming to Bochara, and finding there thefe two brethren, whowere now well verfed in the Tartarian language, he rejoiced exceedingly, and perfuaded theſe men to go with him to the great Emperor of the Tartars, knowingthat he fhould gratify him in this, and that they alfo fhould be entertained with greathonour, and rewarded with large gifts, efpecially feeing, through the conference hadwith them , he perceived their pleating behaviour. Thefe men therefore, conſideringthat they could not eafily return home without danger, confulting together, agreed to gowith the faid ambaffador, and accompany him to the Emperor of the Tartars, havingcertain other Chriftians in their company, whom they brought with them from Venice;and departing towards the north-eaft and the north, were a whole year in going to thefaid court of the faid King.The caufe of their long time fpent in this journey, was the fnows and waters beingmuch increaſed, fo that they were forced in their travel to ſtay the wafting of the fnow,and decreafing of the floods. Being therefore brought before the prefence of theGreat Khan, they were moft courteously received by him. He queftioned them concerning many things; as of the countries of the weft, the Roman Emperor, andother kings and princes, how they carried themfelves in government, and in warlikeaffairs; how peace, juftice, and concord continued among them; alfo what mannerof life and cuſtoms were obſerved among the Latins, and efpecially of the Pope, ofthe Chriſtians, of the church, and of the religion of the Chriftian faith; and M. Nicholo and M. Maffio, as wife men, told him the truth, always fpeaking well to him,and orderly, in the Tartarian tongue; infomuch that he often commanded they fhouldbe brought to his prefence, and they were very acceptable in his fight; having wellunderflood the affairs of the Latins, and refting fatisfied with their anfwers.The Great Khan intending to fend them his ambaffadors to the Pope, firſt confultedwith his great lords, and then calling to him the two brethren, defired them to go tothe Pope of the Romans, with one of his barons called Chogatal, to pray him tofend an hundred men learned in the Chriftian religion unto him, who might fhew hiswife men that the faith of the Chriftians was to be preferred before all other fects, andwas the only way of falvation, and that the gods of the Tartars were devils, and thatthey, and others, the people of the eaft, were deceived in the worſhip of their gods.He gave them alfo in charge, to bring, in their return from Jerufalem, of the oil ofthe lamp which burneth before the fepulchre of our Lord Jefus Chrift, towards whomhe had great devotion, and held him to be the true God; they therefore yielded duereverence to the Great Khan, promifed that they would faithfully execute the chargecommitted unto them, and prefent the letters which they received from him, written inthe Tartarian tongue, accordingto his command, unto the Bishop of Rome.He, according to the cuftom of the kingdom, commanded a golden tablet to begiven them, engraven and figned with the King's mark; carrying which with them,throughout his whole empire, instead of a paffport, they might be every where fafelyconveyedTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 107conveyed through dangerous places, by the governors of provinces and cities, and receive their expences from them; and lastly, how long foever they would ſtay in anyplace, whatfoever they needed, for them or theirs, fhould be furnished them. Takingtheir leave therefore of the Emperor, they took their journey, carrying the lettersand golden tablet with them; and when they had rid twenty days journey, the lordwho was affociated with them, began to fall grievoufly fick; whereupon confulting,and leaving him there, they profecuted their intended journey, being every wherecourteously received, by reafon of the Emperor's tablet; yet in many places they werecompelled to ftay, occafioned by the overflowings of the rivers, fo that they spent threeyears before they came unto the port of the country of the Armenians, namedGiazza; from Giazza they went to Acre, about the year of our Lord 1269, in themonth of April.But having entered into the city of Acre, they heard that Pope Clement the Fourthwas lately dead, and that no other was fubftituted in his place, for which they were nota little grieved. At that time there was a certain legate of the apoftolic fee at Acre,viz. Maſter Tibaldo Nifconti di Piacenza, to whom they declared all they had in commiffion from the Great Khan, and he advifed them to expect the creation of a newPope. In the mean ſpace therefore departing to Venice to vifit their friends, MaſterNicolo found that his wife was dead, whom at his departure he had left with child,but had left a fon named Marco, who was now nineteen years of age. This is thatMarco who compofed this book, who will manifeft therein all thofe things that hehath feen. The election ofthe Pope of Rome was deferred two years. They fearingthe difcontent of the Emperor of the Tartars, who expected their return, went backagain to Acre to the legate, carrying with them Marco aforefaid, and having gone toJerufalem, and fetched the oil with the legate's letter, teftifying their fidelity tothe Great Khan, and that a Pope was not yet chofen, they went again towardsGiazza.In the mean time meffengers came from the cardinals to the legate, declaring tohim that he was chofen Pope, and he called himfelf Gregory. Hearing this, he prefently fent meffengers to call back the Venetians, and admonishing them not to depart,prepared other letters for them, which they fhould prefent to the Great Khan of theTartars, with whom he alfo joined two preaching friars, men famous for their honeſtconverfation and learning. The one was called Friar Nicholo Davicenza, the otherFriar Gulielmo de Tripoli; to thefe he gave letters and privileges, and authority toordain prieſts and biſhops,, and of abfolution in all cafes, as if himſelf were prefent,with prefents alfo of great value, to prefent to the Great Khan, together with hisbenediction. They came to Giazza, a fea-port in Armenia, and becaufe Bentiochdasand the Sultan of Babylon, leading a great army, then invaded the Armenians, thetwo friars above mentioned began to be afraid of themſelves, and delivering the letters and preſents to Signiors Nicolo, Maffio, and Marco, defiring to avoid the dangerof the ways and peril of wars, remained with the mafter of the temple, and returned with him.But the three Venetians expofing themfelves to all danger, with many labours andmuch difficulty, travelled many days always towards the north-eaft and north, till they,after three years and a half, came to the Emperor of the Tartar's great city of Clemenifu; for in the winter time their journey had often long hindrances by reafon of thefnow and extreme cold, with inundations of waters. However, King Cublai hearingof their coming, though they were yet very far off, fent meffengers forty days' journeyto meet them, who fhould conduct them, and furniſh all neceffaries for their journey.P 2 Going108 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.Going therefore to the King's court, and being brought to his prefence, they fell downbefore him on their faces, yielding the accustomed reverence; of whom being courteouſly received, they were ordered to rife, and he commanded them to declare howtheypaffed the many dangers of the ways, and what they had treated with the Biſhop ofRome; then they related it diftinctly and at large, and gave the Emperor the Pope'sletters and prefents, which they brought; at which the Khan wonderfully rejoicing,commended their faithful cares. The oil alfo brought from the Lord's fepulchre, andoffered unto him, he reverently received, commanded it fhould be honourably preferved, and aſking of Marco, who he was? Mafter Nicolo anſwered, that he was HisMajefty's fervant, and his fon; he entertained him with a friendly countenance, andtaught him to write among other of his honourable courtiers; whereupon he was mucheſteemed of all the court, and in a little ſpace learned the cuſtoms of all the Tartars,´and four different languages, being able to write and read them all.The great Khan, to make his wifdom more apparent, committed an ambaffa*ge untohim to be performed in a city called Carachan, unto which he could fcarcely travel infix months' ſpace; but he carrying himſelf wifely in all things, diſcharged what he hadin commiffion with the commendation and favour of the Prince, and knowing the Em..peror would be delighted with novelties, in the places which he paffed through, he diligently fearched the cuſtoms and manners of men, and the conditions of the countries,making a memorial of all that he knew and faw to divert the Great Khan; and in fixand-twenty years which he continued one of his court, he was fo acceptable to him,that he was continually fent through all his realms and figniories for the affairs of theGreat Khan, and fometimes for his own, but by the Khan's order; and this is the truereaſon that the faid Mafter Marco learned and fawfo many particulars relating to theEaſt, which follow in order in theſe memoirs; but theſe Venetians, having ſtayed in thatcourt many years, and grown very rich in jewels of great value, were infpired with defire to vifit their country, fearing that if the Khan (now old) fhould die, they fhouldnot be able to return. One day Mafter Nicolo, feeing the Khan merry, craved licenceto depart in the name of all the three: whereat he was moved, and aſked why theywould put themſelves on fo dangerous a journey, and if they wanted riches, he wouldgive them twice as much as they had, and out of pure affection would not permit theirdeparture.Yet not long after it happened, that a King ofthe Indians, named Argon, fent threeofhis counſellors unto the court of the great Cublai , whofe names were Ullatai, Apufea, and Coza, to treat with him, that he would deliver him a wife; for his wife, namedBolgana, being lately dead, begged this favour of the King at the point of death, andleft in her will, that he fhould not marry a wife of another family than her own, whichwas of Catha. King Cublai, therefore, yielding to his requeſt, caufed to be foughtout for them a fair young maiden offeventeen years of age, named Cogalin, defcendedofthe former Queen's family, to be the wife of Argon. Thofe ambaffadors departing,rode eight months the fame way they came, but found bloody wars among the Tartars,ſo that they were conſtrained to return, and acquaint the Great Khan with their proceedings. In the mean time Mafter Marco had returned from thofe parts of India,where he had been employed with certain fhips, and declared to the Khan the fingularities of the places, and the fecurity of thoſe ſeas; which reaching the ears of theambaffadors, they conferred with the Venetians, and agreed, that they with the Queenfhould go to the Great Khan, and defire leave to return by fea, and to have the threeLatins, men fkilled in fea affairs, with them, to the country of King Argon. TheGreat Khan was much diſpleaſed with their requeft, yet upon their petition granted it,7andTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO, 109and caufèd Nicolo, Maffio, and Marco to come into his prefence, and after much demonſtration ofhis love, would have them promife to return to him after they had ſpentfome timein Chriftendom, and in their own houfe; and he caufed to be given them atablet of gold, in which was written his command for their liberty and fecurity throughall his dominions, and that expences fhould be given them and theirs, and a guide orconvoy for fafe paffa*ge, ordering alfo that they fhould be his ambaffadors to the Pope,the Kings of France and Spain, and other Chriſtian Princes.He cauſed fourteen fhips to be prepared, each having four mafts, and able to bearnine fails in failing, the form of which is too long here to be related; four or five ofthem had from two hundred and fifty to two hundred and fixty mariners in each ofthem. In theſe fhips the ambaffadors, the Queen, with Nicolo, Maffio, and Marco,fet fail, having firſt taken leave of the Great Khan, who gave them many rubies, andother precious ſtones, and their expences for two years. After three months they cameunto a certain island called Java, and from thence failing through the Indian ſea, aftereighteen months they came into the country of King Argon; fix hundred men of themariners, and others, and but one ofthe women, died in the paffa*ge; but only Coza ofthe three ambaſſadors furvived. When they cameto the country of King Argon, theyfound that he was dead, and that one Chiacato governed the kingdom for his fon , whowas under age; they fent to acquaint him with their bufinefs, who answered, thatthey ſhould give her to Cafan the King's fon, then in the parts of Arbor Secco, in theconfines of Perfia, with fixty thoufand perfons for the guard of certain paffa*ges againſt the.enemy. Having done fo, Nicolo, Maffio, and Marco returned to Chiacato, and ſtaidthere nine months.After this taking leave, Chiacato gave them four tables of gold, each a cubit long,and five fingers broad, of the weight of three or four marks, in which were written,that in the power of the eternal God the name of the Great Khan fhould be honoured.and praiſed many years, and every one who fhould not obey fhould be put to death,and his goods confifcated. In them were further contained, that theſe three ambaffa- .dors fhould be honoured, and fervice done them in all lands and countries as to hisown perſon, and that horfes, convoys, expences, and neceffaries fhould be given them;all which was fo duly put in execution, that fometimes they had two hundred horfes fortheir fafeguard. In this their travel, they heard that the Great Khan was dead, whichtook from them all defire of returning thither..Theyrode till they came to Trebizond, and from thence to Conftantinople, and after.to Negropont, and at laft came with great riches fafe to Venice, A. D. 1295.Here ends the hiftorical introduction of our author, which fhews us howhe came to..be qualified for writing the following defcription of the remoteft countries in the Eaſt.The reader will naturally obſerve, that our author wrote under very particular circum-.ftances, as having no other knowledge than what he acquired amongſt the Tartars;and therefore, though the harsh and uncouth names that occur in the fubfequent relation of his travels, may both disfigure and perplex them, yet they very plainly provethe fincerity and authority of our author's writings, fince taking things as he has ftatedthem, it was fimply impoffible that he fhould have written them any otherwife than asthey ftand; for it was his hard lot to travel with the Tartars, and to pen the hiftory ofhis travels in a prifon, fo that their imperfections ought not to be afcribed to the man,but to his circumftances.7. There are two Armenias, the Greater and the Lefs. In the Leffer Armenia theKing refides, in a city called Sebafte, and in all his country is obferved juſtice andgood government. The kingdom itſelf hath many cities, fortreffes, and caftles; the;foil.110 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.foil alfo is fertile, and the country abounds with every thing neceffary, nor is there anywant of game or wild-fowl; the air indeed is not very good. The gentlemen of Armenia, in times paſt, were ftout men, and good foldiers, but are become now effemi.nate and nice, giving themfelves up to drunkenneſs and riot. There is a certain city inthis kingdom feated near the fea, which is called Giazza, having an excellent haven,whither merchants refort from divers countries, and even from Venice and Genoa, onaccount of feveral forts of merchandize brought thither, efpecially fpices of fundrykinds, and abundance of other valuable goods brought thither out of the eaft countries;for this place is, as it were, the fettled mart of all the eaft *.In Turcomania are three forts of nations, viz. the Turcomans or Turkmen, whoobferve the law of Mohammed: they are men illiterate, rude, and favage, inhabitingthe mountains, and inacceffible places, where they can find paftures; for they liveonly by their cattle. There are good horfes in this country, which are called Turkishhorics: mules are alfo in that country of great eftimation. The other nations areGrecians and Armenians, who poffefs the cities and towns, and beſtow their labour onmerchandize and arts. They make the best carpets in the world, and they have manycities the chief whereof are Cogno, Iconium, Cæfarea, and Sebafte, where St. Bafil fuffered martyrdom for Chrift, and they acknowledged one of the Khans, Kings of theTartars, for their lord.Armenia the Greater is a very large province, tributary to the Tartars , and hathmany cities and towns, the chief city whereof is called Arzugia, and the beſt buckramin the world is made there. Moft wholeſome hot waters alfo fpring there for the waſhing and curing of mens' bodies; and the other more famous cities next to the metropolis are Argiron and Darziz. In the fummer time many Tartars refort there withtheir flocks and herds, drawn thither bythe fatnefs of their paftures; and again in thewinter depart for a certain time, by reafon of the abundance of fnow. The Ark ofNoah remained in the mountains of this Armenia.This country hath the province of Moxul and Meridin bordering on the eaſt; buton the north is Zorzania, in the confines of which a fountain is found, from which aliquor like oil flows, and though unprofitable for the feafoning of meat, yet is veryfit forthe ſupplying of lamps, and to anoint other things; and this natural oil flows conftantly, and that in plenty enough to lade camels. In Zorzania is a King called DavidMelic, or King David; one part of the province is fubject unto him , the other paystribute to a Khan of the Tartars; the woods there are of box-trees. The countryextends to the two feas, Marmaggiore, or the Euxine, and that of Baccu, or the Cafpian, which containeth in circuit two thoufand eight hundred miles, and is like a lakehaving no communication with other feas. In it are many iflands, cities, and caftles,fome ofwhich are inhabited by thofe that fled from the Tartars out of Perſia †.The people of Zorzania are Chriftians, obferving the fame rites with other Chriftians. They keep their hair fhort like the weſtern clergy; the inhabitants have manycities, and their country abounds with filk. of which they make very fine manufactures. Moxul is a province in which there are many forts of people, fome called Arabians, are Mohammedans, others are Chriſtians, fome Neftorians, others Jacobites,and others Armenians; and they have a patriarch called Jacolet, who ordains arch-

• There is nothing obfcure in this deſcription of Armenia the Lefs; and I added this note only to put

the reader in mind, that our author fhews that a great part of the trade from Europe to the Indies wascarried on this way by the Venetians and Genoefe.Zorzania is indeed a name not to be met with in any other author; but the account given us by Marcois fo clear and exact, that there can be no doubt about it.8 . bishops,THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 111bishops, bishops, and abbots, and fends them through ali parts of India, and to Cairoand Baldach, or Bagdat, and wherever Chriftians dwell, as is done by the Pope ofRome; and all the ftuffs of gold and filk called mufleims are wrought in Moxul.But in the mountains of this kingdom dwell the people called Curdi, of whom ſomeare Neftorians , others Jacobites, and fome followers of Mohammed; they are wickedmen, and rob merchants. Near to them is another province called Mus or Meridin,wherein grow great quantities of cotton, whereof they make buckrams, and otherworks; they are fubject to the Tartars. Baldach, or Bagdat, is a great city, in whichrefided the great Khaliff, that is the Pope of all the Saracens; a river runs through it,from whence to the fea is accounted feventeen days journey. They fail by a city calledChifi; but before they reach the fea they come to Balfora, about which grow the beftdates in the world. In Baldach, or Bagdat, are many manufactures of gold and filk.There are wrought damafks and velvets, with figures of various creatures: all thepearls in Christendom come from thence. In that city is an univerfity, where is ftudied the law of Mohammed, phyfic, aftronomy, and geomancy. It is the chief cityin thoſe parts.When the Tartars began to extend their conquefts, there were four brethren, theeldeſt of which, Mangu, reigned in Sedia. Thefe purpofing to fubdue the world, wentone to the eaſt; another to the north; to the fouth a third, which was Ulan; and theother to the weft. In the year of our Lord 1250, Ulan having a great army of onehundred thou and horfe, befides foot, uſed policy, and having hid a great part of hismen, brought, by pretending flight, the Khaliff into his ambufcade, and took him andthe city, in which he found infinite ftore of treaſure, infomuch that he was amazed.He fent for the Khaliff, and reproved him, that in that war he had not provided himfelf with foldiers for defence, and commanded that he fhould be inclofed in that towerwhere his treaſure was, without other fuftenance* .This feemed a juft judgment from our Lord Jefus Chrift on him; for in the year1225, feeking to convert the Chriftians to the Mohammedan religion, and taking advantage from that place of the Gofpel, " That he which hath faith, as the grain ofmuſtard-feed, ſhall be able to remove mountains. " He fummoned all the Chriftians,.Neftorians, and Jacobites, and propounded to them in ten days to remove a certainmountain or turn Mohammedans, or be flain, as not having one man amongst them.which had the leaft faith. They therefore continued eight days in prayer: after whicha certain fhoemaker, in confequence of a revelation made to a certain biſhop, was fixedupon to perform it. This fhoemaker, once tempted to luft by fight of a young woman, in putting on her fhoe, zealously had fulfilled that of the gofpel, and literallyhad put out his right eye. He now on the day appointed with other Chriftians foilowed the crofs, and lifting his hands to heaven, prayed to God to have mercy on hispeople, and then with a loud voice commanded the mountain in the name of the HolyTrinity to remove; which prefently, with great terror to the Khaliff and all his peoplewas effected, and that day is fince kept holy by fafting alfo on the evening before it.8. Tauris is a great city in the province of Hircania, and is a moft populous place.The inhabitants live by the exercife of arts and merchandize, they make ſtuffs of goldand filk; foreign merchants refiding there make very great gain, but the inhabitantsThere is nothing gives fo much credit to our author's relation as thefe hiftorical facts, which are capable of being verified by other authors . The prince he mentions was Halaku- Khan, who was brother toMangu- Khan; he entered thefe countries A. D. 1255, with an army of Tartars, and in 1251 , put an end to the empire of the Abyffinian Khaliffs, by taking Bagdat, as our author relates it.are112 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.are generally poor. They are a mixed people of Neftorians, Armenians, Jacobites,Georgians, Perfians and Mohammedans: theſe laſt are perfidious and treacherousthinking all well gotten which they ſteal from men of other religions; and this wickednefs of the Saracens had converted many Tartars thereto. If the Chriftians kill themin their robbery, they are reputed martyrs. From Tauris into Perfia are twelve daysjourney. In the confines is the monaftery of St. Barafam, the monks whereof arelike Carmelites; they make girdles which they lay on the altar, and give to theirfriends, who devoutly efteem them. Perfia containeth eight kingdoms, whereofthe firstis called Cabin, the ſecond Curdiſtan , the third Lor, the fourth Sufiſtan, the fifthSpahan, the fixth Shiras, the feventh Soncara, the eighth Timochaim, which is nearArborefecco towards the north. They have fine horfes here, whence they are fold intoIndia; there are alfo very excellent affes fold dearer than the horſes, becauſe they eatlittle, carry much, and travel far. They have camels, but not fo fwift. Theſe areneceflary in thofe countries, which fometimes for a long way yield no grafs * .The people of thofe countries are very wicked, covetous, thieves, and murderers,profeffing the faith of Mohammed. Merchants are every where flain by thofe thieves,unlefs they travel in caravans. There are excellent artificers in the cities, who makewonderful things in gold, filk, and embroidery. The countries abound with filkworms, wheat barley, millet, and other kinds of corn, and plenty of wine and fruits;and though their law forbids wine, yet they have a glofs to correct or corrupt the text,that if they boil it then it changeth the tafte, and therefore the name alfo, of wine, andmay be drank. Iafdi is a great city in the confines of Perfia, where there is great trade;it hath alfo many manufactures in filk. Chaiman is a kingdom in the confines ofPerfia to the eaſt , fubject to the Tartars. In veins of the mountains ftones are found,commonly called Turquoifes, and other jewels. There alſo are made all forts of armsand ammunition for war, and by the women excellent needle-works in filks, with allforts of creatures very admirably wrought therein. There are the beft falcons in theworld, very fwift of flight, red-breafted, and under the train lefs than thofe of othercountries. Proceeding further, you go through a great plain, and having ended eightdaysjourney, you come to a certain defcent. In the plain are many caftles and towns,but in that ſteep defcent are many trees, and thoſe fruitful, but no habitation, excepta few fhepherds huts. This country in winter time is intolerably cold. · After this youcome into a large open plain, where a certain city is feated, which is called Camandu,heretofore large and populous, but now deſtroyed by the Tartars, and the country iscalled Reobarle. There grow pomegranates, quinces, peaches, and other fruits, whichgrow not in our cold countries. It hath alfo very great oxen, and all white, thin haired,with thick, fhort, blunt horns, with a camel's bunch on the back, accuſtomed to beargreat burthens; and when the pack-faddles are fet upon the bunch, they bow theirknee like camels, and having received the burthen, rife again, being fo taught.The ſheep of that country are as big as affes, having fo long and broad tails, that theyweigh thirty pounds weight. They are very fair, and fat, and good meat.Moreover, in the plain of this country are many cities and towns, with high walls ofearth to defend them from the Caraons, that is , Meftizos, that is a mixed fort of peoplebetween Indian women and Tartars, ten thoufand of which are commanded by oneIn the feveral copies of this work, there are great variations in the names of theſe eight parts, intowhich the kingdom of Perfia is divided; but as it is very apparent that they are corruptions only of thecities, and provinces of that kingdom, it is not neceffary to trouble the reader with a long explanation of them.Nugodar,THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 113.Nugodar, the nephew of Zagathai, who formerly ruled in Turkeftan. This Nugodar,hearing of the Malabars fubject to Soldan Afiden, without his uncle's knowledge, wentand took Dely with other cities, erected a new feigniory, and mixing with the Indianwomen, raiſed theſe Caraons, which go up and down to rob and fpoil in Roobarle, andother countries. The plain whereof I now ſpeak is five days journey, extending towards the ſouth; but at the end thereof the way begins by little and little to defcendfor twenty miles together, and the road itſelf is very bad, and not without danger byreafon of thieves. At length you come to very good plains, which extend themfelvestwo days journey in length, and the place itſelf is called Ormus.That country abounds with rivers and palm-trees; there is alfo plenty of divers fowls,eſpecially poppin jays, which are not like ours. From hence you come unto the oceanwherein an ifland is feated called Ormus, to which many merchants refort, bringingfpices, pearls, precious ftones, cloth of gold and filver, elephants' teeth, and all otherprecious things from India. That city is a great mart, having cities and caſtles underit, and is head of the kingdom of Chermain. The King is called Ruchined BenAchomach, who yields obedience to the King of Chermain. He makes himſelf heir,if any merchant dies there. In fummer; by reafon of the heat, they betake themfelves to their fummer- houſes, built in the waters; and from nine till noon there blowsa wind with fuch extreme heat from the fands, that it fwallows a man's breath, andftifleth him, which makes them lie in the water. The King of Chermain ſent an armyof fixteen hundred horfe, and five thousand foot, againſt the Lord of Ormus, for notpaying his tribute, which were all furprized, and ftifled with that wind. The inhabitants of the place eat no bread made of corn, or fleſh, but feed upon dates, falt fiſh andonions. They have not very ftout fhips, for they do not faſten them with iron nails ,by reafon the wood is brittle, and would cleave; but with wooden pins, with certainthreads made of the fhells of Indian nuts. Thefe fhells are dreffed after the mannerof leather, out ofwhich threads are cut, of which threads exceeding ſtrong cords aremade which are able to endure the force and violence of the waters, and are not eaſilycorrupted thereby. Thoſe fhips have one maft, one fail, one beam, and are coveredbut with one deck. They are not calked with pitch, but with the oil and fat of fiſhes;and when they crofs the fea to India, carrying horfes and other freight with them, theylofe manyfhips, becauſe that fea is very tempeftuous, and the fhips are not ſtrengthenedwith iron . The inhabitants of that country are black, and have embraced the lawof Mohammed. It is the cuftom of this country, when any mafter of a family dies,that the wife left behind him fhould mourn for him four years, once a day. Theyhave women which profefs the practice of mourning, and are therefore hired to mourndaily for their dead. Returning from Ormus to Chermain, is a fertile plain, but thebread made there cannot be eaten, but by fuch as are accuſtomed thereto, it is fo bitter, by reafon of the water put therein: here are excellent hot baths, which cure many difeafes.9. From Chermain, in three days riding, you come to a defart, which extends toCobinham, ſeven days journey from thence. In the first three days you have nowater, fave a few ponds, and thofe falt and bitter, of a green colour in fhew, as if itwere thejuice of herbs; and whoever taſteth but a little thereof cannot efcape a looſenefs; the like alfo happeneth if any taſte the falt made of the water: it is thereforeIt is very evident from this account, that our author extends the name of Ormus to the coast oppofite to the island fo called; and as to the other country he ſpeaks of, it is plainly the province of Kherman.VOL. VII.Q neceffary114 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.eyes,neceffary that travellers carry feme water with them, if they would efcape the inconvenience of thirst; the beafts alſo which are compelled to drink that water eſcape notwithout fcouring in the fourth day they find a freſh river under ground; the threelaft days are as the firft. Cobinham is a great city , inhabited by Mohammedans, wheregreat looking-glaffes of fteel are made. Tutia, or tutty alfo, which cureth theand fpodio, is prepared after this manner. That country hath mines, out of which theydig earth, which they boil, cafting it into a furnace, an iron gate receiving the afcending vapour from above, in which the conglutinated and clammy vapour becometh tutia,but the groffer matter remaining in the fire is called fpodio. Leaving the city of Cobinham, you meet with another defart, eight days journey in length, and grievouslybarren; it hath not either trees, or fruits, or water, except what is very bitter, fo thatthe very beafts refufe to drink it, except they mix meal therewith, and travellers carrywater with them.But having paffed over this defart, you come to the kingdom of Timochaim , in thenorth confines of Perfia, where are many cities and ftrong caftles. There is a greatplain, in which a great tree grows, called the Tree of the Sun, which the Chriſtians callthe Dry Tree. This tree is very thick, and hath leaves which on the one fide are white,and on the other fide green. It produceth prickly hufky fhells , like thofe of chefnuts,but nothing in them. The wood is folid and ſtrong, in colour yellow, like box. Thereis no tree within one hundred miles, except on one fide, on which are trees within tenmiles. In this place the inhabitants fay, that Alexander the Great fought with Darius.The cities are plentifully furniſhed with good things; the air is temperate, the peopleare handfome, but efpecially women, the moſt beautiful in my judgment in the world.10. Mulehet, in the Saracen language, is as much as to fay, a place of heretics, and' of this place they call the men Mulehetici, that is, heretics in their law, as with us Patarines. As I have ſpoken ofthe country, the Prince of it , who is called the Old Manof the Mountain, fhall be next fpoken of, concerning whom Marco heard much frommany. His name was Aloadine, and he was a Mohammedan. He had, in a lovelyvalley, betwixt two mountains, which were very high and inacceffible, caufed a pleaſantgarden to be laid out, furniſhed with the beſt trees and fruits he could find, adornedwith divers palaces and houfes of pleafure, beautified with gilded bowers, pictures, andtapeſtries of filk. Through this place, by pipes to different parts of theſe palaces, runwine, milk, honey, and clear water; in them he had placed beautiful damfels, fkilful infongs and inftruments of mufic and dancing, and to make ſports and delights unto menwhatfoever they could imagine. They were alfo richly dreffed in gold and filk, andwere feen continually fporting in the garden and palaces. He made this palace, becaufe Mohammed had promifed fuch a fenfual paradife to his devout followers. Noman could enter it; for at the mouth of the valley was a ftrong caftle, and the entrance was by a fecret paffa*ge. Aloadine had certain youths, from twelve to twentyyears of age, fuch as feemed of a bold and dauntlefs difpofition, whom he inftructeddaily as to the delights in Mohammed's paradife, and howhe could bring men thither;and when he thought proper, he caufed a certain drink to be given to ten or twelve ofthem, which caft them into a dead fleep, and then he caufed them to be carried intofeveral chambers of the faid palaces, where they faw things as aforefaid; as foon asthey awaked, each of them had thoſe damfels to fupply them with meats and excellentwines, and yield all varieties of pleaſures to them; infomuch that the fools thoughtthemſelves in paradiſe indeed.When they had enjoyed thefe pleaſures four or five days, they were caft into a fleep,and carried forth again; after which he cauſed them to be brought into his prefence,3 andTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 115and queſtioned them where they had been? who anfwered, By your grace, in paradife; and recounted before all what hath been before mentioned. Then the Old Mananſwered, This is the commandment of our Prophet, that whofoever defends his Lord,he allows him to enter paradife; and if thou wilt be obedient unto me, thou fhalt havethis grace; and having thus animated them, he was thought happy whom the Old Manwould command, though it coft him his life; fo that other lords, and his enemies,were flain by thefe affaffins, who expofed themfelves to all dangers, and contemnedtheir lives. Hereupon he was efteemed a tyrant, feared in all thofe parts, and had twovicars, one in the parts of Damafcus, and another in Curdistan, which obferved thefame order with the young men. He ufed alfo to rob all which paffed that way.Ulan, in the year 1262, fent and befieged his caſtle, which, after three years ficge,they took, flew him , and undermined his paradife, not being able for want of provifions to hold out longer *.Departing from the aforefaid place you come unto a country pleafant enough, diverfified by hills, plains, and excellent pafture, in which are fruits in great plenty, thefoil being very fruitful: this continues fix days, and then you enter a defart of forty orfifty miles, without water; after this you come to the city of Sapurgan, where plenty ofprovifions are found, but efpecially melons, the beſt in the world, fweet like honey.Paffing from hence we came to a certain city called Batach, which formerly was largeand famous, having fumptuous marble palaces, but now overthrown by the Tartars.In this city they report that Alexander took the daughter of King Darius to wife.To this city on the caft and north-eaft continue the confines of Perfia; but if you gofrom hence, and proceed between the eaſt and the north-eaſt, you cannot find anyhabitation for two days journey, becauſe the inhabitants of that place having enduredmany great grievances by thieves, are compelled to fly unto the mountains, to places ofmore fafety. Many rivers are found there, and much game. Lions alfo are foundthere; and becauſe travellers find no food in that journey, they carry as much victualswith them as is neceffary for two days. The two days journey ended, we met with acaſtle called Thaican, where is great plenty of corn, and very pleaſant fields; the mountains alfo on the fouth are high, fome of which are of white and hard falt; and theinhabitants for thirty days journey about fetch it from thence, being the beſt in theworld, and fo hard that they muſt break it with iron inftruments, fo much that thewhole world might have a fufficient quantity of falt from thence. The other mountainshave ſtore of almonds and piſtaches.Going between the eaſt and north-eaft from hence, the country is fruitful; but theinhabitants are murderers, perfidious Mohammedans, and drunkards. Their wine isboiled, and truly excellent. They go bare-headed, fave that the men bind up theirheads with a certain ftring of ten hands-full long; but they make clothing of the ſkins ofthe wild beaſts, ſuch as breeches and fhoes, and ufe no other garments. After three daysjourneyis the city Seaffom, feated in a plain, and there are many caftles in the mountainsround about it: a certain great river alfo flows through the middle thereof. There areIt is neceffary to obferve, that thoſe people inhabited feveral mountainous countries in the eaſt, andhad much the fame cuſtoms in all the countries where they were fettled. At the clofe of the former fection, I gave fome account of this nation, and fhall only add here, that the Prince was called the Old Manof the Mountain, becauſe they generally made choice of the oldeft man amongit them for their chief, who hadhis refidence on a mountain, the ftrongeft and beft fortified in the country. They pretended to be thedefcendents of the royal family of Arfaces, and from thence affected to be called Arfacides, from whencecame the word Affaffins. The laft of their Princes was called Moadin, and he and his fubjects were entirelydeftroyed by the before-mentioned Halaku-Khan.Q 2many116 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.many porcupines in that country, which they hunt with dogs, and they, contracting themfelves with great fury, caft their prickly quills at men and dogs, and wound them.That nation hath a particular language, and the fhepherds abide in the mountains,having made caves for their habitations. You go hence three days journey, withoutmeeting any inhabitants, to the province of Balaxiam, which is inhabited by Mohammedans, who have a peculiar language. Their Kings, who fucceed each other hereditarily, are reported to have derived their defcent from Alexander the Great, and fromthe daughter ofDarius, and are called Dulcarlen, that is to fay, Alexandrians. Thereare found the ballaffas, and other precious ftones, ofgreat value.Noman, on pain of death, dare either dig fuch ftones, or carry them out ofthe country,but with the licence and confent of the King; for all thoſe ſtones are the King's, and heonly fends them to whom he pleafes, either as prefents, or in payment of tribute: heexchanges alſo many for gold and filver; and this he doth left the ftone, whereof thereis fo much plenty, fhould become too common and cheap. Other mountains alfo inthis province yield ftones called Lapis Lazuli, whereof the Left azure is made, the likeis not found in the world. Thefe mines alfo yield filver, brafs, and lead. The countryitſelf is very cold: there are many horfes, and thoſe excellent, large, ſtrong, and ſwift,which havefo hard and tough hoofs, that they need no iron fhoes, although they run overrocks. It is faid, that not many years ago, there were horſes of the race of Alexander'sBucephalus, which had the fame forehead mark as he had, in the poffeffion only oftheKing's uncle, who was killed for refufing the King to have fome of them; whereuponhis widow, in fpite, deſtroyed the whole race. There are alſo excellent falcons. Thefail of this country bears excellent wheat and barley without hufk, and oil made of nuts,and muſtard, which is like flax-feed , but more favoury than other oil. There areftraight paffa*ges and difficult places. The men are good archers and huntfinen, clothedin beafts' fkins. The hills are fteep and high, large plains, fine rivers; and if any havean ague, by living two or three days on the hills he recovers, which Marco experiencedhimfelf after a year's ficknefs. The women in the fkirts of their garments put fixty oreighty yards of cotton; the burlier a woman looks, fhe is in their eyes the handfomer.The province of Bafcia is ten days journey towards the fouth from the country ofBalexiam. The country itſelf is very hot, which is the reafon the people are brown.They have a language of their own, and wear gold and filver ear-rings, with pearls andother ſtones artificially wrought in them; they eat fish and rice, and are idolaters, crafty,and cruel. The province of Chefmur is feven days journey diſtant from Baſcia, theinhabitants whereof have, alfo their own language, and are idolaters beyond all others,cunning inchanters, forcing their idols to fpeak, and darkening the day. From henceyou may go to the Indian fea. The men and women are brown, not wholl black;the heat being fomewhat tempered. Their food is fleſh and rice, yet are they exceedingly lean there are many cities and towns in this country; their King is tributary tonone. There are certain hermits in this province, who in monafteries and cells worthipidols, honouring their gods with great abftinence of meat and drink, and obferve greatchaſtity, are very cautious not to offend their idols, and live long; of thefe are manyreputed faints, and the people fhew them great reverence. The men of this provincekill no living creature, and fhed no blood; and if they eat flefh, it is neceffary that theSaracens, who live amongst them, kill the creature. Coral is here fold dearer than anywhere. We will leave the way to India now, and return to Balaxiam, and direct ourway towards Cathay, betwixt the eaſt and north- east. Beyond Balaxiam is a certainriver, whereon ftand many caftles and villages belonging to the King of Balaxiam'sbrother; and after three days journey is the province Vachan, having in length and13 breadthTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 117breadth three days journey, the inhabitants whereof have a peculiar language, and worfhip Mohammed. They are however ftout warriors and good hunters, for the countryabounds with wild beafts.If you depart thence betwixt the north-east and the eaſt, you muſt afcend for threewhole days together, until you come to an exceeding high mountain, than which thereis faid to be none higher in the world. There alſo between two mountains is a greatlake, and through a plain runs a very fine river, near which are excellent paftures, fothat in them a lean horſe or an ox may be fat in ten days. There is alſo plenty ofwildbeafts, eſpecially exceeding great wild fheep, having horns, fome of them fix ſpanslong, of which they make divers kinds of veffels. The plain contains twelve daysjourney in length, and is called Pamer; nor is there any habitation there; and travellers muſt carry victuals with them. No bird alfo appears there, by reafon ofthe cold;and it is reported, that if fire be kindled there it is not fo bright nor fo effectual to boilany thing as in other places. From hence the way leadeth forty days journey furtherbetween the eaſt and north-eaſt, through the mountains, hills, and valleys, in whichmany rivers are found, but no village or herbs, and the country itſelf is called Palow,and fome huts and cottages of men are feen on the tops of thofe high mountains, butfuch as are favage and wicked idolaters, who live by hunting, and are clothed by theſkins of the beaſts they kill. After this you come to the province of Chafcar, which istributary to the Great Khan, and the people are Mohammedans. In it are vines, pleafant gardens, fruitful trees, cotton, flax, and hemp, and a fertile foil. The inhabitantshave a particular language, and are merchants and artificers, fo covetous , that they eatthat which is bad, and drink worfe. Some Neftorian Chriftians are found there, whoalſo have their churches. The country extends itſelf five days journey.. Samarcand is a great and famous city in that country, where are lovely gardens,and a fertile plain. It is fubject to the nephew ofthe Great Khan; in it the Chriftiansdwell with the Saracens, whence little agreement is betwixt them. It is reported, thaton this account a miracle happened; the brother of the Great Khan, named Zagatai,who governed that country about an hundred years ago, being perfuaded to become aChriſtian, the Chriſtians, through his favour, built a church in honour of St. John theBaptift, with fuch cunning, that the whole roof thereof was fupported by one pillar inthe midft, under which was fet a fquare ftone, which, by favour of their Lord, wastaken from a building of the Saracens. Zagatai's fon fucceeded after his death in thekingdom, but not in the faith, from whom the Saracens obtained that the Chriftiansfhould be compelled to restore that ftone; and when they offered a fufficient price,the Saracens refuſed to receive any other compofition than the ftone; whereupon thepillar lifted up, that the Saracens might take awaytheir ſtone, and fo continued.Departing again from this city, you come into the province Charahan, about fivedays journey in length. This province hath plenty of provifions, being fubject to thedominion of the nephew of the Great Khan. The inhabitants worship Mohammed,yet among them certain Neftorian Chriftians dwell. They are great artificers, andhave moſt of them fwelled legs, and a great wen or bunch in their throat, by reafon ofthe waters which they drink. The province Cotam follows between the east and thenorth-eaft. It is fubject to the dominion of the nephew of the great Khan, and hathmany cities and towns. The chief city thereof is called Cotam. The province extends eight days journey in length. There is no want there ofany thing needful to themaintenance of life. It hath plenty of cotton, flax, hemp, corn, and wine; but thepeople are not warlike, yet good artificers in various manufactures and merchandize.They acknowledge Mohammed for their prophet..Proceeding118 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.Proceeding farther through the fame country, you come to the province Peim, extending four days journey in length; it is fubject to the Great Khan, and hath many cities and caftles; the chief city thereof is called Piem, near which runs a river whereinprecious ftones are found, fuch as jafpers and chalcedons. The inhabitants ofthe country follow the law of Mohammed, and are artificers and merchants. There is a cuſtomin this province, that when any married man goeth into another place and returnethnot home in twenty days, it becomes lawful for the wife to marry another husband;and the men alfo , whenfoever the women go away for the fame time, do the like. Allthofe provinces, viz. Cafcha, Cotem, Piem, to the city of Lop, are in the bounds of Turkeftan.Ciafcian is fubject to the Tartars; the name of the province and chief city is thefame: it hath many cities and caftles; many precious ftones are found there in therivers, eſpecially jafpers and chalcedons, which merchants carry quite to Ouchach tofell and make great gain. From Piem to this province, and quite through it alfo, it isa fandy foil, with many bad waters, and few good. When an army paffes throughthis province, all the inhabitants thereof, with their wives, children , cattle, and all theirhoufhold-ſtuff, fly two days journey into the fands, where they know that good watersare, and ſtay there, and carry their corn thither alfo to hide it in the fands, after harveſt,from the like fears. The wind doth fo deface their fteps in the fand, that their enemies cannot find their way. Departing from this province, you are to travel five daysjourney through the fands, where no other water almoſt than that which is bitter is anywhere to be found, until you come to the city called Lop, which is a great city, fromwhence is the entrance of a great defart, called alfo the Wilderneſs of Lop, ſeated between the eaſt and north-eaſt. The inhabitants are Mohammedans, fubject to theGreat Khan.In the city of Lop, merchants who defire to pafs over the defart, caufe all neceffariesto be provided for them; and when victuals begin to fail in the defart, they kill theiraffes and camels and eat them. They make it moftly their choice to uſe camels, becauſethey are ſuſtained with little meat, and bear great burthens. They muſt providevictuals for a month to croſs it only, for to go through it lengthways would require ayear's time. They go throughthe fands and barren mountains, and daily find water;yet it is fometimes fo little that it will hardly fuffice fifty or a hundred men with theirbeafts; and in three or four places the water is falt and bitter. The reſt of the road,for eight-and-twenty days, is very good. In it there are not either beafts or birds; theyfay, that there dwell many ſpirits in this wilderneſs, which caufe great and marvellousillufions to travellers, and make them perifh; for ifany ſtay behind, and cannot fee hiscompany, he fhall be called by his name, and fo going out of the way is loft. In nightthey hear as it were the noife of a company; which taking to be theirs, they perishlikewife. Concerts of mufical inftruments are fometimes heard in the air, likewiſedrums and noiſes of armies. They go therefore clofe together, hang bells on theirbeaſts neck, and fet marks, if any ftay *.This defart mentioned by our author ftill retains the fame name in the most modern maps. His deferiptions of this and other wilderneffes are very exact; and the hardships he mentions in paffing throughthem are not at all exaggerated. It is for this reafon that it is fo extremely difficult to pafs from any part of the dominions of the Great Mogul to China, without taking a prodigious compafs to avoid thefe défarts.It is not above forty years ago fince a certain Rajah, who had incurred the Mogul's diſpleaſure, attempted,with a train of thirty followers, to pafs through thefe defarts, in which they all perifhed by hunger and thirſt,except the nobleman himself, and four ofhis attendants, who reached the province of Chienfi, where he andone of his men died ofthe fatigue a few days after.HavingTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 119Having paffed over the defart, you come into the city Sachion, betwixt the eaſt andnorth-east, fubject to the Great Khan, in the province of Tangut, where, amongſt theworshippers of Mohammed, a few Neftorian Chriftians are found; many idolaters arealfo there, who have their proper language. The inhabitants of this city live not bymerchandize, but on the fruits of the earth. The city hath many monafteries, conſecrated to divers idols, in which many facrifices are offered with great reverence: andwhen a fon is born to a man he prefently commendeth him to fome idol, and in honourthereof nourisheth a fheep that year in his houfe, which he prefenteth before it , togetherwith his fon, the next feftival day of that idol, with many ceremonies, and great reverence. Afterwards the fleſh of the ſheep is boiled , and left fo long before the idol tilltheir prayers are finifhed, which they make for the confervation of their fon; and the idolhath, as they fuppofe, f*cked the favour ofthe meat; after which, all his kindred beinggathered together, eat the flesh at home with great devotion and joy, but religiouslykeep the bones in certain veffels. The prieſts have the feet, head, inwards, ſkin , andfome part of the flesh for their ſhare.In celebrating the funerals of fuch as were men in eſteem, the dead bodies are buriedafter this manner; the kindred fend for the aftrologers, and tell them what year,month, day, and hour he who died was born, who, having confidered the conftellation, affign the day when he is to be buried; fo that when the planet fuits not, theypreferve the dead body fometimes feven days, and fometimes fix months, preparing acheft for it at home, and joining the fides together with fuch art that no noiſome ſmellsiffue forth. They alfo embalm the body itſelf with fpices, and cover the cheft, fairlypainted, with embroidered cloth; and every day that the dead corpfe is kept at home,at the hour of dinner a table is ſpread near the cheft, wine and meat fet thereon, for thefpace in which one might eat a meal's meat, fuppofing that the foul of the dead feedethon the favour thereof. The aftrologers fometimes forbid to carry it out of the chiefgate, pretending fome difaftrous ftar, and cauſe them to carry it out another way, andfometimes break the wall which is oppofite to that place, which the planet makes morelucky; for otherwiſe the fpirits departed would be offended, and hurt thoſe of thehoufe; and if any fuch evil happen, they afcribe it to the dead thus wronged. Whenthe body is carried through the city to be buried without, wooden cottages are erectedin the way, with a porch covered with filk, in which they place the body, and fet before it bread, flesh, and delicate meats, fuppofing the ſpirit to be refreſhed therewith,which is held to be conſtantly prefent at the burying of the body; and when they cometo the place where the body is to be buried, they diligently and curiouſly paint uponpapers made of the bark of trees the images of men and women, horfes, camels, money,and garments, all the inftruments of the city founding, which are burned together withthe dead body; for they fay, that dead men fhall have fo many men-ſervants, and maidfervants, cattle, and money in another life, as pictures were burned with him, and ſhallperpetually live in that honour and riches.12. The province of Camul lieth in the wide country of Tangut, fubject to the GreatKhan, having many cities and towns; the chief city is called Camul. This province isbounded by two defarts, viz. the great defart, of which we have ſpoken before, andanother that is lefs, of three days journey. It abounds with all things for the convenient fupport of life. The inhabitants are idolaters, have a peculiar language, and feemto be born for no other purpoſe but to apply themfelves to fporting, finging, dancing,writing and reading, after their faſhion, playing on inftruments, and giving themfelvesunto pleaſure. When any traveller paffing by goes into any man's houfe for entertainment, the maſter of the family receives him with great joy, and commands his wife, andall:120 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.all the family, that as long as he will abide with them, they obey him in all things. In themean time he departs, and returns not fo long as the gueft remains at his houfe; and during all this fpace, the ftranger lies with the wife, daughter, and the reít , as with his own wives. The women of the country are beautiful, and ready to obey all theſe commandments of their huſbands, who are fo befotted with this folly, that they think it a gloriousthing for them, and believe it ſo acceptable to their idols, that through their favour thusobtained, they profper, and enjoy plenty of all things. Mangu-Khan, having heard ofthis folly, commanded them not to obferve this deteftable cuftom any longer, and accordingly they forbore it for about three years; and then not feeing their wonted fertility, and troubled with fome domeftic croffes, they fent ambaffadors to the Khan, andearneftly intreated that he would revoke fo grievous an edict, and not aboliſh that ancient cuftom which they had received from their anceſtors. The Khan anſwered, finceyou defire your reproach and fhame, let it be granted you; go and do herein after yourwont. The meffengers returning with this anfwer, brought great joy to all the people;and this cuftom is obferved by the whole nation to this day.After the province of Camul, a traveller entered the province of Chinchintalas, whichon the north is bounded by the defart, and is fixteen days journey in length, fubject tothe Great Khan. It hath large cities, and many caftles; the people are divided intothree fects; fome few acknowledge Chriſt, and theſe are Neftorians; others worship Mohammed; and the third fort adore idols. In this province there is a mountain, whereinare mines of ſteel, and andanicum, and alfo, as was reported, falamanders, of the woolof which cloth was made, which if caft into the fire cannot be burned; but that clothis in reality made of ftone in this manner, as one of my companions, a Turk, namedCurifar, a man endued with fingular induſtry, informed me, who had the charge oftheminerals in that province. A certain mineral is found in that mountain, which yieldsthread not unlike to wool; and thefe being dried in the fun, are bruiſed in a brazen.mortar, and afterwards waſhed, and whatſoever earthy ſubſtance ſticks to them is takenaway. Laftly, thefe threads fo cleanfed , are fpun like other wool, and woven intocloth; and when they would whiten thofe cloths, they caft them into the fire for anhour, and then take them out unhurt whiter than fnow; after the fame manner theycleanſe them when they have taken any fpots; for no other wafhing is ufed to them, befides the fire. But with regard to the falamander, or the ferpent, which is reported tolive in the fire, I could find nothing of fuch a creature in the eaſt countries. Theyfaythere is a certain napkin at Rome woven of falamander wool, wherein the handkerchief ofthe Lord is kept wrapped up, which a certain King of the Tartars fent to theBiſhop of Rome * .After you are paft this province, you travel on betwixt the eaſt and north- east ten days.journey, in which few habitations or things remarkable are found, and then you cometo the province Succir, in which are many villages and towns; the chief city is calledSuccir. In this province, among many idolaters, a few Chriftians are found; they arefubject to the Great Khan. They do not addict themſelves to merchandize, but live onIt appears from hence, that our author was not quite fo credulous as fome other writers, who havetold us very ftrange ftories of the falamander: but notwithstanding what is afferted of that creature's livingin the fire is equally falfe and fabulous; yet as it is a fable generally known in all parts of the world, weneed not wonder that in the Eaft, where the people are fo fond of figurative expreffions, they ſhould beftowthe name of falamander's wool on cloth capable of refifting the fire. This is plainly the fame kind of manufacture with what the Greeks call afbeftos, of which there are fmall quantities ftill found in feveralcountries, and of late years, particularly in the island of Anglefey, as I have been informed by a very curious and intelligent gentleman, who has made feveral experiments on it.theTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 121 1the fruits of the earth. The beft rhubarb is found in this province in great quantities,which is carried thence by merchants to divers parts of the world. Strangers dare notgo to the mountains where it grows, by reafon of venomous herbs, which if their beaftsfhould eat, they would lofe their hoofs; but thofe of that country know and avoidthem.The general name of this province, and of the two following, is Tangut: Campionis a great city, the principal in the country of Tangut. In it are Chriftians, which havethree great and fair churches; Mohammedans, and idolaters. The idolaters have manymonafteries, where they worship their idols. Thofe idols are made either of ſtone,wood, or clay, fome of which are inlaid with gold, and very artificially wrought. Someare fo great, that they contain ten paces in length, faftened to the earth, as if they layupright, near which little idols are placed, which feem to give reverence to the greater,and both are much worshipped. The religious men feem to live more honeftly thanother idolaters, abftaining from whor*dom, and other bafe things; yet wantonnefs isnot held there any grievous fin; for they fay, if a woman fues to a man,he may ufeher without fin, but not if he firft fues to her. They reckon the whole compafs oftheyear by moons. In the moons they obſerve in fome five, in others four or three days,wherein they kill no beaft, or bird, nor eat flefh. The laymen marry twenty orthirtywives, or as many as they are able to maintain; yet the firft is accounted more worthy,and more legitimate. The huſband receives no dowry from the wife, but he himſelfafligns fufficient dowry in cattle, fervants, or money, according to his ability. If thewife becomes hateful to the huſband, it is lawful for him to divorce her from him whenhe pleaſes. They take for wives, without fcruple, their kinfwomen or mothers-in-law.Our author, together with his father and uncle, remained a year in this city for the difpatch of certain affairs. From the city Campion you proceed twelve days journey tothe city Ezina, bordering on a fandy defart towards the north, being ftill in the province or kingdom of Tangut. Many camels are there, and many other beafts and animals of feveral kinds. The inhabitants are idolaters, living on the fruits of the earth,neglecting merchandize, or manual labour, other than huſbandry. All the provincesand cities aforefaid, Sachion , Camul, Chinchintalos , Succair, Camion, and Ezinà, arecomprehended in Tangut.13. Having paffed over the aforefaid defart, you come unto the city Careoran, orCaracarum , a large place, which is in compafs three miles, ftrongly fortified with earth,for ftone they have none. Near it is a great caftle, and in it the Governor's fair palace.This was a place, near which in old times the Tartars affembled themſelves, and heretherefore we will declare how they began to reign. They dwelt in the north parts, viz.in Curza and Bargu, where are many vaft plains, without cities and towns, but abounding in paſtures, rivers, and lakes. They had not a prince of their nation, but paid tribute to a certain great King, named, as I have heard in their language, Umcan, which,in fome men's opinion, in our language fignifieth prefbyter, or prieſt John. To himtheTartars gave yearly the tenths of all their beafts. In procefs of time the Tartars fo increaſed in multitudes , that Umcan was afraid of them , and thought to diſperſe theminto feveral parts of the world, and therefore when any of them rebelled, he fent threeor four hundred Tartars into thofe parts, fo dimithing their power: and the like he didon other occafions, deputing fome of their nobility for that purpofe. They feeing theirruin intended, and loth to be feparated one from another, went from the places wherethey dwelt to the defart towards the north, where they might be fafe, and denied Umcantheir accuſtomed tribute.VOL. VII. R It122 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.It happened, that about the year A. D. 1162 , the Tartars having continued for fometime in thofe parts, chofe a king among themfelves, a wife and valiant man, named Zingis- Khan; he began to reign with fuch juftice, that he was beloved and feared of all asa God rather than a Prince, infomuch that his fame brought all the Tartars in all partsto his fubjection, and he feeing himfelf Lord over fo many valiant men, determined toleave thefe defarts, and commanding them to provide bows and other weapons, beganto fubdue cities and provinces, in which conquefts he placed fuch juft governors, thatthe people were not difpleafed. The chief of them he carried along with him , beſtowing on them provifions and gifts . Seeing therefore that he was advanced to fo greatglory and power, he fent ambaffadors politicly to Umcan, to entreat that he would beItow his daughter upon him to be his wife, which he taking in very evil part, anſweredwith indignation, and rejecting the ambaffadors of Zingis, faid, " Doth iny fervant demand my daughter? Get ye out of my fight, and tell your mafter, if he ever makefuch demand again, I will make him die a miferable death. ”But King Zingis levying a great army, marched boldly, and encamped in a certaingreat plain named Tanduc, fending unto the King, and fignifying unto him that he ſhould.defend himfelf; but he commanding a mighty army, defcended to the plains, andpitched his tent within ten miles of the camp of the Tartars. Then Zingis commandedhis aftrologers to fhew him what event and fuccefs the battle fhould have. They cuttinga reed lengthwife, in two parts, ftuck the pieces by themſelves into the ground, andwrote upon the one Zingis, and the other Umcan, and ſaid unto the King, In the meanfpace while we read, it fhall come to pafs, by the idol's power, that thefe two parts ofthe reed fhall fight together, and whofe part fhall fall on the other, the King fhall obtain victory in the battle. The multitude therefore running together to behold thatfpectacle, the aftrologers began to mumble their prayers and read their inchantments;when preſently the parts of the reed being moved, fought together, until the part of Zingis afcended upon the part of Umcan; which being feen by the Tartars, affured ofthe future victory, they were encouraged to the battle, and Umcan being flain, thevictory and kingdom, and Umcan's daughter, remained to Zingis.Zingis reigned fix years after this, in which he conquered many provinces; andlaftly, when he endeavoured to win a certain caftle called Thaigin, and came fomewhattoo near, being fhot in the knee by an arrow, he died, and was buried in the mountainAltai. The firſt King of the Tartars was called Zingis, the fecond Khen- Khan, thethird Bathyn-Khan, the fourth Efu- Khan, the fifth Mangu-Khan, the fixth Kublai-Khan,whofe power is greater than all his predeceffors, having inherited theirs, and adding byconqueft in a manner the rest of the world; for he lived near fixty years in his government. The name Khan fignifieth Emperor. All the great Khans and Princes oftheblood of Zingis are carried to the mountain of Altai to be buried, wherefoever they die,although one hundred days journey from it; and they which carry the corpfe to theburial kill all thofe that they meet in the way, faying, Go and ferve our Lord the Kingin another life; they kill alfo the beſt horſes. When the body of the Great KhanMangu, the predeceffor of Khan-Kublai, was brought unto the mountain Altai to beburied, the foldiers accompanying the funeral are reported to have flain above ten thoufand men upon the aforefaid occafion *.. The

• Our author has been charged with many miftakes in this lift of the Princes who fucceeded ZingisKhan, but he has been charged by thoſe who knew much lefs of the matter than he did; and therefore to

fet this matter right, we will give a fhort count of that fucceffion, from the authentic work of AbulgafiBayadur-Khan. Two years after the death of Zingis- Khan, the Tartar Princes, in compliance with theEmperor'aTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.123The Tartarian women are moſt faithful to their huſbands. Adultery is the greateſtſhame amongſt them; yet it is accounted lawful and honeft that every one may marryas many wives as he is able to maintain, although the firſt be looked upon as principal,and more honourable than the reſt. Theſe live together in one houfe, without one illword, in admirable concord, make their merchandizes, buy and fell, and procure allthings neceflary to their huſbands and houfhold, the men meddling with nothing buttheir hunting, hawking, and things pertaining to arms. They have the beſt falcons inthe world, and alfo dogs; they live only on flefh and milk, and what they take in hunting. They eat horfes, camels, dogs, if fat; and drink mares' milk, called coſmos, ſomanaged, that it is like white wine. If the father dies, the fon may have all his wives,except his own mother and fiſters; fo the brother being dead, it is lawful for the brother who remaineth alive to marry the widow of his deceafed brother. The hufbandsreceive no dowry of the wives, but they themſelves affign dowry to the wives, and theirmothers. Through the multitude of their wives, the Tartars have many children; noris this multitude burthenfome, feeing they gain much through their labour; befidesthey are very careful for the government of the family, and the preparation of theirfood, and with no lefs care execute the other duties of the houfe; but the men applythemſelves wholly to hunting, fowling, and the exerciſe ofarms.The Tartars feed many herds of oxen, flocks of fheep, and other beafts and cattle,and remain with them in places of paſture, in the fummer time, in the mountains, andcolder places, where they find paſture and wood; but in the winter, they remove to thehotter countries, where they find pafture for their cattle, marching forwards two orthree months together. Their houſes are covered with ſticks and felts , and are commonly round, which they carry with them in carts or waggons, with four wheels; forthey can fold and extend them, fet them up and take them down; andthey turn, wherefoever they go, the door of thoſe moveable houfes always to the fouth. They havealfo neat carts of two wheels, covered with felt, fo cloſe that the rain cannot piercethrough them, drawn by oxen and camels, wherein they carry their wives, children,and neceffary houfhold ftuff, and defend them from the injury of foul weather andrain.The Tartars, if they be rich, are cloathed in fables, ermins, and cloth of gold, and alltheir furniture is coftly. Their arms are bows, ſwords, pole-axes, and fome lances;but they can beſt uſe their bows, to which they are uſed from their childhood: they arehardy, active, brave, but fomewhat cruel, will continue two days and nights on horfeback armed, exceeding patient, and obedient to their Lords; their cattle alfo are ftrongand hardy. The law and faith of the Tartars is this, they fay, that there is one GreatGod, fupreme in heaven, of whom with daily incenfe, they defire good underſtandingand health. They have another which they call Natigay, which is a little image covered.Emperor's will, would have exalted Ugadai- Khan to that dignity, which he abfolutely refufed, becauſe hehad an uncle and two elder brothers living. This difpute lafted forty days, when at a great council hiselder and younger brother rofe up and faid, You have heard our father's will, your modeity fhall not render us guilty of impiety, we will execute his will, if you will not; and fo taking him, one by one arm,and the other by the other, they forced him into the imperial chair againſt his confent, A. D. 1230. ThisPrince died fuddenly in 1245. He was fucceeded by his fon Kajuk- Khan, whom our author itiles KhenKhan, who died in the year 1247, and was fucceeded by Mangu- Khan, who held the empire to the year1257 , when he was fucceeded by Koplai- Khan, the fame with whom our anthor lived, and whom he callsKublai Khan. He reigned in all thirty-five years, and died in the year 1292 , which agrees very well withMarco Polo's relation.R 2 with124 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.with felt, or fome other thing, which every one hath in his houfe. To this God theymake a wife and children . placing the wife's image at the left hand, and the reprefentations of the children before his face. This they call the God of earthly things, whichkeeps their children, and their beafts, and corn, and give it great reverence. Beforethey eat themfelves, they anoint the mouths ofthe images with fat of the fodden fleſh;and they caft the broth out of doors, in honour of other fpirits, faying, that now theirGod with his family has had their part; and after they eat and drink at pleafure.If the fon of a Tartar die before he has been married, and the daughter of anotherdie allo unmarried, the parents of the deceaſed meet together, and celebrate a marriagebetween the dead, and making a draught in writing of that contract, they paint menand women for fervants, horfes, and other creatures, with cloaths of all forts, and monies in paper, and burn them together with the contract; by the fmoke whereof theyfay that all theſe things are carried to their children in another world, where they aremarried; and the fathers and mothers conceive they are joined together in fuch a bondof affinity, as if thefe marriages had been celebrated while the married couple were ftillliving.When the Tartars go to war, their Prince conducts about a hundred thoufand horfe,appointing heads over tens , hundreds, thouſands, and ten thouſands, by which fubordination commands are easily maintained; every hundred is called a tuc, every ten atoman: when they begin their march, they ſend out men every way as ſcouts, that noenemy affault them unprovided. Ofhorfes and mares every man has about eighteen.They carry alfo their felt- houſes, under which they fhelter themſelves in times of rain.When there falls out fome important employment, they will ride ten days togetherwithout victuals dry or boiled, and live on the blood of their horſes, cutting a vein, andf*cking it. They have milk dried like pafte, which they make by boiling the milk, andfkimming the cream which fwims on the top, into another veffel, and make butter;afterwards they fet the milk in the fun, and dry it, and when they go to the army, carrywith them about ten pounds thereof, and every morning a man takes about half a pound,and puts it in a flafk, or leather bottle, with as much water as he pleafes, which whilehe rides, mixes together, and this is his dinner.When they encounter with their enemies, they ride here and there ſhooting, andfometimes make a fhew of flight, fhooting as they fly; and finding the enemy broken,rejoin their forces, and purſue the victory, having their horfes fo at command, as with afign to turn any way.But now the Tartars are mixed and confounded, and fo aretheir fafhions. They punish malefactors after this manner; if any fteal a thing offmall.value, and is not to be deprived of life, he is feven times beaten with a cudgel, or feventeen, or ſeven and twenty, or thirty and feven, or forty-feven, giving the ftrokes according to the meaſure and quality of the offence, and that unto an hundred: fome diethrough thefe ftrokes. But if any have ftolen an horfe, or other thing, for the whichhe deferves to die, he is cut afunder with a fword in the middle; but ifhe will redeemhis life he may, by reſtoring the theft nine- fold. Such as have horfes, oxen, or camels,brand them with their marks, and fend them to feed in the paſtures without a keeper.Leaving the city of Caracarum and the mountain Altai, we come unto the champaign.country of Bargu, which extends itſelf northwards about fixty days journey in length.The inhabitants of thefe places are called Medites, and they are fubject to the GreatKhan, and in manners like the Tartars; they are a fort of favage men, and eat theflesh of beafts which they take by hunting, efpecially ftags, of which they have plenty,and they make them fo tame that they can ride them; they have no corn or wine. Inthe fummer they chiefly practife hunting of wild beafts and fowls, on the flesh whereoftheyTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 125they may live in the winter; for in winter fowls as well as other living things fly fromthence on account of the extremity ofthe cold.14. After forty days journey you come to the ocean, near which is a mountain,where ftorks and fine falcons breed, which are carried thence unto the court of theGreat Khan. Here we must return unto the city Campion; if therefore you proceedfarther five days journey from the city Campion towards the eaft, you come to thekingdom of Erginul, in the province of Tangut, fubject to the Great Khan. In thiskingdom are many idolaters; there are fome Neftorian Chriftians and Turks; as alfomany cities and caftles, of which Erginul is chief. From hence, if you proceed farther to the fouth- eaft, you may go to the parts of Cathay. Going fouth- eaft towardsCathay, there is a certain famous city named Cinguy, the name alfo of the province,tributary unto the Great Khan contained in Tangut; the people are fome Chriſtians,fome Mohammedans, and others idolaters. There are alfo found wild oxen, verynear as big as elephants, very fair, having white and black hair, fhort in other parts,and on the fhoulder three palms long, fine, white, and in many refpects beyond filk,of which hair our author brought fome to Venice as a rare thing. Many alſo oftheſeoxen are tamed, and made to couple with tame kine, and the breed of them are fitterfor bufinefs than any other countries, bear great burthens, are yoked to the plough, anddo twice as much fervice as others.The beſt mufk in the world is found in this province, and is taken from a beaſt ofthe bignefs of a goat, having hair like a flag, feet and tail like a gazel, but withouthorns. It hath four teeth, two above and two beneath, of the length of three fingers,as white as ivory, and is a very beautiful creature. When the moon is at full, nearthe navel, under the belly, there grows to this beaſt an impofthume or bladder, fullof blood, and at the full moon they go to hunt them, and take away that fwelling,which is dried in the fun, and is the beft mufk; the flesh is alſo good to eat: MaſterMarco brought to Venice the head and feet of this beaft dried. The men live by merchandize and arts, and have abundance of corn. They are idolaters, of a fat body andlittle nofe, black hair, having no beard but four hairs on their chin. The women arewonderfully fair, and when the men defire to marry wives, they rather make choiceof the beautiful than the noble or rich. It often happens from hence, that a great nobleman marries a poor wife, if beautiful, affigning a dowry to her mother. Thisprovince extends itfelf five-and-twenty days journey in length, and is very fertile; init are exceeding large pheafants, having trains eight or ten handsfull long; many otherkinds of birds are alfo found there, which have very beautiful feathers of various excellent colours *.After eight days journey further eaft, you meet with the province Egrigaia, in thewhich are many cities and caftles; all but this lies ftill in Tangut. The principal cityis called Callacia, the inhabitants thereof are idolaters; there are three churches ofNeftorian Christians, who are fubject to the Great Khan. In this city camblets aremade, woven with white wool, and the hair of camels, than which there are ſcarceany better in the world. Eaft from this province of Egrigaia lies that of Tandach, inwhich are many cities and caſtles, and here Prefbyter John refides, who now pays tribute to the Great Khan. The king of that nation is called George, and is a priest and

• This account of the mufk animal is very exact, and contains nothing in it liable to exception, which

fhews that where our author relates things of his own knowledge, and which fall within the compaſs ofhis underſtanding, he may very well he relied on.6 a Chrif126 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO,a Chriftian, and moſt of the people are Chriftians. All the Great Khans after hisdeath (who was flain in battle by Zingis ) give their daughters to thofe kings to wife.This King George holds not all that the Prieft John before held, and is the fourth ofthat family . There is a nation there called Argons, more fightly men, and fitterfor merchandize than the reft, defcended of idolaters and Mohammedans. Thereare alfo two regions, where they dwell, which in thofe parts are called Og and Magog;but they which dwell there call them Ung and Mongul; in Ung are Gog, and inMongul the Tartars. Riding eaft feven days towards Cathay are many cities peopledwith idolaters, Mohammedans, and Neftorians. There is one city called Sindicin,where very excellent arms are made of divers forts fit for armies. In the mountainsof this province are great mines of filver, and much game, and the country of themountains is called Idifa.Three days journey from the city laft mentioned ftands another city Jangamur, thatis, the White Lake, where there is a palace, in which the Great Khan delights, becauſe there are many lakes and rivers, many fwans, and in the plains, cranes, pheafants, partridges, and other fowls. There are five forts of cranes there, fome haveblack wings like crows, others are white and bright, having their feathers full of eyeslike peaco*cks, but of a golden colour, the neck black and white, very beautiful: athird fort for bignefs not unlike ours; a fourth little, and very fair, intermingled withred and blue colours; the fifth of a grizzle, or grey colour, having red and blackheads, and theſe are very large and near to this city lies a valley, where are manycottages, in which a great number of partridges are maintained, which are keptagainst the King's coming to lodge there for fome time. Three days journey northcaftward, is the city Ciandu, which the Great Khan Kublay now reigning built,erecting therein a marvellous palace of marble, and other ftones, which extends tothe wall on the one fide, and the middle of the city on the other. He included fixteenmiles within the circuit of the wall on that fide where the palace joins the city wall,into which none can enter but by the palace. In this inclofure or park are pleafantmeadows, fprings, rivers, red and fallow deer, fawns, carried thither for the hawks,of which are mewed there about two hundred ger-falcons, which he goes once a weekto fee; and he often ufeth one leopard or more, fitting on horfes, with which he huntsthe ftag and deer, and having taken the beft, gives it to the ger-falcons, and in beholding this fpectacle, he takes much delight. In the midst of a fair wood he hathbuilt a royal houfe on pillars gilded and varnifhed, on every one of which is a dragonall gilt, which winds his tail about the pillar, with his head bearing up the roof, asalfo with his wings difplayed on both fides; the cover alfo is of reeds gilt and varniſhedfo that the rain can do it no injury, the reeds being three handfuls thick, and tenyards long, fplit from knot to knot; the houſe itſelf alfo may be pulled in pieces, andtaken down like a tent, and erected again; for it is fuftained, when it is fet up, withtwo hundred filken cords. The Great Khan ufeth to dwell there three months in theyear, viz. June, July, and Auguft. On the 28th day of Auguft he departeth tomake a folemn facrifice. He hath an herd of white horfes and white mares, aboutten thouſand, of the milk whereof none may drink, except he be of the imperial race

• There is the fame miſtake here, as in the relation of Rubruquis. The people in Europe were extremely defirous of learning fome news of this Chriftian monarch, as they would needs have him to be; and

therefore when our author heard that this Prince was a Neftorian, he took it for granted that he muſt bePrefbyter John; but as we have already fet that matter in a clear light, we ſhall not trouble the reader any further with it at prefent."15 ofTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 127of Zingis-Khan, and except one family called Boriat, who had this granted by Zingisfor their valour; and thefe beafts, as they go up and down feeding, are much reverenced, nor dare any go before them , or hinder them in their way.The aftrologers or forcerers tell the Khan, that on the twentieth of the moon ofAuguft, he ſhall difperfe that milk here and there for the honour of all ſpirits, andhis idols, that they may be careful prefervers of all things which he poffeffes. Thereare two forts of idolaters called Chebeth and Chefmu, which in the midfl of ftormsafcend the palace, and fuffer no rain to fall thereon, which they make the people believecomes to paſs by their fanctity, and therefore they go flovenly and negligent of their perfons, never wafhing nor combing themfelves. They alfo have a horrible cuftom todrefs and eat fuch as are condemned to death, but not thofe which die naturally.They are called alfo Bachfi, which is the name of their order, as friars predicantsor minors with us; they feem by magic to do what they lift . When the Great Khanin his hall fits at his table, it is raiſed eight yards high; and in the midſt of the hall , agood diſtance from the table, is a great cupboard of plate, from whence theſe forcerers caufe wine or milk to fill the goblets, without any hand touching them; thisthey do in the prefence of any man, whenever their lord commands it. Thefe Bachfialfo, whenthey have a mind to make feafts to their idols, go to the Khan, and addreſshim thus: " Sir, you are to know that if our idols be not honoured with facrifices,they will bring plagues on corn and beafts, and therefore we intreat you to give us theflesh offo many fheep, with black heads, and fo many pounds of incenfe, and lignumaloes, that we may make them due facrifice and honour. " This they fpake not to himthemſelves, but by certain lords deputed to that office, who fpeak to the Khan, andobtain it. On the feaſt day, they facrifice theſe beafts, and ſprinkle the broth beforethe idols.They have great monafteries, fome of the bignefs of a city, in feveral of which areabout two thouſand monks, who ferve an idol fequeftered from the laity, as appearsby their ſhaving and garments; for they fhave their heads and beards, and wear a religious garment. Thefe, in the folemnities of their idols, fing with folemn fongs, andlights; fome of them may marry. There are fome who obferve ftrict abftinence,called Senfim, leading an auftere life; for they eat nothing but meal mingled with.water, till all the flour be gone, and eat the bran without any favour. Thefe worshipthe fire; and the men of other rules fay, that theſe, which are ſo auftere, are heretics .againſt their law, becauſe they worſhip not idols as they do; and there are great differences between them, and thefe marry not at all. They fhave their head and beard,wear black hempen garments, or of a bright yellow. They fleep on thick mats, andlive the fevereft life in the world.15. In this book I purpoſe to write all the great and marvellous acts of the prefent:Khan, called Cublai-Khan, which is, if expreffed in our tongue, Lord of Lords, thegreateſt Prince in people, cities, and treafures, that ever was in the world, he beingdefcended from the progeny of Zingis, the firft Prince of the Tartars, the fixth: Emperor of that country, beginning to reign in the year of our Lord 1256, being twenty--feven years old , and ruling the people with great wifdom and gravity. He is a va--liant:The year of this Emperor's age, at the time of his acceffion, is put in a different character, becauſenone of the MSS. have it at all, and it is alfo omitted in feveral of the printed editions; we cannot there--fore fairly charge the author with the mistake in it, which confifts of ten years, that Prince at the time ofhis acceffion being thirty feven years old, or rather in the thirty-eighth year of his age. There ſeems alſoto be an errorin the year of his reign, but that is eafily corrected, fince, as that Prince was raiſed to theimperial:128 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO."liant man, exercifed in arms, ftrong of body, and of a lofty mind, for the performance of matters before he attained to the dignity of the empire, which by his wifdomhe did, against the will of his brethren. Ile often fhewed himfelf a valiant foldier inthe wars, and carried himſelflike a wifer and bolder captain than ever the Tartars had;yet fince he fwayed the kingdom, he went but once into the field, and fends his fonsand other captains on expeditions.In the year of our Lord 1286, his uncle, whofe name was Naiam, being thirtyyears of age, and having the command of many people and countries, fo that he wasable eafily to bring together four hundred thoufand horfe, being puffed up throughyouthful vanity, would no longer be fubject, but would needs take away the kingdomfrom his Lord Cublai, and fent to another great Lord named Cadu, Lord of the partstowards Great Turkey, who was nephew of the Emperor Cublai, yet hated him, whoyielding to his motion for rebellion , promiſed to come in perfon with an hundred thoufand horſe.Both ofthem began to gather forces, which could not be done fo fecretly but Cublaiheard of it, and prefently took order to fet guards on the ways, that no intelligencemight pafs, and then affembled all the forces, within ten days journey of Cambalu,with great ſpeed, fo that in twenty days were gathered together three hundred andfixty thouſand horfe, and one hundred thoufand foot, a great part of them falconers,and men of his houfhold; with thefe he made hafte day and night towards Naiam'scountry, where, at the end of twenty-five days he arrived, altogether unlooked for,and refted his men two days; then he called his aftrologers, and caufed them, beforeall the army, to divine who fhould have victory; a thing they ufe to encourage theirmen, and they promiſed it to Cublai. Onemorning, while Naiam was fleeping negligently in his tent, having not fo much as fent out any ſcouts to gain intelligence,Cublai made fhew of his army upon a hill, himſelf fat in a certain caftle of wood, fullof archers and croſs-bow men, borne by four elephants, on the top whereof was theroyal ſtandard, with the images of the fun and moon. He divided his army into threebodies, of which he fent that on the right hand, and the other on the left againſtNaiam's army. To every ten thouſand horfe were affigned five hundred foot, withlances, taught to leap up behind the horſemen, if any occafion of flight happened, andfuddenly, on advantage, to light and kill the enemies' horfes with their lances. Cayduwas not yet come.The battles joined, and made a cruel fight, which continued from morning tillnoon, and then was Naiam taken and brought before Cublai, who commanded thathe fhould be fewed betwixt two carpets, which fhould be toffed up and down till thebreath was out of his body, that fo the imperial blood might not be expofed to the funor to the air. The remainder of his people fware obedience to Cublai, which werefour nations, Ciazza, Carli, Barſcol, and Sitinqui. Naiam was fecretly baptized,imperial dignity in the month of January; Marco Polo, who reckons according to the Tartar year, placesit in 1256, whereas we, computing from the beginning of the month of January, make it 1257. Thegenealogical history of the Tartars informs us of the breaking out of a civil war upon the election of thisEmperor, though it gives us fomewhat a different account of the conclufion of it, in which our author mightbe eaſily miſtaken, fince he owns what he delivers was from hearfay. However, the exactnefs as to datesis truly wonderful, fince, in the compaſs of one hundred years after thefe trayels were publiſhed, we had noauthentic hiftory of the Tartars in Europe, and confequently neither Marco Polo nor his editors couldhave any opportunity of correcting their accounts, fo as to makethem correfpond with the genealogical hiftory before mentioned . This remark is an invincibe proof of our author's veracity, and of the value of his work.andTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 129and by profeffion a Chriſtian, but no follower of the works of faith, yet he figned hisprincipal enfign with the fign of the crofs, having with him infinite numbers of Chriftians, who were all flain.The Jews and Saracens that were in the army of Cublai, began to upbraid theChriſtians with this difafter of the crofs, who complained of it to Cublai; he fharplyreproved the Jews and Saracens for this behaviour, and then turning to the Chriftians,he faid, " Surely, your God and his crofs would not give any aid to Naiam; but benot you therefore afhamed, becaufe God being good and juft ought not to defend injuftice or iniquity. Naiam was a traitor to his Lord, and contrary to all equity raiſedrebellion, and fought the help of your God in his mifchievous purpofe; but he, as agood and upright God, would not favour his defigns.'He returned after this with great triumph to Cambula, and ftaid there till Eafter.On that day he called the Chriftians before him , and kiffed their gofpels, and madehis barons do the fame. He does the like on the great feaſts of the Saracens, Jews,and Heathens, that Segomamber-Khan, the god of the idols, Mohammed, Mofes, orwhofoever is greateſt in heaven, might help him; yet he made beft fhew of liking tothe Chriftian faith, but pretended the ignorance of the Neftorian priefts, and themighty acts of the forcerers, hindered his profeffing it.For the better rewarding his foldiers he kept twelve barons or counſellors, whogave him notice of each captain's merit; and accordingly he raiſed them from the command of one hundred to a thoufand, and from one thoufand to ten thouſand, and ſoon, giving them veffels of plate and tablets. The captain of one hundred hath atablet of filver; and the captain of a thoufand, of gold or filver gilded; the captainof ten thoufand has a tablet of gold, and a lion's head on it. The weight of thetablets differs alfo according to the dignity. On the faid tablet is written a commandin this manner: " By the ftrength and power of the great God, and by the gracewhich he hath given to our empire, the name of Khan be bleffed, and let them all dieand be deſtroyed which will not obey him. " All officers who have theſe tablets haveprivileges in writing of all things, which they are to do and demand; and the generalswhen they ride in public have a cloth borne over their heads, and when they fit, it ison a chair of filver. Their tablet is of three hundred fa*gi, which is equal to fiftyounces of gold, with the images of the fun and moon; fuch as have a tablet with ager-falcon thereon, may take with them for their guard the whole army of a greatcommander. Cublai is a comely handfome man, of middle ftature, of a very freshcomplexion, black and bright eyes, well fafhioned nofe, and all the lineaments of hisbody confifting of due proportion. He has four wives, who are eſteemed lawful, andthe first born ofthem is to fucceed him in the kingdom , and every one of them is calledEmprefs, and holdeth a peculiar court, and that in a magnificent palace, having aboutthree hundred women to attend her, and many eunuch fervants, and at least ten thoufand perfons in their families.The Grand Khan hath alfo many concubines. There is likewife a nation of fairpeople among the Tartars called Virgut, where every fecond year he fends ambafladors to make fearch for the fairest young women for him; who returning, bring himfour or five hundred more or lefs, as they fee caufe. There are examiners appointed to take a view of all their beauties, ex umining eyes, nofe, mouth, &c. apart,and fet a price on them at fixteen, feventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, or morecarats, and they bring thofe of that rate which their commiffion appoints; thefe hecaufes to be received by other examiners, and of fo many perhaps chufes thirty ofthechief for his chamber, which he puts to fome of his barons' wives to fee if they fnoreVOL. VII.not130 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.not in their fleep, if in fmell or behaviour they be not offenfive; thofe which are approved are by fives divided, each fifth part waiting three days and nights in his chamber by courſe, the other in the next lodgings preparing whatſoever theſe commandthem. The lefs prized are put to cookery and other offices; and fometimes the Khanbeftows them on gentlemen, with great portions. The men of that country eſteem ita grace and credit to have daughters worthy his liking; and think themſelves born .under an ill planet if they are not kept when fent to court.Cublai had two-and-twenty fons by his four legitimate wives, and the firft-born of hisfirft wife was called Zingis, who would have fucceeded him in the empire if he had notdied before his father. He left a fon named Timur, a valiant man, wife, and expe-.rienced in arms, who is to fucceed his grandfather in the empire, inftead of his deceafed father; but by his concubines he hath five-and-twenty fons, all which are dailyexercifed in feats of arms, and are great lords; feven of his fons by his wives are Kingsof great provinces, and maintain their ſtates with great reputation.16. Three months of the year, that is December, January, and February, Cublairefides ordinarily in Cambalu * , which is at the north- caft border of Cathay; and there,on the fouth part by the new city, is feated a great palace; firft there is a great wall,each fquare being eight miles, with a deep ditch environing, and a gate in the middle ofeach; after which is the fpace of a mile in circuit, where foldiers ftand; after this isanother court of fix miles fquare, with three gates on the fouth ſquare, and three onthe north; that which is in the midſt being in both the greater, and kept fhut, exceptwhen the Khan paffeth that way; the other is always open to others; in each corner ofthis wall, and in the midft is a fair palace, eight in all, very large, in which are keptthe Khan's ammunitions, and furniture of all forts; horfes in one; in another bowsand fhooting artillery; in a third caftlets, cuiraffes, and leather armour; and fo in thereft.Within this circuit is another walk like the former, very thick and ten paces high,all the battlements white, the walls fquare, each fquare a mile in length, with fix gatesas the former, and eight palaces alfo very large, wherein are the Khan's provifions;between thefe two laft walls are alfo many fair trees and meadows, in which are deerwith other game, and ftore of grafs, the paths being raiſed two cubits to ſpare it; nodirt or puddles of water being therein . Within this laft wall is the palace of the GreatKhan, the greateſt that hath been feen, extending to the wall on the north and fouth,and opening where the barons and foldiers pafs. It hath no ceiling, but a very highroof; the foundation of the pavement ten palms high, with a wall of marble roundabout it two paces wide, as it were a walk. At the end of the wall without is a fairturret with pillars. In the walls of the halls and chambers are carved dragons, foldiers, birds, beafts of divers kinds, hiftorics of wars gilded; the roof is fo made thatnothing is feen but gold and imagery; in every fquare of the palace is a great hall , capable of holding a multitude of people; the chambers are difpofed the beft that maybe devifed. The roof is red, green, azure, and of all colours. Behind the palace are -

• There have been large differtations written upon this defcription of our author, and great difputes

about the city here defcribed; fome will have it one place, fome another, becauſe it is a Tartar appella- tion; and modern writers fpeak ofthis city by another name. We have not either time or room to waſtein this controverſy; and therefore we fhall cut it fhort. Marco Polo wrote by the car chiefly, and there- .'fore fet down Cabalu for Khan- balick, i . e. the imperial city; and it is allowed, that Khan-balickis the city of Peking, the prefent metropolis of China, of which we fhall hereafter have occafion to ſpeakat large in another place; and fhall therein take an opportunity of juftifying the accounts given us in the text by Marco Polo,6greatTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 131great rooms and private ftorehoufes for his treafure and jewels, for his women, andother private purpofes.Over againit the faid palace of the Khan is another for Zingis his fon, whofe courtwas in all things like his father's. Near this palace towards the north is a mount madeby hand, a mile in compafs, one hundred paces high, adorned with trees that are always green; unto this mountain the King commands all the trees to be brought fromremote parts, lading elephants with them, for they are taken up with the roots, andare tranfplanted in this mountain; and becaufe this mountain is always green, it is calledthe green mountain: and where the earth ofthe mount was taken away, are two lakesanfwering each other, with a fmall river fupplying them with ftored fif , and fo gratedthat the fish cannot get out.The city of Cambalu in the province of Cathay, feated on a great river, was famous, and the royal feat in ancient times; and this name Cambalu fignifies the city ofthe Lord or Prince. This city the Great Khan removed to the other fide of the riverwhere the palaces are, for he understood by the aftrologers that it would rebel againstthe empire. This new-built city is called Taidu, and he commanded all the Cathayansto go out of the old city into the new; which contains in compafs four-and-twentymiles, every fide of the fquare containing fix miles. It hath walls of earth ten pacesthick at the bottom, and at the top but three, as growing by little and little thinner.The battlements are white; every fquare of the wall hath three principal gates, whichare twelve in all, having fumptuous palaces built over them. There are alfo certainpavilions in the angles of the walls where the arms of the garrifon, which are one thoufand at each gate, are kept. The buildings are fquared, and the ſtreets laid very ftraitbyline throughout the city; fo that from one gate a free profpect opens throughoutthe city to the oppofite gate; having very ſtately houfes built on both fides like palaces,with gardens and courts, divided according to the heads of families. In the midst ofthe city is a certain noble building, wherein hangeth a very great bell; after the tollingwhereof in the night, no man muft go out of his houfe until the beginning of the dayfollowing, except it be for fome extraordinary caufe, as for a woman in travail, andthen they are compelled to carry lights with them.Without the city of Cambalu are twelve large fuburbs, three or four miles long, adjoining to each of the twelve gates, more inhabiting in the fuburbs than in the city; heremerchants and ftrangers live, each nation having feveral ftore-houfes, or burfes, in whichthey lodge. No dead corpfe of any man is burned within this city, but the bodiesof idolaters are burned without the fuburbs, where the dead bodies of other fects areburied; and becauſe an huge multitude of Saracens inhabit there, they have abovetwenty-five thousand harlots in the fuburbs and in the city; and thefe have a chiefcaptain appointed over every hundred and thoufand, and one general, whofe office is, that when any ambaffadors come, or fuch as have bufinefs with the Khan, whofe chargeshe defrays, then this captain giveth every ambaffador, and every man of his family, achange of women every night at free coft, for this is their tribute. The guards, everynight, carry fuch to prifon whom they find walking late; and if they be found guilty,they are beaten with cudgels, for the Bachfi tell them that it is not good to fhed man'sblood; but many die of theſe beatings. The Great Khan hath in his court twelve thoufand horfemen, which they call Cafitan, faithful foldiers of their lord, who guard hisperfon, more for ftate than fear; and four captains have the charge of thefe, whereofevery one commandeth three thoufand. When one captain, with three thouſand foldierswithin the palace, hath guarded the King for three days and nights, another captain 8 2with132 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.with his foldiers fucceeds; and fo, throughout the year, this courfe of watching byturns is obferved * .When on account of any feftival day he keeps a folemn court, his table, which ishigher than the rest of the tables, is fet at the north part of the hall, his face is tothe fouth, having the firft Queen on his left hand, that is, his principal wife; and hisfons and nephews, and thofe of the royal blood, on his right; yet their table is in alower place, fo that they fcarce touch the King's feet with their hands, the ſeat of theeldeft being higher than the reft; the Princes fit in a lower place than that; their wivesalfo obferve the like order: firft, the Khan's fons' wives and his kinfmen fit lower onthe left hand, and after thofe of the lords, and of every captain and nobleman, each intheir degree and order; and the Emperor himſelf, while he fits at his table, may cafthis eyes upon all that feaft with him in that hall. There are not tables for them all tofit; but the greateft part of the foldiers and barons eat on carpets. At all the doorsftand two gigantic fellows with cudgels, to fee that none touch the threſhold, which,if he does, they take his garments away, which he muſt redeem by receiving fo manyblows as fhall be appointed, or elíc lofe them . They who ferve the King, and thofefitting at the table, all of them cover their mouths with filk, left their breathing fhouldby any means touch the King's meat or drink and when he hath a mind to drink, thedamfel who giveth it goes back three paces and kneels down, and then the barous andall the people kneel, and the muſicians found their inftruments. There is no cauſe,fince I would avoid prolixity, why I fhould write any thing concerning the meats whichare brought to the table, how dainty and delicate they are, and with what magnificenceand pompthey are ferved in..All the Tartars obferve this cuftom, to celebrate the birth-day of their lord moſt honourably. The birth-day of Kublai is kept the 28th of September, and this day heaccounteth more folemn than any in the whole year, except the firft of February, onwhich they begin the year. The King, therefore, on his birth-day, is clothed in amoft precious garment ofgold, and about two thouſand barons and foldiers are clothed.in the fame colour of gold, though of ſilk ſtuff, and a girdle wrought in gold and filver,which is given them, with a pair of fhoes. Some wear pearls and garments of greatprice, who are next to the Khan; and thefe garments are not worn but on thirteenfolemn feafts, according to the thirteen moons of the year; all are then clothed likeKings. This cuftom is alfo obferved by the Tartars, that on the birth-day of the GreatKhan, all the kings, princes, and nobles, who are fubject to his dominions, fhouldfend prefents unto him, as to their Emperor; and they who defire to attain any placeof dignity or office of him, offer their petitions unto twelve barons appointed for thatpurpoſe; and what they decree is all one as if the Emperor himſelf had anſwered them.All people alfo, of what faith or fect foever, whether Chriſtians or Jews, Saracens orTartars, and Pagans, are bound folemnly to call upon their Gods, for the life, fafety,,and profperity of the Great Khan t.On.

• This method of pofting guards and relieving them, was extremely ancient in the Eaft , as appears

from the accounts given us by the Greek writers of the economy in this reſpect of the Perfian Emperors;and it is still practifed by almoſt all the Tartar Princes, and particularly by the Great Mogul, as we ſhall have occafion to fhew in the fecond volume.This account agrees exactly with what is related from authors of good credit in Dr Hyde's moſt learned treatiſe of the Religion of the ancient Perfians, with refpect to the ceremonies obferved on the birthday of the Emperor, and at the beginning of the new year. Indeed the conformity is fo great, that one might be tempted to believe there is a nearer relation between the Tartars and the ancient Perfians than iscommonlyTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 133On the first of February, which is the beginning of the Tartar year, the GreatKhan, and all the Tartars, wherefoever they are, celebrate a very folemn feaſt, and all,aswell men as women, defire to be clothed in white garments as a token of good luck;therefore, that fortune may favour them all the year, they wear white at the beginningthereof. The rulers of cities, and governors of provinces, mindful of their duty, fendunto their Emperor this day prefents of gold and filver, pearls and precious ftones,many white clothes, and other white things, and many horfes of a white colour. Thereft of the Tartars, at the beginning of the year, fend white prefents one to another.It is the cuftom of thofe who bring prefents, if they can, of each to prefent nine timesnine; as, if they fend horfes, to prefent nine nines, that is eighty-one; and fo of gold,of cloths , and other things; that fometimes he hath, by this reckoning, one hundredthoufand horfes. Alfo at this happy ſeaſon, all the elephants which the Emperor hath(five thousand in number), are brought into the court, covered with tapestry, the fimilitudes of divers beats and fowls being pourtrayed thereon, carrying upon their fhoulders chefts full of gold and filver veffels; many camels are alfo brought, covered withfine filken cloths, which bring other things neceffary for the court.On this day, in the morning, all the King's captains, barons, foldiers, phyſicians,aftrologers, and governors of provinces and armies, and other officers of the empire,affemble in the great hall before the King, and they who happen to have no placethere, for the multitude ftand in another place, where they may fee them, all beingplaced in their order and degree. One rifeth, who is amongſt their clergy as a prelate,and crieth with a loud voice, " Bow down and adore," and prefently all do reverence,bending down their foreheads to the earth; then he faith, " God preferve our Lordwith long life and joy; " and all anſwer, " God grant;" then he faith, “ God increaſeand advance his empire, and preferve his fubjects in peace, concord, and profperity; 'and all anfwer, " God grant;" and this they do four times; then the adoration beingfiniſhed, the fame prelate goes to an altar, richly adorned, on which is a red table,whereon is written the name of the Khan; and taking a cenfer, and putting fpicestherein, they perfume the table and the altar with great reverence, in honour of theGreat Khan, and fo return to their places; after which are offered the gifts of whichwe have ſpoken; and then the tables are prepared, and a moſt folemn dinner held,eating and drinking with greatjoy with their wives, in manner before deſcribed . Andlaftly, a tame lion is brought to the King, which, lying at his feet like a gentle whelp,acknowledgeth and careffes his lord.In thoſe three months in which we faid before the Emperor refides in the city ofCambalu, viz. in December, January, and February, all the hunters which the Emperor hath in all his provinces round about the province of Cathay, apply themſelves tohunting, and bring all the larger wild beafts, fuch as ftags, bears, roe-bucks, wildboars, and deer, to their governors; who, ifthey be diftant from the Emperor's courtleſs than thirty days' journey, ſend fuch beaſts as are taken by waggons or fhips to theEmperor, having first bowelled them; but fuch as are forty days diftant from hiscourt, fend only the fkins, which are neceflary for making of armour.He hath manyleopards and wolves for hunting, and many lions alſo, greater than thoſe which are inBabylon, in the hair whereof certain little beams appear of divers colours, viz. white,commonly imagined; and I must confefs, that I cannot, for my own part, help thinking that the religionof the Tartars is very nearly the fame with that of the old Perfians, that is to fay, I apprehend the Lamasofthe one correfpond with the Magi among the others .15 black,1134 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.black, and red, and they are bred to catch bears, boars, ftags, roe-bucks, wild affes,and wild oxen, and it is marvellous to fee the lion's fiercenefs and dexterity in this fortof hunting; two lions are commonly carried in one waggon when they go to hunt,and with them a dog, with which they are tamed; and they carry them in this fafhionbecauſe oftheir fury and unrulinefs; and they muft carry them contrary to the wind,for elfe the beafts would fcent them and flee. He hath alfo many tame eagles, whichare fo taught, that they take hares, roe-bucks, deer, and foxes; among which fome ofthem fear not to feize upon wolves, and vex them fo grievously, that without labourand danger they may be taken by them.The Khan hath in his court two which are brethren, one called Boyan, the otherMingan; called in the Tartar language Ciurco, that is, mafters of the game; each ofthem hath the command of ten thoufand men. They which are under one of them areclothed in red; the others in fky colour; when they hunt, thefe keep diverfe forts ofdogs, to the number of five thousand maftiffs and others. In hunting they go withtheir people one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and the King and theytake up fo great a length ofthe plain, that from one end to the other is a day's journey,fo that no beaft can efcape them; and it is great pleafure when the Khan goes in themidft, to fee the dogs follow hares, bears, and all other wild beafts. Thefe brethrenare bound by covenant from the beginning of October to the end ofMarch, to bringto the court one thoufand head of beafts and birds, befides quails and files, the beſtthey can, in fuch proportion.17. The month of March coming in, the Great Khan departeth from the city ofCambalu, and proceedeth north- eaftward towards the occan, diftant thence two days'journey, bringing with him about ten thousand falconers, who have falcons, hawks,ger-falcons, and other kind of fowls of prey, fit for hawking. Thefe falcons difperfethemfelves by an hundred or two hundred in a company, and the birds that are takenfor the moſt part are brought unto the King, who, by reafon of his gout, fitteth in awooden houfe, which two elephants carry, covered with the fkins of lions, and withinhung with cloth of gold, having with him for his recreation twelve choice hawks, andtwelve courtiers; many noblemen and foldiers ride by, who guard the King's perfon,who when they fee pheafants or cranes, or other birds flying in the air, fpeak to thefalconers, who are near the King, and they fignify the fame unto the King, uncoverthe King's houfe, and let their falcons and hawks fly, and the King fitting on his bed,beholds the pastime of the birds. Other ten thoufand men go alfo with the King, whoin that hawking run hither and thither by two and two, and mark whither the falconand hawks fly that are caft fromthe fift , that if need be they may help them; and thefein the Tartar language are called Tofcaol, that is to fay, waichmen, or markfmen,being fkilful in a certain kind of whistle, wherewith they call in the hawks that areflown; nor is it needful that the falconer, who let the hawks fly, fhould follow them ,fecing thofe ofwhom I now ſpeak are bufily employed in taking up the hawks, and arecareful that by no means they are hurt or loft; and every flying hawk carrieth a littletable of filver on her foot, figned with the mark of her mafter or falconer, that if thebe loft , fhe may be restored to her owner * .It may not be amifs to remind the reader, that this paffa*ge of our author confirms what we have be- fore met with in the accounts of the Arabian travels, and in the relation of the monk Rubruquis. It is alfoclear from the whole of this account, that the notions generally received of the barbarity, ftupidity, and want of genius among the Tartars, are not extremely well founded, but are rather to be ranked among thofe prejudices which are the effects of ſpeaking or thinking without juft motives, or in plain English, are the effects of ignorance.ButTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.. 135But if the mark cannot be known, the hawk is delivered to a certain baron, who forthis caufe is called Bulangazi, to whom are brought all loft things (otherwife the finderwould be puniſhed as a thief), and to him lofers refort to enquire of things loft. Hehath a moft eminent place noted by his enfign, that in fo great an affembly of peoplehe may always be known. While they are thus bufied in fporting and hawking, theycome into a certain great plain called Carzarmodin, where the tents ofthe King and allthe courtiers are prepared, about ten thoufand in number.The first is the Khan's pavilion , under which ten thoufand foldiers ftand , befidesbarons and noblemen, with the door to the fouth, fuftained by three pillars, wroughtwith curious and excellent carved work, and covered with the fkins of lions, and otherwild beafts, which keep out rain; but within, the walls of the pavilion are coveredwith moſt coſtly ſkins of ermines and fables, although in thofe countries theſe ſkins areaccounted moft precious, fo that fometimes fkins worth two thouſand fultanines ofgold, are fcarce fufficient for one pair of vefts. The Tartars call the fable the Queenof furs; the cords wherewith thefe pavilions are fupported are of filk. There arealfo other pavilions erected, wherein the wives, fons, and concubines of the Kingremain. Further alfo the falcons, hawks, ger-falcons, and other birds, which fervefor hawking, have their tents; for there is fo great a multitude of tents, that to themthat come thither it feems at a diftance as ifa famous city was built there.The King remains all March in that plain, and takes innumerable beafts, and infinitemultitudes of fowl; for no man may in this time hunt in all the provinces of that kingdom , at the leaſt within five days' journey one way, ten another, and fifteen a thirdway, of the Khan's court, nor keep an hunting dog or an hawk from the beginning ofMarch until the month of October. No man is permitted to ufe any device or enginewhatſoeverto take ftags, deer, roe-bucks, or hares, left he fhould hinder their breed;and hence it is, that there is fuch plenty of game. It is incredible what multitudes ofpeople, merchants, and merchandizes of all forts are feen in Cambalu. The moneyof the Great Khan is not made of gold, or filver, or other metal; but they take themiddle bark from the mulberry tree, and this they make firm, and cut into diversround pieces, great and little, and imprint the King's mark thereon; of this papermoney therefore the Emperor caufeth an huge mafs to be made in the city of Cambalu,which fufficeth for the whole empire, and no man under pain of death may coin anyother, or ſpend any other money, or refufe it in all his kingdoms and countries, norany coming from another kingdom dare fpend any other money in the empire of theGreat Khan. Hence it follows, that merchants, often coming from remote countriesunto the city of Cambalu, bring with them gold, filver, pearl, and precious ftones,and receive the King's money for them; and becaufe this money is not received in theircountry, they change it again, in the empire of the Great Khan, for merchandize,which they carry away with them. He alfo payeth ftipends to his officers and army inthe above- mentioned money. And laftly, whatever thing he needs in his court, he,buyeth with this money. Wherefore there is not a King to be found in the world whoexceedeth him in treafure , not expended on the mint, as elſewhere.The Great Khan hath twelve barons, as is faid, before which are the council ofwar, who difpofe of martial affairs, and the exalting or difgracing of captains or foldiers. Their office is called Thai, that is , the high court, becaufe they have none abovethem but the Khan. Other twelve barons are appointed counfellors for the four-andthirty provinces, which have a fair palace in Cambalu, in which is for every provinceajudge, and many notaries. Thefe have power to choofe governors of the faid provinces, and prefent their names to the Khan, who confirms them. Theſe alfo havethe136 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.the charge ofthe treaſure to collect and difpenfe the fame; their office is called Singh ,that is, the fecond court, fubject to none but the Khan, yet reputed lefs noble than theformer, that being a military eftablishment.There are many public roads from the city of Cambalu, which conduct to the neighbouring provinces, and in every one of them , at the end of five-and-twenty or thirtymiles, are lodgings or inns built, called lambs, that is, poft-houfes, with large and faircourts, chambers furnished with beds and other provifions, every way fit to entertaingreat men, nay, even to lodge a King. The provifions are laid in from the countryadjacent; there are about four hundred horfes, which are in readinefs for meffengersand ambaffadors, who there leave their tired horfes, and take frefh; and in mountainous places, where are no villages, he fends people to inhabit, about ten thouſandat a place, where thefe lambs or poft-houfes are built, and they cultivating the groundfor their provifions. Thefe excellent regulations continue unto the utmoſt limits oftheempire, fo that in the public ways throughout the whole empire, about ten thouſandof the King's inns are found; and the number of the hortes appointed for the ferviceof the meffengers in thofe inns are more than two hundred thoufand, a thing almoſtincredible; hence it is that in a little while, with change of men and horfes, intelligencecomes without ftop to the court; and if any wonder howfo many men and beaſts ſhouldbe provided for, he muſt confider, that the Moors and Gentiles have many women,and by them abundance of children, fome having thirty fons, which follow themarmed; and for victuals they fow three kinds of feeds, rice, panike, and millet , whichyield an hundred fold . They make no bread, but boil thefe with milk or fleth. Wheatwill not fo encreaſe with them, nor fuffer they any gronnd which will bear, to lie untilled; and the cattle continually encreafe, fo that each of them carries with him fix, eight,or more horſes into the field, for his own perfon. The horſes are employed by turns, fothat of the four hundred, two hundred are in the ftables ready, the other two hundredat grafs, each a month at a time. Their cities alfo that are adjoining to rivers or lakesare appointed to have ferry-boats in readineſs for the pofts, and cities on the bordersof defarts are directed to have horfes and provifions for the ufe of fuch as pafs throughthoſe defarts; but have a reaſonable allowance for this fervice of the Khan. Incafes of great confequence, the poſt rides with a ger-falcon table, and is equipped fo,that he will ride two hundred miles in a day, or two hundred and fifty fometimes;alfo they ride all night, foot-pofts running by them with lights, if the moon does notfhine.They found a horn, that the freſh horfes may be brought forth for them to mountprefently, and having their bellies and heads girded, they run as faſt as the horſe cango; and thoſe which are able to endure this exceffive riding, are on that account ingreat reputation among them , who admire nothing fo much as horfemanſhip. Thereare alfo between theſe inns other habitations, three or four miles diftant one fromanother, in which there are a few houfes, where foot-pofts live, having each of themhis girdle hung full of fhrill founding bells. Theſe keep themſelves always ready, andas often as the Khan's letters are fent to them, convey them ſpeedily to the pofts at thenext village , who, hearing the found of the foot-poft coming when at a diſtance, expecthim, and receive his letters, prefently carry them to the next watch; and fo the letters,paffing through feveral hands, are conveyed, without delay, to the place whither theyought to come: and it often happens, that the King by this learns news, or receivesnew fruits, from a place ten days' journey diftant, in two days. As for inftance,fruits growing at Cambalu in the morning, by the next day at night are at Xandu; butall the before-mentioned pofts are free from all tribute, and receive a great recom.penceTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.137pence for their labours from the King's rent- gatherers befides. Some alfo are appointedto examine thefe pofts monthly, and to punifh their faults, if they are fairly convicted.He fends yearly to the divers provinces of his empire, to enquire whether any prejudice be done to the corn by tempefts, locufts, worms, or any other means; andwhen he hath notice given him that any province or city hath fuftained any damage,he remits his tribute to that people for that year, and fends grain for victual and forfeed out of his own granaries; for in a time of great plenty the King buys abundance ofcorn, and keeps it with great care by his officers, three or four years in granaries, thatwhen there happens to be a fcarcity of corn in one country, that defect may be fupplied out of the King's ftorehouſes in another. He felleth his grain for a fourth partof the common price, and always provides that his ftorchoufes are kept fully ſupplied.Likewife when any murrain lights among cattle he fends them other cattle, which hehas for tenths in other provinces; and if a thunderbolt has ftriken any beaft of anyherd or flock, he receives no tribute from it for three years, let the herd be ever fogreat; neither will he receive any cuſtom of a thunder-ftricken ſheep, as thinking Godis angry with them, that are fo ftricken.Likewife that travellers may difcern all places able to bear trees, he hath caufedtrees to be planted, at a convenient diftance one from another, near the principal roads; and in the fandy and defart places he hath caufed ftones and pillars to beerected for that purpofe, and officers are appointed to look to thefe things. He plantstrees the rather, becauſe his aftrologers tell him that planting trees lengthens the lifeof man. They make excellent drink, in the province of Cathay, of rice and diversfpices, which in the taſte thereof excels the flavour even of wine; and they who drinkmore greedily thereof than is fit, or the nature ofthe drinker can bear, become foonerintoxicated than if they had drank wine.Through the whole province of Cathay, certain black ftones are dug out of themountains, which put into the fire, burn like wood, and, being kindled, preſerve firea long time, and, if they be kindled in the evening, they keep fire all the night *; andmany ufe thofe ftones, becauſe that though they have plenty of wood, yet is there fuchfrequent uſe of ſtones and laths, that the wood would not ſerve.It is not amifs, having ſpoken of his provifion abroad, to mention his care for thepoor of Cambalu. When he hears of any honourable family decayed by misfortune,or of any which cannot work, and have no fubfiftence, he gives to fuch familiesthe whole year's expences, each head of fuch families going to the officer forthat purpoſe, and fhewing their bill of allowance, receive provifions accordingly.There is a place fet apart for thofe officers; they are provided alfo with garmentsfor winter and for fummer. The Khan having the tenths of all wool, filk andhemp, which he caufes to be made into cloaths, in a houfe for that purpoſe appointed; for all trades are bound one day in the week to work for him. He providesalfo apparel for his armies, and in every city cauſeth cloth to be made of his tytheThe reader will eafily difcern, that what our author ſpeaks ofhere with fo much wonder, is , in truth ,nothing more than a coal-mine, which might appear very ftrange to him, who very probably had neverfeen or heard of any fuch thing; but fome of the miffionaries feem to be inexcufable, who have dreffed upthis matter with fuch pompous expreffions, as might induce unwary readers to believe that the Chineſe dugfire out of the carth, and that they laid it up in cellars or vaults; whereas after all, there is nothingftranger in their digging and keeping coals there, than what we fee practifed every day in our own country,and very probably, if we were to examine other wonders that are told us, as clofely and feverely as theydeferve, we might be able to diſcover that they were rather rendered marvellous by the ignorance of relaters, than by any thing fupernatural in themſelves.VOL. VII. T. wool.138THE VOYAGESAND TRAVELSOF MARCOPOLO.wool. You muſt understand, that the Tartars, according to their ancient cuſtoms,beſtowed no alins, but rather upbraided thoſe that were in neceffity, as hated of God;but the idolaters, eſpecially thofe Bachfi, have propounded it as a good work acceptable unto God, and have taught him to be thus bountiful; fo that in this court, breadis never denied to any who afk it, and there is no day in which are not given awaytwenty thoufand crowns in rice, millet, and panike; whence he is eſteemed as a Godby his fubjects.There are in Cambalu, Chriftians, Saracens, and Catayans, about five thouſandaftrologers and diviners, which the Great Khan provideth yearly in food and raiment,as he doth thoſe poor abovefaid. Theſe have an aftrolabe, in which are marked theſigns of the planets, the hours and points of all the year. Herein all thoſe aſtrologers,each religion apart, view the courfe of the year according to every moon, obfervingthe difpofition of the weather, referring always to God to do more or leſs after hisown pleaſure. They write alfo upon certain fquares they call Tacuini, the thingswhich are to come that year, which they fell to thofe that will buy them, and fuch asfpeak moſt truth are moft honoured. If any intend any great work, or to go a farjourney, and will know the event before hand, he has recourſe to theſe aſtrologers, tofee it with their eyes in the heavens, which they pretend to do, comparing the preſentconſtellation with that of his birth, which they demand of him; fo foretelling him thegood or evil. The Tartars reckon the computation of their years by twelves, the firſtfignified by a lion, the fecond by an ox, the third by a dragon, the fourth by a dog,and fo through the whole twelve; fo that if it be demanded of a man when he wasborn, he will anſwer, fuch a point of fuch an hour of fuch a day, in the year Lion.This their fathers exactly ſet down in a book, and when the twelve is complete, theygo over the fame againOf their religion, we have faid, that they are idolaters; and for their gods, have atable fet aloft in the wall of their chamber, on which is written a name reprefentingthe high God of Heaven, and there every day with a cenfor of incenſe they adore it inthis manner; they lift up their hands aloft, and ſtrike their teeth thrice, praying it togive them a good underſtanding and health, and defire thereof nothing elfe. Befides, on the ground they have another ftatue called Natigai, the god of earthlythings, with his wife and children, whom likewife they worship with incenfe, ftrikingor gnaſhing the teeth, and lifting up their hands, and defire thereof temperature ofthe air, fruits of the earth, children, and the like. They hold the foul to be immortal, and that when a man dies, it enters into another body, better or worſe, accordingto the merits of the former life; as of a poor man to become a gentleman, and aftera prince or lord, and fo higher, till it be abforbed in God; and if it have ill deferved,to be a poorer man, after a dog, always defcending to the loweft rank of bafeneſs.They have a comely fpeech, falute chearfully and honeſtly, have a graceful carriage,and feed cleanly. They bear great reverence to their parents, and if any be undutifulor regardleſs of their neceffity, there is a public tribunal affigned for this particular topuniſh ungrateful or difobedient children: prifoners are releafed at three years end,and marked in the cheek, that they may be known for malefactors.The barons and people which go to the Grand Khan, obſerve theſe rights: firſt ,within half a mile of the place where the Khan is, all is ftill and quiet, without noiſe

• The Tartarian cycle was a very good contrivance, and, as fuch, has been not only preferved amongſt

them, but fpread itfelf alfo into other countries; we fhall hereafter have occafion to explain it more atlarge; at prefent it fhall fuffice to obferve, that fomething of the fame kind was antiently uſed in thenorthern nations of Europe, and is still practiſed among the favages in fome parts of America.2. orTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 139or any loud fpeech; that every baron carries continually a little veffel to fpit in, afterwhich he covers it, none daring to fpit in the hall; they have fur bufkins of white leather, which they put on when they enter the hall, putting off the former, and givingthem to the fervants, left they fhould foul the carpets.18. Ten miles off Cambalu is a certain great river named Pulifangan, emptying itſelfinto the ocean, by which many fhips with much merchandize afcend; and in that p'acethere is a very fair bridge, all of ferpentine ftone, curiously wrought, containing threehundred paces in length, and eight in breadth, fo broad that ten men may ride abreaft;on each fide it is fecured with a wall of marble, and pillars fet in a row, and in the heightof this aſcent is a great and high pillar, at the feet whereof is a great lion, and on thetop another, and fo quite through the bridge: one pace and a half diſtance are pillarswith lions on the tops, and a fair wall with wrought marble work betwixt, to keep menfrom falling. Having paffed over the river and bridge, and proceeding thirty milesweftward (in which palaces are continually feen, with vineyards and fertile fields) , youcome to the city Gouza, both fair and great, having many monafteries of idols.Cloths of gold and filk are made there, and the pureft and fineſt cambricks or lawns;and many common inns for ſtrangers or travellers are found in that city. The citizensare artificers and merchants. A mile without this city the way parteth, one leadingweft, the other fouth-eaft; that to the weft leadeth through the province of Cathay,but the other, towards the country of Mangi, from the city of Gouza to the kingdomof Tainfu *.You ride ten days through Cathay, always finding many fair cities, well furniſhedwith vineyards, and tilled fields, from whence wine is carried to Cathay, where thereis none; there are many mulberry-trees for filk-worms, the people civil, and citiesvery numerous and populous. Tainfu is the name of the kingdom, and of the chiefcity, which is great and fair, hath much trade, with ftore of ammunition, fit for theKhan's armies. The wine about this city ferveth the whole province. Seven daysfurther weftward is a pleaſant country beautified with many caſtles and cities in whichalſo there is great trade in different mercandize carried on. After which you come toa city very great, named Pianfu, in which there is vaft abundance of filk and muchtrade. Weftward from Pianfu ftands a very pleaſant caſtle, named Thaigin, ancientlybuilt by a King called Dor; in it is a ſpacious palace, wherein is a fine hall, in whichare painted all the famous kings which have reigned there, and it is a fair ſpectacle.Of this King Dor, they fay he was potent, and was attended only by young damfels,of which he had many in his court. Theſe alfo, when he had a mind to take his pleafure, carried him in a ſmall light chariot through the caftle, which was fo fortified byart and nature, that the governor thereof feared none, no not Umcan his lord, againſtwhom he rebelled.Butfeven men, profeffing fidelity and fervice to Dor, took him at a diſadvantage inhunting, and brought him prifoner to prefbyter John, or Umcan, who put him onvile cloths, and appointed him to keep his cattle, and fet over him a ftrong guard, tilltwo years were ended: after which he commanded him to be brought before him, andIt must be acknowledged, that the defcription here given by our author is a little dark and perplexed,and that at the fame time it is no eafy matter to fettle the places he mentions; but on the other hand itmuft be confidered, that this is the firſt account that was received here in Europe of the great country ofChina, and that this account was written by a man little, if at all, acquainted with the fciences, and whoaimed at nothing more than tranfcribing from his note-book the names of places and provinces, theirdiſtances from each other, with fuch other circumftances relating to them as at ſo great a distance of time he was able to recollect.T 2being140 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO PCLO.being dreffed in princely apparel, he giving him his pardon, after a fharp admonition,fent him well attended to the re- poffeffion of his kingdom. About twenty milesbeyond the caſtle Thaigin is the river Caramaran, which, by reafon of the exceedingbreadth and depth thereof, hath no bridge over it in all the ſpace from thence, till itfloweth to the ocean. On the fhore thereof are many cities and caſtles built, wherein greattradeis carried on. This countryaboundswith ginger, filk, and fowl, efpecially pheasants,fo that three of them are bought for a Venetian groat. There grow reeds in vaftplenty, fo thick that fome are a foot, and others a foot and a half in compafs, whichare applied to many ufes. Paffing this river, after two days' journey, is the famouscity called Carianfu, where many cloths of gold and filk are made. Here grow ginger, galingale fpike, and many fpices. The people are idolaters.Proceeding feven days journey weftward, many cities and towns, lovely fields andgardens are found, and every where mulberries for filk-worms. As for the people,they are moſtly idolaters; but there are alfo Chriſtians, Turks, Neftorians and fomeSaracens. There is a vaſt abundance here of wild beafts and fowl. If you proceedfeven days journey farther, you fhall come to a certain great city named Quenfanfu,which is the chief city of the kingdom, in which have reigned many famous kings;and, at this day, the fon of the Great Khan, called Mangalu, hath the commandthereof. That country yields great plenty of filk, cloth of gold, and all other thingsneceffary for furniſhing an army, and for the prefervation of man's life. The inhabitants worſhip idols, and there are fome Chriftians, Turks, and Saracens. Five mileswithout this city ftandeth the palace of Mangalu, feated in a plain, where are manyfprings, rivulets and places of game. There is a high wall encompaffing a park of fivemiles, where are all forts of wild beafts and fowls. In the midſt is an excellent palace,having many halls and chambers, great and fair, all painted with gold and azure, andnumberleſs ſtatues adorning it. The King, with his courtiers, delights himſelf in hunting the wild beafts, and taking of fowl, and following his father's examples in juſticeand equity, is much beloved of his people.Proceeding three days journey weftward from the faid palace, through a very beautiful plain, where many cities and caftles are, which abound with filk merchandize andmanufactures, you come to a country where in the mountains and vallies are frequenthabitations, and many villages of the province of Chunchian. The inhabitants as toreligion are idolaters; and as to employment, hufbandmen. Alfo in that countrythey hunt lions, bears, itags, roc-bucks, deer, and wolves. The plain is two daysjourney over, and the country is about twenty days journey weftward, well inhabited ,being finely, diverfified into mountains, vallies, and woods. After theſe twenty days,towards the weft, there lies a province called Achbaluch Mangi, that is, the white city,on the borders of Mangi, which is well peopled. This province, for two days journey,hath a plain, in which are an infinite number of villages: beyond thefe lie mountains,vallies, and wood, all well inhabited. It hath plenty of wild beafts, and of thoſe creatures that yield mufk. In this province ginger grows in great plenty, as alfo corn andrice.After twenty days journey through thofe hills is a plain, and a province in the confines of Mangi, named Sindinfu. The chief city hath the fame name, and is verygreat, and exceeding rich, being twenty miles in circuit. It hath had many rich andmighty kings; but an old king dying, left three fons fucceffors in the kingdom, whodivided the city into three parts, compafling every part with their proper walls; allwhich, notwithſtanding, were contained within the former wall; but the Great Khanfubjected nevertheleſs that city and kingdom. Through this city run many rivers, and до manyTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 141many places round about, fome half a mile over, fome two hundred paces, very deep;on them are many bridges of ſtone, very fair, eight paces broad, fet on both fides withmarble pillars, which bear up a timber frame that covers the bridge, each bridgehaving ſtreets and fhops thereupon. When the rivers have paffed through the city,they become one great river, called Quian, which runs one hundred days journey henceto the ocean. Near thefe rivers are many cities and caſtles, and on them innumerableſhips for merchandize. Proceeding four days journey farther, through a very fineplain, many cities, caftles, and villages are found, in which five lawns extend inbeautiful order. There are alfo many wild beafts there. Beyond the plain, which wehave now mentioned, is the wide province of Thebet, which the Great Khan vanquiſhedand wafted; for in it lie many cities deſtroyed and caftles overthrown, by the ſpace oftwenty days journey; and becauſe it is become a wildernefs, wanting inhabitants, wildbeafts and lions are increafed exceffively, and it is requifite therefore that travellers.carry victuals with them . Verylarge cane grows in this country, ten paces in length,.and three palms in thicknefs, and as much from knot to knot. When travellers.therefore will reft at night fecure from beafts, they take great bundles of the greenerreeds, and putting fire under, kindle them, which makes fuch a crackling, and fogreat a noife, that it may be heard two miles off; which terrible found the wild beaftshearing, flee away, but it has fometimes happened, that horfes and other beafts, whichmerchants ufe for their journey, hearing this noife, and cracking, have grown alfomuch afraid, and betaking themſelves to flight have efcaped from their masters; and:therefore wifer travellers binding their feet together detain them in their properplaces.19. Theſe twenty days journey ended, having paffed over the province of Thebet,we met with cities, and many villages, in which, through the blindneſs of idolatry, awicked cuftom is ufed; for no man there marrieth a wife that is a virgin; whereupon,when travellers and ftrangers, coming from other places, pafs through this countryand pitch their pavilions, the women of that place having marriageable daughters,bring them unto ftrangers, defiring them to take them, and enjoy their company aslong as they remain there. Thus the handfomeft are chofen, and the reft return homeforrowful, and when they depart, they are not fuffered to carry any away with them,but faithfully refiore them to their parents. The maiden alfo requireth fome toy orfmall prefent of him who hath deflowered her, which the may fhew, as an argumentand proof of her condition; and the that hath been loved and abufed of moft men,.and fhall have manyfuch favours and toys to fhewto herwooers, is accounted more noble,and may onthat account be advantageoufly married, and when the would appear mofthonourably dreffed , fhe hangs all her lovers favours about her neck, and the moreacceptable fhe was to many, fo much the more honour the receives from her countrymen. Butwhen they are once married, they are no more fuffered to converfe withftrange men, and the men ofthis country are very cautious never to offend one another inthis matter. They are idolaters, and cruel, thinking it no fin if they rob and exerciſetheft. They live by hunting and the fruits of the earth: many beafts alfo are foundwith them, yielding mufk, called in this country Gadderi.. They have a language oftheir own, and have no money, not fo much as the paper money of the Khan, but ufecorals for money, and are cloathed with the fkins of beafts, or coarfe hemp. Thiscountry belongs to the province, of Thebet, for Thebet is a very large province, and.has been fometimes divided into eight kingdoms having many cities and towns, withmountains, lakes, and rivers, where gold is found. The women wear coral about theirnecks, and hang it about the necks of their idols, as a precious thing. In this country142 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.try there are very large dogs, as big as affes, which take wild beaſts, eſpecially wildoxen, called Boyamini.There are in this province many forts of fpices, which are never brought into theſeparts. This Thebet is ( as all the former provinces) fubject to the Khan. On the weſtof the province of Thebet bordereth the province of Caindu, which was formerly governed by her own king, now by the governors of the Khan. Bythe weſt, you muſtnot underſtand that the countries are in the weft; but that we, departing from thoſeparts which are betwixt the eaft and north-eaſt, came hither weftward, and thereforereckon them weftward. The people are idolaters , have many cities, the chief calledbythe name of the province, Caindu, built on the frontiers of the province. Thereis a large falt lake, in which are abundance of pearls, white, but not round, ſo many,that in point of price they would become little worth, if they were fuffered to becarried away at men's pleaſure. It is therefore provided, upon pain of death, thatnone fhould prefume to fiſh for pearl in this lake, without the licence of the GreatKhan. There is alfo a mountain, in which is found a mine of Turquoiſe ftones, thedigging of which is reftrained by the like licence. Many Gadderi are alfo in thisprovince, which yield muſk. That lake alfo which breeds pearl in fuch plenty, aboundswith fifh, and the whole country is full of wild beaſts, that is to ſay, of lions, bears,ftags, deer, ounces, roe-bucks, and divers kinds of birds. Cloves are found there ingreat plenty, which are gathered from fmall trees, which have boughs and leaves likethe bay-tree, but fomewhat longer, and ftraiter, white flowers, and brittle, as arethe cloves, and when they are ripe they are black and dufky. Ginger, cinnamon, andfeveral other fpices, grow there in great plenty, which are not brought into ourcountries. Wine, however, though plentiful with us, groweth not in it, but insteadthereof they make a moft excellent drink of corn, rice, and divers fpices.The inhabitants of this country worſhip idols, to which they are fo befotted, thatthey think they deferve their favours, if they proſtitute their wives, fifters and daughters, to be abufed by travellers; for when any ſtranger cometh amongſt them, everymaſter of a houſe feeketh to give him entertainment, and leaving the females and houſeto the ftrangers, will not return until they depart, which he doth for the glory of hisidols, hoping they will be more gracious to him. Certain fprigs of gold are their money, ufing weights, and according to the weight of the fprig is the value of themoney, and this money is their larger fort of money without ftamp. They have alfoa leffer, which they make after this manner. They boil falt in a cauldron, for aboutan hour, and of this, being congealed they make little lumps like two- penny loaves,which being folid, is figned with the prince's ſtamp, and they make vaft profit thereofin places remote from cities, which have ſtore of mufk and gold, and want chapmen.Thefe barter their gold for falt, to uſe with their meats.Leaving this province, they proceed fifteen days journey further, and in that ſpacemeet with caftles, and many villages whofe inhabitants have the fame cuftoms that theprovince of Caindu hath, and at length they come unto a river called Brius, bywhich the province of Caindu is bounded. In this river gold is found in great plenty,which they call Di Paiola, waſhed in veffels to cleanfe it from the fand and earth. Onthe banks thereof cinnamon grows in great abundance. This river falls directly intothe ocean. Having paffed over the river Brius, they come weftward to the provinceCaraian, which contains feven kingdoms. It is fubject to the Great Khan, whoſe ſonnamed Sentemur, is made Vice-King of that kingdom, and is a young prince, rich,wife, and juft.TheTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 143The inhabitants thereof are idolaters; you ride five days journey through it, andfind it all well peopled: they live on their beafts and fruits. The country breeds excellent horſes, and it hath a peculiar and difficult language. Having finished thefe fivedays journey, you come to the chief city called Jaci, which is both great and famous,hath in it many merchants and artificers, and many forts of people, idolaters, Chriftians, Neftorians, and Saracens, but the greateſt part of the inhabitants are idolaters. Ithath corn and rice, notwithſtanding which they eat no bread of corn, becaufe it is notwholeſome, but they make bread of rice; they make drink alſo of it, and ſeveral ſpices,which is very pleafant; they ufe white porcelane inftead of money, and for ornaments,fhells which are found at fea. Much falt is made in this city of the water of falt-wells ,from whence the Vice-King hath great profit. The men of this country care not ifany man come to their wives, fo they give their confent. There is alſo a lake there veryfull of fiſh, containing an hundred miles in compafs. Thefe men eat raw fleſh of hens,beef, mutton, and buffaloes, but prepared after this manner: they firft cut it into ſmallpieces, and after ſeaſon it with excellent fpices; but the poorer fort fhred it, and lay itin garlic fauce, and eat it as we do boiled meat. Departing from the city of Jaci,having travelled ten days journey weftward, we came to the province called, as thechief city, Carazan, which Cogatin, fon of Cublai, governeth. The rivers there yieldgreat quantities of waſhed gold, and alfo that which is folid, and on the mountains theyfind gold in the vein, and they give one pound of gold for fix of filver. They fpendporcelane for money brought thither from India.The inhabitants are idolaters; very great ferpents are bred in this country, fome ofwhich are ten paces in length, and in thickneſs ten fpans. They have two little feetbefore near the head, with three talons or claws like lions, and the eyes bigger than aloaf, fhining very bright. They have their mouths and jaws fo very wide, that they areable to ſwallow a man, great and ſharp teeth; nor is there any man, or other livingcreature, which can behold theſe ferpents without terror. There are alfo fome lefs , ofeight, or fix, ſome of five paces long, which are taken after this manner in the daytime they uſe to lie hid, by reafon of the heat, in holes, out of which they go by nightto feek their prey, and devour whatſoever they get, lions, wolves, as well as otherbeafts, and then go to f*ck water, leaving fuch a track through their weight in thefands, as if a piece of timber had been drawn there; whereupon the hunters faſtenunder the fands great iron ſpikes, in their ufual tracks, whereby they are wounded andflain. The crows prefently proclaim the ferpent's fate, and by their cries, invite thehunters, who come and flea him, taking out his gall, which is uſed for divers medicines,amongſt other things, for the biting of mad dogs, a pennyweight given in wine; andfor women in travail , for carbuncles, and other diftempers, and they fell the fleſh dear,as being exceeding delicate.There are ftout horfes bred in this province, which by their merchants are carried .into India. They commonly take one bone out of the tail, left he ſhould bend his tailhither and thither, and eſteem it more comely, that it hang downright. They uſe longftirrups as the French, which the Tartars and other nations, for their fhooting, ufefhort, becauſe when they ſhoot they rife up. They ufe targets and armour in the wars,made of the hides of buffaloes; they have lancets and crofs-bows, and poifon all theirarrows. Some of them, who are villains, are faid to carry poiſon about them continu--ally, that if they be taken they may fuddenly fwallow it, and fo dying at once preventtorture; for which cauſe the great lords have dog's dung ready, which they force themto ſwallow, and that makes them vomit the poifon. Before the Great Khan fubjectedthem, they uſed, when any ſtranger which feemed of good preſence and parts lodged.འwith144 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.with them, to kill him by night, fuppofing that thofe good parts of that man wouldabide afterwards in that houſe; and this filly notion has proved the death of many.Travelling forwards from the province of Carazan, after five days journey westward,is the province of Cardandan, which alfo is fubject to the Great Khan: the chief citythereof is called Vociam, the inhabitants whereof ufe porcelane, and weighed pieces ofgold inſtead of money; for in that country, and many others lying round about, filvermines are not found, and they give an ounce of gold for five ounces of filver, and according to this exchange great gain is made. The menand women in that country covertheir teeth with thin plates of gold, which they fo fit to themſelves, that the teeth themfelves feem, as they were, fet in thofe plates. The men about their arms and legs makelifts, pricking the places with needles, and putting therein a black indelible tincture;and thefe lifts or marks are eſteemed with them as a mark of great gallantry. They givetheir minds to nothing but riding , hunting, hawking, and the exercife of arms, leaving the houfhold cares to the women, who are affifted therein by flaves, which theybuy, or take in war. When a woman is once delivered, fhe forfakes the bed, wafhesthe child, and dreffes it, and thenthe hufband lieth down, and keeps the child with himforty days, not fuffering it to depart; is vifited all that time by friends and neighbours,to cheer and comfort him. The woman looks to the houſe, and carries the hufbandhis broths to the bed, and gives f*ck to the child by him. Their wine is made of riceand fpice; their ordinary food is rice, and raw fleſh, dreffed as before mentioned.this province there are no other idols, fave that every family adoreth the oldeſt man inthe houſe, of whom they fay, come themſelves and all they have; they dwell for themoft part in wild and mountainous places, but foreigners come not to thofe mountains,becauſe the air would kill them, being in fummer very corrupt.InThey have no letters, but make their contracts and obligations by tallies of wood,one half whereof one keepeth, and the other the other, which being afterwards paid,the tally is deftroyed. There are no phyficians in this province, nor in Caindu, Vociam, and Caraian; but when any is fick, they call the magicians or idol prieſts together, and the fick perfon declares his diſeaſe unto them; then the magicians dance, andfound certain inftruments, and bellow forth fongs in honour of their gods, till at lengththe devil entereth into one of them, ſkipping and playing in the dance. Then leavingthe dance, they confult with him that is poffeffed, for what caufe this diſeaſe happened unto him , and what is to be done for his recovery. The devil anfwereth byhim, becauſe he hath done this or that, or becauſe he hath offended this or that god,therefore he fell into this difeafe. Then the magicians intreat that god to pardon himthis offence, promifing that if the fick perfon recovers, he fhall offer a facrifice of hisown blood; but if the devil, or the priest, think the patient to be fick of fuch a difeaſethat he cannot be freed from the fame, he uſeth to anfwer; this man hath fo grievouslyoffended that god, that he cannot by any facrifices be appeafed; but if he think he ſhallrecover, he commandeth to offer fo many rams, having black heads, and to prepare fomany magicians with their wives, by them to offer facrifices, and that god may then beappeafed towards him; which being heard, his kinfmen quickly caufe thofe things to bedone which the devil commanded. They kill rams, and fprinkle their blood in the air,and the magicians affembled, light great candles, and perfume the whole houfe withincenfe, making great fmoke oflignum aloes, and fprinkle the broth of the flesh in theair, with the potion made of fpices; all which being duly performed, they ſkip aboutagain, and dance in honour of that idol, which is fuppofed to have been favourable tothe fick, finging and making a horrible noife with their voices. Theſe things beingperformed, they afk the poffeffed again, whether the idol be pleafed? And if he anfwer,THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 145fwer, no, they preſently prepare themfelves to fulfil any other command of his; but ifhe anſwer that he is fatisfied, they fit down at the table, and eat the fleſh offered to theidol with great joy, and drink the liquors; and dinner being ended, and the magicianspaid, every one returns to his own home; and when the fick hath thus efcaped thediſeaſe, through the providence of God, and hath been reſtored to health, they attributeit to the idol, to whom they facrificed; but if he die, then they fay, the idol was defrauded, and that fome of the facrificers tafted thereof firft: this is not done to all, butby the richer, the devil, or his priefts in his name, impofing on their blindneſs.The Great Khan, A. D. 1272, fent an army into the kingdom of Vociam and Gurazan to reduce it, his forces being to the number of twelve thouſand veteran troops,under the conduct of a Neftorian, an experienced officer. As foon as the King of Meinand King of Bengala heard of their coming, affembling their forces, they joined horſeand foot together about threeſcore thoufand, and about a thouſand elephants bearingcaſtles, and in every caftle twelve or fixteen armed men were placed; with this armythe King of Mein marched fpeedily towards the city of Vociam, where the army oftheTartars lay encamped. Neftardin, however, marched forth with invincible courage tofight the enemy, and drawing near them, encamped near a certain great wood, knowing that the elephants with their towers on their backs were not able to enter the wood.Then the King of Mein feeing this, refolved to meet them; but the Tartarian horſeperceiving the elephants which were placed in the front of the battle were terrified , fothat they could not by any means be brought to charge the elephants; the Tartarstherefore were compelled to alight from their horfes, and tying them to the trees, theycame to fight on foot againſt thofe beafts, and very wifely fhot a multitude of arrowsagainſt the elephants, which not able to endure the wounds received by the arrows,betook themſelves to flight, and went all to the next wood, broke their caſtles, andoverthrew the armed men fitting in them; which the Tartars feeing, run to theirhorfes, and getting upon them, furiouſly fell upon the King's army with great violence,and many of either army fell. At length the King of Mein being put to flight, left thevictory to the Tartars, who haftened to the wood, and taking many captives, ufed theirhelp to feize two hundred of theſe elephants, and ever fince the Great Khan hath uſedelephants in his army, to which before he was not accuſtomed: hereupon alfo he vanquifhed the countries of the King of Mein and Bengala, and fubjected them to hisempire *.Departing from the province of Caraim, there is a great defart, which continuethtwo days and a half, nor is there any habitation there, but a very large plain, in whichthree days in the week multitudes meet together for trading. Many defcend from thegreat mountains of that country, bringing gold with them to change for filver, that is,giving an ounce of gold for five ounces of filver, and therefore many merchants fromThe great conquefts made by the Tartars in the east have fo overturned all monuments of antiquityamong the nations they have fubdued, that if it were not for theſe travels of Marco Polo, we should be ata lofs for any of the particulars relating to them. The Chineſe hiftorians, indeed, very fully confirm thetruth ofwhat he has delivered, but in general terms only; fo that they add nothing circumftantial, or capable of giving us a clearer or more diftinct idea of what he has laid down, in refpect to which it is fufficientfor us to obferve, that most of the facts he mentions either happened at the time when he was actually prefent in the court of the Great Khan, or a very little before it; fo that he could not but be well informed asto the truth of what he afferts. Strange indeed to us, who live at fo great a diſtance from thefe countries, andare to little acquainted with the manners of their inhabitants, but at the fame time very agreeable tothe bestaccounts that have been afforded us of thefe countries by modern travellers, and more eſpecially by the miffionaries, who have been at great pains to collect and reduce into order fuch paffa*ges as they have met with in Chineſe and other oriental writers.VOL. VIL U foreign146 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.foreign nations come thither, who bring filver and carry gold away, and bring thithermerchandize to fell to thefe people; for to thofe high mountains in which they whogather gold in the country dwell no ftranger can come, becauſe the way is intricateand unpaffable. When you are paft that plain, going toward the fouth, Meinbordereth upon India, and the diſtance is about fifteen days journey through placesuninhabited and woody, in which innumerable elephants, unicorns, and other wildbeafts wander.After that fifteen days' journey you come to Mein, a great and noble city, the headof the kingdom, and fubject to the Great Khan. The inhabitants thereof have a peculiar language, and are idolaters. In this city there was a King, who being ready to die,commanded that near to his fepulchre there fhould be erected two towers in the formof pyramids, one at the head, the other at the feet, both of marble, of the height often fathom. On the top was placed a round ball; he caufed one to be covered allover with gold, a finger thick, and the other with filver; and upon the top roundabout the balls, many little gold and filver bells were hanged, which, at the blowing ofthe wind, gave a certain fhrill and pleafant found. The monument or fepulchre wasalfo covered with plates, partly of gold, partly of filver. He commanded this to bemade in honour of his foul, and that his memory fhould never die among men. Andwhen the Great Khan undertook to fubdue this city, he fent a valiant captain, and thegreatcft part of his army were cavalry, of which the better part of his troops confifts;thefe winning the city would not demolish that monument without the Khan's knowledge; who hearing that the deceafed had erected it for the honour of his foul, wouldnot fuffer it to be injured; for the manner of the Tartars is not to violate the thingswhich belong to the dead. In this province are many elephants, wild oxen, great andfair ftags, and deer, and other wild beafts of divers kinds.The province Bengala bordereth upon India towards the fouth, which the GreatKhan fubdued when Marco Polo lived in this country. This country has its own proper King and language, the inhabitants whereof are all idolaters; they have mafterswhich keep fchools, and teach idolatries and enchantments, a thing common to all thegreat men of that country. They eat flesh, rice, and milk; they have cotton in greatplenty, and by the manufacture thereof, much trade is there carried on. They aboundalfo with fpike, galingal , ginger, fugar, and diverfe other ſpices; huge oxen alfo arethere, comparable unto elephants in height, but not in bulk. Many eunuchs are madein this province, which are afterwards fold to merchants. This province continueththirty days journey, in the end whereof, going eastward, is the province of Cangigu,.which is a country having alfo its proper King and peculiar language, the inhabitantswhereof worship idols, and are tributary to the Great Khan; their King hath aboutthree hundred wives; much gold is found in this province and many fpices, but theycannot cafily be tranfported, becaufe that country is far diftant from the fea: there arealfo many elephants in it, and much game. The inhabitants live on milk, fleſh , andrice; they have no wine, but they make very good drink of rice and ſpices. As wellthe men as the women ufe to embroider their faces, necks, hands, bellies, and legs,making the images of lions, dragons, and birds, and fo firmly imprint them, that theycannot eafily be put out; and the more fuch images any one has upon his body, fomuch heis eftecmed the finer and the more gallant. And there are alſo in this countryprofeffors of this foolish art of flefh- embroidery, which ufe no other trade but this needlework and dying of fools fkins.Amu lies to the eaft of that province, and is fubject to the Great Khan, whofe inhabitants worſhip idols, and have to themſelves a peculiar language. They abound with6 herdsTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 147herds of cattle, and have plenty of victuals, and many horfes, and thefe excellent,which merchants carry for fale to India. They have alfo many buffaloes and oxen,becauſe there are delicate paftures there. As well men as women wear bracelets ofgold and filver, of great value, on their arms, as alfo the like on their legs; but thofeof the women are moft valuable: from Amu to Cangigu are above five-and-twenty daysjourney. The province of Tholoman is ftill eight days journey farther diftant to theeaft from Amu, fubject to the Great Khan, having a peculiar language, and worshipping idols. The men and women in this country are tall, well-fhaped, and of a browncomplexion. The country is very well inhabited, having many and ftrong caftles andcities. The men are practifed in arms, and accuftomed to war; they burn the bodiesof their dead, and, inclofing the relics of their bones in a cheft, hide them in the cavesof the mountains, that they cannot be touched either by man or beaft. Gold is found ingreat plenty there, and inftead ofmoney, they ufe porcelane brought from India, as alfoin Cangigu and Amu. From the province of Tholoman the high road leads towardsthe east, by a river, on the bank of which are many cities and caſtles, and at the endof twelve days you come to the great city Cintiqui. The country is fubject to the GreatKhan, and the inhabitants therefore addicted to idolatry. Excellent cloths are madein this country of the bark of trees, with which they are clothed in the fummer. Manylions are there, fo that for fear ofthem, none dare fleep without doors by night; the veſſelswhich fail up and down the river for fear of thefe lions, are not faftened to the bank.There are great dogs in the fame country fo hardy and ftrong, that they fear not toattack the lion; and it often happeneth, that two dogs and one archer kill a lion: forthe dogs, fet on by the man, give the onfet, and the lion's nature is prefently to takefhelter from fome tree, that the dogs may not come behind him , neither will his greatheart fuffer him to run from the dogs, left he fhould feem afraid; but he holds hisftately pace, the man mean while fhooting, and the dogs faſtening on his hinder parts,but with fuch agility, that when the lion turns on them they are gone; and then thismagnanimous beaft holds on his way again, to feek a tree for fuccour, till what withbitings and arrows, he fometimes comes fhort, and, with expence of blood, dieth bythe way. This country abounds with filk, which by merchants is carried to diverfeprovinces by the river; they live therefore chiefly by their merchandize their moneyis paper, and they are valiant in arms.At the end of ten days is the city of Sidinfu, and twenty days from thence is Gingui,and four days thence is Palanfu, towards the fouth, and is in Cathay, returning by theother fide of the province. The people are idolaters , and burn their dead; there arealfo certain Chriftians which have a church, are all under the Khan, and ufe paper money. They make cloths of gold and filk, and lawns, very fine. By this city, whichhas many cities under it, runs a great river, which carries ftore of merchandife to Cambalu, made by many channels to paſs thither; but we will leave this place, and pro.ceeding three days' journey, fpeak of Ciangu, a great city towards the fouth, of theprovince of Cathay, fubject to the Khan. The inhabitants are idolaters, and burn theirdead. Their money is the (mulberry) paper coin of the Khan. In this city, and theterritories that depend upon it, they make large quantities of falt, for the earth aboundstherewith, and out of it they get falt after this manner; they heap up the earth in themanner of an hill, and pour water upon it, which draws the faltnefs of the earth into it,and then runs into certain conduits, and is boiled in pans, till it be congealed to falt,fair and white, to the great gain of the people and of the Great Khan, being carriedinto other countries to fell. There are large peaches, high flavoured, and weigh twoU 2pounds148 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.pounds a- piece. Five days journey beyond the city Ciangu, in Cathay, fouthward,ftandeth another city, named Ciangli, in which road are many cities and caſtles, fubjectto the Khan, through the midft of which runs a great river, very convenient for ſhipping laden with merchandife.Six days journey hence to the fouth is the noble kingdom and great city of Tudinfu, which had formerly its proper King, before it was fubdued by the Great Khan,A. D. 1272, and hath eleven royal cities famous for traffic under the jurifdiction thereof.It is very pleafantly feated for gardens and fruits, rich in filks; their Khan fent to begovernor thereof one of his Barons named Lucanfer, with eight thouſand horſe, whor*belled againſt this Lord, but was reduced and flain by an army of one hundred thoufand horfe, under two other Barons fent against him, and the country reduced to obedience. Seven days off towards the fouth is the famous city named Singuimatu, towhich on the fouth a great river runs, which being divided bythe inhabitants of theplace into two rivers, flows one branch to the eaft towards Cathay, and the other tothe weft toward Mangi; by theſe rivers innumerable veffels, and incredible for theirfize and wealth, bring neceffaries to both provinces. Ifyou proceed fixteen days journeytowards the fouth from Singuimatu, you will meet with cities and towns where prodigious trading is exerciſed. The inhabitants of theſe countries are idolaters, fubject tothe Great Khan. After that, fixteen days, you come unto a great river named Caramoran, which is faid to take its rife in the kingdom of Uncan, or Prefbyter John, in thenorth. It is very deep, and carries fhips of great burthen; it is alſo well ſtocked withfiſh, within one day's journey of the fea. There are in this river fifteen thouſand fail,`each of which carries fifteen horfes and twenty men, beſides victuals and mariners.This is the Khan's fleet, kept there in readineſs to carry an army to any of the iſlands, ifthey fhould rebel, or to any remote region. Near the bank ofthe river where theſefhips are kept is Coiganzu, and over againſt it Quanzu, one a great city, the other afmall one. After you are paft that river, you enter into the noble kingdom of Mangi;but you must not think that we have handled in order the whole province of Cathay,having not ſpoken of the twentieth part; for Marco Polo paffing by the faid province,hath only defcribed the cities in his way, leaving thofe on both hands, and thoſe betwixtthefe to prevent tedioufnefs, and to avoid writing from hearfay.20. The province of Mangi is the richeſt and moſt famous that is founded in theeaft; and in An. Dom. 1269, was governed by a certain King, called Fanfur, who wasricherand mightier than any which had reigned there in an hundred years, but a manpeaceable and charitable, fo beloved of his fubjects, that thereby, and by the ſtrengthof the country, he feemed invincible. It was from a perfuafion of this that the King,as well as the people, loft the ufe and exercife of war and arms. All the city was encompaffed with ditches full of water. He held in pay no horſes, becauſe he feared nobody; and, in procefs of time, the King, betaking himfelf to pleaſure more than wasfit, einployed his whole time in delights. He maintained about a thoufand concubines,with whom he paffed his time in pleaſure. He maintained juftice, and preferved peace,no man durft offend his neighbour and difturb the peace, for fear of fevere and impartial punishment; fo that artificers would often leave their thops full of wares open bynight, and yet none would prefume to go into them. Travellers and ſtrangers fafelywalked day and night through that whole kingdom, fearing no man. The King himſelfwas alfo merciful towards the poor, and did not overlook them that were oppreffed withneceffity, or punifhed with penury. Befides, every year he took up twenty thoufandyoung infants, caft off by their mothers, who, through poverty, were not able to keepthem ,THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 149them, which he brought up, and put them, when they were grown up, to fometrade, marrying the young men with the maids, which he had in like manner foeducated *.Cublai-Khan was of a different difpofition from Fanfur, and delighted only in warsand conqueſts; and to make himſelf great, he levied an army of horſe and foot, andmade one, named Chinfan- Baian, i . e. an hundred eyes, General thereof, he thereforecoming with his army and a fleet to the province of Mangi, firſt fummoned the cityCoiganzu to yield obedience to his Emperor, who refufed the fame; he departed without any affault given to the city, and required the fame of the fecond city, which likewife refufing, he marched forwards to the third and fourth, and received the like anfwerof them all; but he affaulted the next with great courage, and vanquifhed the fame byforce, and flew every creature of what fex or age foever therein, which fo frighted andterrified the reſt, that they all preſently yielded. The Great Khan fent out anothergreat army after the former, with both which armies he marched againſt the chief cityQuinfai, where the King of Mangai refided , who being mightily terrified , as never having feen any war, fled with his wealth on board the hips he had prepared, to certainimpregnable iſlands in the Ocean, where he afterwards died, committing the cuftody ofthe city of Quinfai to his wife, bidding her to defend it as well as fhe could, for being awoman, fhe needed not fear death if he was taken.It is to be obferved, that King Fanfur had been told by his diviners, that his kingdomwould never be taken from him but by one who had an hundred eyes, which the Queenknew, and therefore was ſtill in hopes not to looſe the city however ſtraightened, thinking it impoffible for one man to have an hundred eyes; but one day fhe heardthe commander of the Tartars was called Baian Chinfan, that is to fay, an hundred eyes, andwas much terrified; wherefore calling for the commander of the Tartar army, thinkinghim to bethe man which the aftrologers ſpoke of, fhe delivered the city unto him, whichbeing heard, the citizens and inhabitants of the whole province yielded to the obedienceof the Great Khan. The Queen was fent unto the court of the Great Khan, and wasmoſt honourably received by him, and maintained like a Queen. And now we willfpeak of the cities in the country of Mangi. Coiganzu is a very fair and rich city fituate towards the fouth-eaft and eaft, in the entrance of the province of Mangi, whereare always great numbers of fhips, being feated on the river Carama, and a great quantity of merchandize is carried thither; falt is alfo made there in abundance. Proceeding from Coiganzu, you ride towards the fouth- eaft one day's journey on a ſtone caufeway, on both fides whereof are great fences, with deep waters, through which they maypafs with proper veffels; neither is there any entrance into Mangi but by fhipping,excepting this caufeway.

• The Chineſe hiftories agree exactly, as to the character of this Prince, with what we find delivered

concerning him by our author; but they differ widely with refpect to the name; fince, according to them,he was called Tou, and from the name of his family Tfong. He was the fifteenth Emperor of the nineteenth dynafty, and fucceeded to the throne in the year 1264. It was to his indolence, debauchery, andexceffive love of pleafure, that the Chineſe attribute the deftruction of their country, and the total conqueftofit bythe Tartars. This Monarch died in the midst of his misfortunes, and left three young childrenunder the tutelage of the Emprefs their mother. Theſe hiftorians give us a great character of the TartarGeneral, mentioned by our author; but then they give him quite another name, viz. Pe Yen; but whatthe fignification of that is, I cannot inform the reader. He is faid to have commanded an army of twohundred thouſand men, with the fame cafe as ifit had been only a ſmall body of troops, and to have ſhewnfo great modefty in the midft of his conqueſts, as never once to have valued himſelf on the many and great fervices he rendered to his maſter.At150 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.At the end of that day's journey is a city called Paughin, large and fair; the peoplemake ſtuffs of Gold and filk, are merchants, and idolaters. The paper-money of theGreat Khan is received throughout the whole country. It is plentiful in all neceffariesof life. To the city Caim is from Paughin one day's journey fouth-caft; and this isalfo a famous city. The country thereabouts abounding with fifh, beafts, and fowl,efpecially pheasants, are found in exceeding great plenty, as large as peaco*cks, of whichyou may have three for a Venetian groat. Proceeding farther from hence one day'sjourney, you come through a well manured, moſt fruitful , and well peopled country, tothe city of Tingui, which though it be not over large, yet hath in it exceeding greatplenty of victuals. They are merchants, and have a vaft rcfort of fhips: there is plentyof beafts and fowls. It is feated to the fouth- eaft, and on the left hand towards theeaft, three days journey off the ocean, and in the country between, are very many faltpits, and they make great quantities of falt. After this is Cingui, a great city, whencethe country is furniſhed with falt, whereof the Khan makes immenfe profit, almoft beyond belief: they are idolaters, and have paper-money. From Cingui, riding towardsthe fouth-eaft, you meet with the noble city Jangui, under the government whereof areother cities, feven and twenty in number; and in that city refides one of the twelvebarons, which are governors of provinces, chofen by that Great Khan; they are idolaters, and live on merchandize. They make arms and harneſs for war, and MafterMarco had the fole government thereof, by commiffion from the Great Khan, threeyears together, instead of one of theſe barons. Naughin is a province to the weft, oneof the greateſt and nobleft of Mangi; a place of great merchandize; they are idolaters, have none but paper money, have vaft quantities of beafts and fowl, wild and tame.They make cloths of gold and filver, and are rich merchants, and the country is veryadvantageous to the Khan, eſpecially by cuftom of merchandize; there is likewife greatplenty of corn.Sianfu is a noble and great city in the province of Mangi, and hath twelve rich andgreat cities under her jurifdiction. They make great quantities of filks, and cloths ofgold; have plenty of game, fowl, and all things pertaining to a city of note; fo ftrongthat it was three years befieged, and could not be vanquished by the army of the Tartars, when the province of Mangi was fubdued, for it is encompaſſed on every fide withlakes, that there was no way to it but on the north; fo that fhips came and went, continually bringing plenty of victuals, which not a little afflicted the Great Khan. Thetwo brethren, Mafter Nicolo, and Mafter Maffio, then in his court, hearing thereof,went to him, and offered him their fervice to devife certain engines, after the manner ofthe weft, able to fhoot a ftone of three hundred weight, thereby to kill men and ruinhoufes. The Khan appointed carpenters, which were Neftorian Chriftians, who madethree oftheſe engines in a fhort ſpace, which were proved before him, and by fhips fentto his army. Planting them therefore againſt the city Sianfu, they began to caft greatftones into the city; and the firſt falling upon a certain houſe, broke the moſt part ofitwith the violence thereof, which the befieged inhabitants fecing, were very muchaftoniſhed, and yielded themſelves, and became fubject to the Great Khan, on the fameconditions with the rest of Mangi, to the great repute of the two Venetian brethren, theone the author's father, and the other his uncle.From the city of Sianfu to a certain city called Singui, are accounted fifteen milesfouth- eastward, which, although it is not very large, yet has a prodigious number offhips, being feated upon the greatest river in the world, called Quian, the breadth ofwhich in fome places is ten miles, in others eight, and in many fix; but the lengththereof4اسTHE VOYAGES. AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 151thereof extendeth above an hundred days journey from the fource of it into the ſea.Innumerable other rivers flow into it, which run through divers regions, and are navigable; and theſe make it fo great, that incredible quantities of merchandize are broughtby this river. There are alfo many other cities, in number about two hundred, whichparticipate of the advantages of this river, for it runs through the bounds of fixteen provinces. The greatest commodity is falt, wherewith all the cities which communicateby theſe waters are fupplied. Mafter Marco faw at one time at Singui five thouſandveffels, and yet other cities on the river have more; all theſe fhips are covered, andhave but one maft, and one fail , and ufually carry four thouſand, and fo upwards, fomeof them twelve thoufand Venetia Cantari; neither do they ufe cordage of hemp,except for the maft and fail, but have canes, fifteeen paces long, which they fplit into .thin parts from one end to the other, and binding the cut parts together, and wreathingthem, make very long ropes, fo that fome of them contain three hundred fathom inlength; andthofe ropes are as ftrong as hemp, and ferve for halfes and cables to drawtheir fhips up and down the river, each veffel having ten or twelve horſes for thatpurpoſe.Ôn that river, in many places, are rocky hillocks, on which are built monafteriesto their idols, and all the way are vallies and places inhabited. Cayngi is a little cityupon the fame river fouth- eastward, where every year is brought plenty of corn and rice,carried for the moſt part to Cambalu; for they pafs thither by lakes and rivers, and.by one large canal, which the Khan cauſed to be made for a paffa*ge from one river toanother, and from Mangi to Cambalu , without going to fea; which work is beautifuland wonderful for the fight and length, and more for the profit which accrues therebyto the cities. He hath made alfo great caufeways to go on land by theſe waters commodioufly. In the midſt of the faid river is an island, or rock, on which is erected a greattemple and monaftery, in which are two hundred idolatrous monks. Cinghianfu is acity of Mangi, rich in merchandize, plentiful of game, having all kind of wild beaſtsand fowl, and of victual. In it are two churches of Neftorian Chriftians, built A. D.1274, when the great Khan fent a governor thither, Marfachis, a Neftorian who builtthem. From the city Cinghianfu, in three days journey fouth-eastward, you.find manycities and caftles, all idolaters, and at laft come to Tinguigui, a great and fair city,abounding with all kind of provifions *.When Baian Chinfan, general of the army of the Tartars, conquered the provinceof Mangi, he fent many Chriftians called Alani againſt the city, which was doublewalled; into the inner they retired, into the other the Alans entered, and found thereabundance of wine, whereof, after a bad journey, they began to drink fo largely, thatthey were all drunk, and the citizens, in their fleep, fuddenly falling upon them, flewThis happened the year before the death of the Emperor Tou-Tfong, and in about four years moreall his children, who fucceeded one after the other to the empire, perifhed. The firft was taken prifoner by the Tartars, and fent by them into their own country, where he died in captivity. The fecond wasdriven to Canton, where he died of a confumption at the age of eleven years. The third, whoſe namewas Ti- Ping, having loft all his country, was oblige to take refuge on board the fleet, which was purſued,.and forced to an engagement by that of the Tartars . When the Chineſe Lord, who had the care of the Emperor's Perfon, found his veffel furrounded, he took the young Prince in his arms, and jumped with .him into the fea. The Emprefs feeing the laft of her fons thus unhappily deftroyed, followed his fate,. and threw herſelf alfo into the fea. One whole fquadron of the Chineſe fleet forced a paffa*ge through thatof the Tartars, but was afterwards deftroyed by a tempeft, fo that not a veffel or a man eſcaped of the whole navy; and the Chineſe writers fay, that there perished in the whole a hundred thouſand men. Thelofs of this battle put an end to the Chineſe empire, and left the Tartars totally mafters of the whole country.them152 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.them all, not one efcaping; but Baian hearing this, fent another great army againſtthofe citizens which in a fhort ſpace of time vanquishing the city, in revenge, put themall to the fword, leaving none alive. The great and excellent city Singui contains incircuit twenty miles: multitudes of people are in it, it hath many rich merchants andinduftrious artificers, and it hath alſo very many phyficians and magicians, and wiſe men,or philofophers. In the mountains of this city, rhubarb and ginger grow in greatplenty. This city hath fixteen cities under the juriſdiction thereof, in each of whichmuch trade is carried on, and many curious arts are exerciſed, many forts of filk aremade there. The word Singui fignifies the city of the Earth: alſo they have anothercity which they call Quinfai, that is to fay, the city of Heaven. From Singui, at thediſtance of one day's journey, is Vagiu, where is alſo abundance of filk, and able artificers, with many other merchants, as there are in general in all the cities in thiscountry.21. In a journey of three days, you find cities, caftles, and villages, well peopledand rich. The people are idolaters, under the dominion of the Great Khan. At theend of theſe days you come to Quinfai, i . e. the city of Heaven, which for the excellency thereof hath that name; for in the world there is not the like, or a place inwhich are found fo many pleaſures, that a man would think he were in paradife. Inthis city our author Marco Polo hath often been, and confidered the fame with greatdiligence, obferving the whole ſtate thereof, fetting down the famein his memorials, asherefrom them fhall be declared briefly. This city by common report, is an hundredmiles in circuit. The ftreets and lanes are very long, and very wide; there are marketplaces exceeding large; on the one fide a clear lake of freſh water, on the other agreat river, which enters in many places, and carries away all the filth of the city, andfo runneth into that lake, thence continuing its courfe into the ocean. This courſe ofwater cauſeth a good air, and commodious paffa*ge both by land and by thofe canals.There may go both carts and barks to carry neceffaries; and the report is, that thereare twelve thouſand bridges great and ſmall, and thofe on the chief channels are fohigh, that a fhip without her mafts may pafs under, and at the fame time chariots andhorſes paſs over it. On the other fide the city is a large canal forty miles long, whichencloſes it on that fide, large and full of water, from the river, made by the ancientKings of that province, both to receive the overflowing of the water, and beſides thatto fortify the city, the earth which was taken out being laid within as a bank or hillencompaffing it *.There are ten great market-places, befides others in the great ſtreets, which arefquare, half a mile in each fquare; and from the great entrance is a principal ſtreet,forty paces wide, running right from one end of the city to the other, with manybridges crofling it, and every four miles is found fuch a market-place, two miles, as isfaid, in compafs. There is alfo one large canal, which runs againſt the ſaid ſtreetbehind the market-places, on the next bank whereof are erected great ſtore-houſes of

• This deſcription of the city of Quinfay has occafioned many reflections upon our author, as if writing

of countries at fo great a diftance, he took the liberty of impofing on his readers the fictions of his imaginations for the facts which he had feen. Under this imputation he for a long time laboured, eſpeciallywith fuch as were defirous of maintaining the reputation of fa*gacious and penetrating people; but by degrees the credit of our author has got the better of all fuch infinuations, and the relations given by thePortugueſe, and other Europeans, who went thither after the diſcovery of the paffa*ge by the Cape ofGoodHope, have put it out of doubt that he did not invent any part of his relation, but reprefented thingsfairly as they appeared to him, though certainly with fewer circumftances, and lefs accuracy, thanfucceeding travellers, who had more time to examine, and greater capacities for defcribing what they faw.15 ftone,THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 153ftone, where the merchants from India, and other parts, lay up their merchandize,being at hand, and commodious for the market-places. In each of theſe market-placesthe people meet three days in a week, to the number of between forty and fifty thoufand, who bring thither all things that can be defired for man's life, beafts, game andfowls, that lake yielding fuch advantages for bringing them up, that for a Venetiangroat you may have two geeſe, and four ducks for the fame. Then follow the butcherrows, ofveal, beef, kid, and lamb, which the great and rich men eat; for the pooreat all the offal, and unclean meats, without reſpect. There are all forts of herbs andfruits continually, and amongst the reft huge pears, weighing ten pounds apiece, whitewithin like paſte, and very fragrant. Peaches yellow and white, very delicate. Grapesgrow not there, but are brought from other places dried; very good wine alfo, but itis not efteemed in thofe parts as with us, that of rice and fpices contenting them.Every day from the ocean are brought up the river, which is the ſpace of five- and-twentymiles, great quantities of fith, befides that of the lake, fo much that a man wouldthink would never be bought, and yet in a few hours all his gone. All theſe marketplaces are encompaffed with high houſes, and underneath are fhops for artificers and allforts of merchandize, as fpice, jewels, pearls, and in fome only rice-wine. Manyſtreets anſwer one to another in the faid market-places; in fome of them are manycold baths, accommodated with attendants of both fexes, a thing to which from children they uſe themfelves. There are chambers alfo in the fame baths, with hot watersfor ftrangers, which are not accuſtomed to the cold waters; they wafh every day, neither do they eat before they have waſhed.In other ſtreets are mercenary prostitutes, in fuch numbers, that I dare not report it,and not only near the market-places, where they have their places appointed, butthrough all the city; they ftand pompously adorned with rich perfumes, many fervants,and their houſes finely furniſhed. Theſe are very ſkilful in making ſports and daliances,and contriving pleaſures for raviſhing men out of themfelves. In other ſtreets are thephyſicians, the aftrologers, they which teach to read and write, and infinite other trades.At each end of every market-place is a palace, where lords and governors are appointedby the King to determine difficulties which happen betwixt merchants and others, asalfo to look to the guards on the bridges, puniſhing fuch as are negligent. Along theprincipal ſtreet on both fides are great palaces with gardens, and near them houfes ofartificers, and fuch multitudes of people going to and fro, that a man would wonderwhence fuch multitudes could be provided with victuals; and Mafter Marco learned ofan officer of the cuftom-houfe in Quinfay, that by a very accurate computation, it appeared, the daily expence of pepper in Quinfay was three-and- forty Somma and everySomma is two hundred and twenty-three pounds. Hence may be gueffed the quantityofvictuals, flesh, wine, and fpices, were there fpent. The inhabitants are idolators,ufe none but paper money, are of a very fair complexion, apparelled for the moſt partin filk, which grows in all that territory abundantly, befides that which is brought fromother places. There are twelve principal companies or corporations, each of whichhave one thouſand fhops, and in each' fhop or ftanding are ten, fifteen or twenty menat work, and in fome forty under one mafter.The rich tradeſmen do not work with their hands, but ftand in their fhops, well, orrather pompously dreffed, eſpecially their wives, with jewels invaluable. And althoughtheir oldKings ordained, that the child fhould be ofthe father's trade, yet the rich are permitted not to work at it, but to keep their fhop, and men working in the fame trade.Their houfes are well built, and very richly furnished with pictures and other ornaVOL. VII. X menis154 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.Thements of immenfe price. The natives are peaceable, know not how to manage arms,nor keep them in their houfes, neither is there ftrife and debate among them. Theyexercife their trades with great fincerity. They live in fuch amity, that one ſtreetfeems as one houfe without jealoufy among their wives, which they hold in great refpect,and it would be reputed a great difgrace to fpeak a difhoneft word to a married woman.They entertain foreign merchants kindly, both in their houfes, and with beft advicefor their affairs; but they are not over fond of the foldiers, and guards of the GrandKhan, becaufe by them deprived of their natural lords and Kings. About the lakeare very fair buildings, and great palaces of the principal men, and temples of theiridols, with monafteries of many monks. In the midst of the lake are two iflands,upon each ofwhich is a palace with incredible numbers of rooms, whither they refortupon occafion of marriages, or other feafts, where provifions of veffels, linen andother things are maintained in common, for fuch purpoſes, one hundred fometimesaccommodated at once in feveral rooms. In the lake alfo are boats and barges forpleaſure, adorned with fair feats and tables, and other proviſions for a banquet, coveredabove, and flat, upon which men ftand with poles to push the boat on, the lake beingbut fhallow within they are painted, without are windows to open and fhut at pleaſure;nor can any thing in the world feem more pleafant than in this lake to have fuch variousobjects, the city fo fully prefenting itſelf to the eye, with fo many temples, monafteries,palaces, gardenɛ, with high trees, and on the water barges and people; for their cuftom is to work one part of the day, and to ſpend fome part in this diverfion with theirfriends, or with women on the lake, or clfe in chariots, riding through the city,which is alſo another of the Quinfay pleafures; for all the streets are paved with ftone,as alfo are all the highways in the province of Mangi only for the foot; pofts are lefton the fide a ſpace unpaved: the principal ftreet of Quinfay is paved ten paces on eachhand, and in the midft it is full of gravel, with paffa*ges for the water, which keep italways clean.In this ftreet are innumerable long clofe chariots, accommodated with cloths andcufhions of filk for fix perfons, who divert themſelves in the ftreet, or go to the gardens, and there paſs the time in bowers, fine walks, &c. which are kept for that purpoſe, and return at night in the fame chariots. When a child is born, the father fetsdownthe exact point of time, and with that note goes to the aftrologer to confult of hisfuture fortunes; of thefe aftrologers are a great number in every market- palce. Thefepeople will not celebrate a marriage without fuch confultation. When one dies that isof note, the kindred cloath themfelves in canvas, and fo both men and women accompany him to the burying-place, playing on inftruments, and finging all the wayprayers to their idols, and being come to that place, caft into the fire many papers ofcotton whereon are painted flaves, horfes, camels, ftuffs of gold, and filk, and monies which they think he fhall really poffefs in another world, and make a grand concert of mufic, in conceit of the joy wherewith the idols there receive his foul, wherehe beginneth, as they fancy, to live anew. In every ftrreet are towers of ſtone, towhich, when in danger of fire, they ufe to carry their gods, their timber-houfes beingvery fubject to fuch cafualties. The Khan hath ordered, that on the moſt of thebridges, day and night, there ftand under a covert, ten foldiers, five by day, andfive by night, and every guard-room is a tabernacle of wood, with a great bafon,whereby they know the hours of the day and night, which at every hour's end thewarders ſtrike, to fignify what hour, one, two, &c. beginning at the fun-rifing; andthen again at the beginning of the night. They walk up and down, and if any havea lightTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 155a light or fire after the appointed time, they cauſe him to anſwer it before the juftices,or governors aforefaid, or if any walk later.If any be not able to work, they carry him to fome hofpital, of which are exceeding many, founded by the old Kings with great revenues, through the city: whenthey are well again, they are compelled to work. If a fire happen, thefe from diversplaces come to and quench it, and to carry the goods to the iſlands, or thofe towers;for in the night none of the citizens dare go out, but thoſe who are in danger. TheKhan always keeps here a body of his beſt and moſt faithful foldiery, as being thebeft and richeſt place in the world. Within a mile of each other, are built rampartsof wood, where the fame precautions are ufed for like purpofes. When the Khan hadreduced all Mangi to his obedience, he divided it, being before but one kingdom,into nine parts, and fet them a Vice-King over each, who there adminifters juftice.Every year they give account to the Khan's officers, of the revenues, and other accidents, and every third year are changed, as all other officers are. One of theſe deputyKings is refident at Quinfay, who is governor of above one hundred and forty cities,all rich and great: nor let this be eſteemed a wonder, feeing in Mangi there are twelvethouſand cities, all inhabited by rich and induftrious people, in every one of which theKhan maintaineth a garrifon, proportionable to the greatnefs and occcafions, one thoufand,ten, or twenty thoufand, not all Tartars, but Cathayans; for the Tartars are horfemen, and keep in fuch places as may be fit to exercife their horfes. Into Cathay hefends thofe of Mangi, and Cathayans hither, fuch as are fit for arms, of which he makes choice every third year, and fends them for four or five years together, intoplaces twenty days journey from their own country, and then fuffers them to returnhome, a fresh body fucceeding; and moft part of the Khan's revenues are this wayexpended, and if any city rebel, he fuddenly from the next garrifon compoſes an armyto reduce or deſtroy them. The city of Quinfay hath in conftant garriſon thirty thoufand foldiers, and that which hath leaſt, hath one thouſand regular troops, horſe andfoot in garrifon *.I come next to ſpeak of the palace of King Fanfur. His predeceffors caufed to beinclofed a place of ten miles circuit, with high walls, and divided it into three parts.That inthe midft was entered by one gate on the one fide, and on the other were greatand large galleries, the roof fuftained by pillars, painted and wrought in pure gold andfine azure. Theſe were ſmaller at the entry, and the further the greater, the faireſtat the end; the roof richly adorned with gold, and on the walls were painted theftories of the former kings, done very elegantly. Every year, on certain idol holidaysFanfur keeps his court, and feaſts his principal lords, the great merchants and rich artificers of Quinfay. Ten thouſand are at a time under thefe terraces. This feaftingendured ten or twelve days with incredible magnificence, every gueft endeavouring topreſent himſelf in greateſt pomp. Behind this marble building was a wall, which divided the palace in which were, as it were, a cloiſter with pillars, fuftaining the terraceThe Tartars vifibly depended upon a military force for the prefervation of their empire in China,which whether it was an effect of their own policy, or a part of the Chineſe fyftem of government whichthey adopted, is uncertain; but it is moft probable that it was the latter. However, it was far enoughfrom anfwering the end, for the Tartar forces becoming a mere ftanding army, and having nothing to dobut to make a lazy livelihood of that profeffion, the foul of which is an active ftate; they foon degenerated, and became as foft and effeminate as the Chineſe; while the latter, humbled by the Tartar conqueft, impoverished by enduring the burthen of fuch a numerous army, and, above all, taught the valueof liberty by the lofs of it, began to form defigns for bringing about a new revolution, which at laſt they were fo lucky as to effect.X 2 round156 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.round about the cloifter, wherein were chambers for the King and Queen, curiouflywrought. From this cloifter was an entrance into a gallery fix paces wide, extendingin length to the lake, all covered. On each fide of this gallery were ten courts, anfwering to each other like cloiſters, each court having fifty chambers, with their gardens, and in them one thouſand concubines abode, which the king kept for his fervice,who, fometimes with the Queen, fometimes with them, went on his royal barge on thelake, for recreation, or to vifit his idol temples. The other two parts of the Seragliwere divided into groves, lakes, and gardens, planted with trees, in which were enclofed all forts of beafts, roe-bucks, ftags, hares, conies, and there the King divertedhimſelfwith his damfels in chariots, or on horfeback, no man entering there. Therethe ladies hunted with his dogs, and when weary, they went into thofe groves, whichanfwered one another over the lake, and there leaving their garments, came forthnaked, and fell to fwimming in the King's prefence.Sometimes he would eat a banquet in thofe groves, being ferved by thofe damfels, without once thinking of arms,which ſweet meat coft him the four fauce ye have heard. All this was told me by arich old merchant of Quinfay, while I was there, one who had been familiar withKing Fanfur, and knew all his life, and had ſeen that palace flouriſhing, into which hewould needs bring me.The viceroy now refides there, and the firft galleries remain as they were, but thedamfels chambers are ruined. The walls alfo which encompaffed the woods and gardens are fallen to the ground, the beafts and trees being gone, and all the other ornaments deftroyed. Twenty-five miles from Quinfay is the ocean, between the eaſt andnorth-eaft, near which is a city called Gampu, an excellent port, where arrive theIndian fhips with merchandize. While Marco Polo was in Quinfay, account beinggiven to the Grand Khan ofthe revenues, and the number of inhabitants, he hath feenthat there have been inrolled one hundred- and fixty toman of fires, reckoning for afire the family dwelling in one houfe; every toman contains ten thoufand, whichmakes fixteen hundred thouſand families, of all which there is but one church ofChriſtians, and thofe Neftorians. Every houfholder is bound to have written over hisdoor the names of his whole houfhold, males and females; alfo the number ofhorfes, the names added or blotted out as the family increafeth or decreafeth; andthis is obferved in all the cities of Mangi and Cathay . Thofe alfo that keep innswrite in a book the names of their gueſts, and the day and hour of their departure,which books they fend daily to the lords or magiftrates, who prefide at the marketplaces. In Mangi the poor which are not able to bring up their children , fell them tothe rich. The revenues which accrue to the Khan from Quinfay, and the other citiespertaining thereto, being the ninth part of the kingdom of Mangi, are firſt of ſalt,every year, eight tomans of gold, every toman is eighty thoufand Sazzi's of gold,and every Sazzi is more than one florin of gold, which will amount to fix millions andfour hundred thouſand ducats. The caufe is, that that province being nigh the fea,there are many lakes, where the water in fummer is coagulated into falt, wherewith fiveother kingdoms in that country are ferved. There is plenty of fugar growing, whichpay, as likewife all fpices do, three parts, and a third in the hundred: the like ofrice-wine. Alfo thofe twelve companies, which we ſaid had twelve thouſand fhops, andthe merchants which bring goods hither, or carry any hence by fea, pay the fameprice. They which come from remote countries and regions, as for example, fromthe Indies, pay ten per cent. Likewiſe all things there breeding, as beafts, and growing out of the earth, and filk, pay tithe to the King, and the computation being madein the preſence of Mafter Marco, befides falt before-mentioned, yearly amounts to3 twoTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 157two hundred- and-ten tomans, which will be fixteen millions eight hundred-thouſandducats in gold * .Aday's journey from Quinfay to the fouth- caft, are all the way houfes, villages,fair gardens, and plenty of victuals; at the end whereof is Tapinza, a fine city in thejurifdiction of Quinfay. Three days thence, fouth- eaft, is Uguiu, and two days farther you may still ride that way, finding caftles, cities, and well cultivated places, infuch a neighbourhood that they feem to travellers all one city, and are all in the jurifdiction of Quinfay; there are great canes fifteen paces long and four palms thick.Two days journey farther is the city Congui, fair and large; and travelling fartherfouth-eaft , are places full of people and trades; and in this part of Mangi are noſheep, but beavers, buffaloes, goats, and ſwine in great plenty. At the end of fourdaysjourney farther is the city Zengian, built on a hill in the midſt of a river, whichdividing into two branches, encompaffes it, and then runs one to the fouth- eaft, theother to the north-west. This city is in the jurifdiction of Quinfay, and its inhabitants are merchants alfo and idolaters; this country abounds with all forts of game.Three days journey from thence, through a moft pleafant country, exceeding well inhabited, ftands Gieza, a great city, which is the laft of the Quinfay kingdom; afterwhich you enter into another kingdom of Mangi, called Concha; the principal citythereof is called Fugiu, by which you travel fix days journey fouth- eaft, through hillsand dales, always finding places inhabited, and plenty of game, of beaſts and fowl;they are idolaters, merchants fubject to the Khan. There are ftout lions and heregrow ginger and galingale in great plenty, with other forts of fpices; eight pounds ofginger are fold for a Venetian groat. Thereis an herb, whofe fruit hath the effect, andgives the colour and ſmell of faffron, but is not faffron, which is uſed in their meats.They commonly eat man's fleſh, if the perfons die not of fickneſs, as better tafted thanothers. Whenthey go into the field they fhave to the ears, and paint their faces withazure: they ſerve on foot, except the captain, who rides, and ufes a fword and lance;they are very cruel, and when they kill an enemy preſently drink his blood, and afterwards eat his flesh.After fix days journey is Quelinfu, a great city, with three bridges, each eight pacesbroad, and above an hundred long: the women fair and delicately fhaped. They haveabundance of filk and cotton, are great merchants, have plenty of ginger and galingale..I was told, but faw them not, that they have hens without feathers, hairy like cats,which yet lay eggs, and are good to eat. Here are many lions, which make the wayvery dangerous. After three days journey, you arrive in a populous country, inhabited by idolaters, who make abundance of filk manufactures, the chief city is Unguem,where is great plenty of fugar, fent thence to Cambalu, which they knew not howtomake good till they became fubject to the Khan, in whofe court were Babylonians,which taught them to refine it with afhes of certain trees, they only boiling it beforeinto a black pafte. Fifteen miles farther lies Cangiu, ftill in the realm of Concha, andhere the Khan keeps an army in readinefs for a guard of the country. Through this

• city paffes a river a mile broad, fairly built on both fides, and abounding with fhips

Theſe particulars might very well appear (as indeed they did) abfolutely incredible, at a time whenthere was not fo much as an idea of a well peopled and regularly fettled country beyond the limits of Perfia, received among the Europeans As the Chineſe were amazed, and knew not what to think ofour manners, when we came first among them, fo the firft news of fuch an empire as China, fo extenſive,fo well peopled, fo admirably governed, and in fo flourishing a condition, muft needs aftonish us nota little. According to the lateft account of this empire, its revenues amount to fifty millions fterlingannually.carrying158THEVOYAGESANDTRAVELSOFMARCOPOLO.carrying fugar and other lading. This river difembogues from hence five days journeyfouth-eaft at Zaitum, a fea-port, from which the rich fhips of India come to this plea- .fant city, as is all the country betwixt, in which are trees and fhrubs of camphire.Zaitum is a famous port, where all the fhips arrive with merchandize, thence diſperſedthrough all India. There is here fuch a quantity of pepper, that what comes by Alexandria to the weft is little to it, and, as it were, one of a hundred. The concourfe ofmerchants is incredible, it being one of the most commodious ports in the world, exceeding profitable to the Khan, who receives cuftom at the rate of ten in the hundredof all merchandize. They pay fo much for hire of fhips alfo, that there is not aboveone half oftheir merchandize remaining entire to themfelves, and yet that moiety yieldsvaft profit to them. The citizens are idolatrous, given to pleafure; in it are manyartificers on embroidered and arras work. The river is great, very wide and fwift, andone arm of it runs to Quinfay, at the parting of which is Tringui fituated, whereporcelane diſhes are made. I was told of a certain earth, which they caft up in hills,and fo let lie expofed to all weathers for thirty or forty years without ſtirring; afterwhich refining by time, they make diſhes, paint them, and then put them in the furnance. You may there have eight difhes for one Venetian groat. In this kingdom ofConcha, the Khan has as great a revenue aloft as that of the kingdom of Quinfay.In theſe two Maſter Marco was, and in none of the other nine kingdoms of Mangi, inall which one language is ufed, with variety of dialect, and but one fort of writing;and therefore we will fpeak no more of them, but in the next book difcourfe of Indiathe Greater, the Middle, and the Lefs, in which he was both in the fervice of the Khan,and alfo in his return with the Queen to Argon.22. We will now enter into the affairs of India, and begin with their fhips, which aremade of fir, with one deck, on which are twenty cabins, more or lefs, according tothe bignefs ofthe fhips, each for one merchant. They have a good rudder, and fourmafts with four fails, and fome two mafts, which they either raife or take down atpleaſure. Some greater fhips have thirteen divifions on the infide, made with boardsenchaſed, ſo that if by a blow of a whale, or touch of a rock, water gets in, it can gono farther than that divifion, and the leak being found, is foon ftopped. They aredouble, that is, have two courſes of boards, one within the other, and are well caulkedwith oakum, and nailed with iron, but not pitched, for they have no pitch, but anointedwith an oil of a certain tree mixed with lime and hemp, beaten fmall, which bindsfafter than pitch or lime. The greater fhips have three hundred mariners, the otherstwo hundred, or one hundred and fifty, as they are in bigneſs and in burthen, from fiveto fix thouſand bags of pepper *; and they were wont to be larger than now they are,the fea having broken into parts and iſlands, that the defect of water in fome placescaufeth them to build lefs. They uſe alfo oars in thefe fhips, four men to one oar;and the greater fhips have with them two or three lefs fhips, able to carry a thouſandbags of pepper, having fixty mariners or upwards on board; which ſmall ſhips fervefometimes to tow the greater. They have alfo with them ten fmall boats for fishingand other fervices faftened to the fides of the larger fhips, and let down when theypleaſe to uſe them. They fheath their fhips alfo after a year's ufa*ge, ſo that thenthey have three courfes of boards, and they proceed in this manner fometimes till thereThis account of the fhips ufed in the trade of the Eaft Indies agrees exactly with the modern relations; and though, without doubt, they fall very far fhort of our hips for many purpoſes; yet for fome,the nature of thofe feas confidered, they may be, and very probably are, more convenient.6be 4THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO, 159be fix courfes, after which they break them up. Having ſpoken of the fhips, we willfpeak of India, and, firft, of certain iſlands.Zipangu, i. e. Japan, is an ifland on the eaft, one thoufand five hundred miles diftantfrom the fhores of Mangi, very great, the people of white complexion, of gentle behaviour, in religion idolaters, and have a King of their own. They have gold in greatplenty, for few merchants come thither, and the King permits no exportation of it;and they which have carried on commerce there, fpeak of the King's houfe coveredwith gold, as churches here with lead, gilded windows, floors of gold. There are alſomany pearls. Once the fame of thefe riches made Cublai- Khan to fend to conquer ittwo of his Barons, with a great fleet of fhips, one named Abbaca, and the other Venfanfin, who going from Zaitum and Quinfay, arrived there, but falling out betweenthemſelves, could take but one city, and there beheaded all they took, except eightperfons, which by an enchanted precious ſtone, encloſed in the right arm between thefkin and flefh, could not be wounded with iron; whereupon, with wooden clubs, at thecommand of the two Barons, they were flain. It happened one day that a northernwind blew hard, which was dangerous to the fhips riding there, fo that fome were loft,fome put out farther to fea, and others, with the two leaders and a few principal per--fons, returned home. Out of many broken fhips fome efcaped by boards and ſwimmingto an iſland not inhabited , four miles off Zipangu, and were about thirty thoufand,without provifion or arms, againſt whom the Zipanguaners, after the tempeft wascalmed, fent out a fleet of fhips , and an army. Theſe coming on land to feek thewrecked Tartars without order, gave occafion to the Tartars to wheel about, theifland being high in the midft, and to get unfeen to their fhips, which were left unmanned, with the ftreamers difplayed, and in them they failed to the chief city of Zipangu, where they were admitted without fufpicion, and found few others but women.The King of Zipangu befieged them fix months, and they having no relief, yieldedthemfelves, and their lives were faved. This happened A. D. 1264 *.The Khan, for the ill conduct of his two commanders, cut off the head of one, andfent the other to a defart ifland called Zerga, where he cauſed offenders to die, byfewing them, their hands bound in a new flayed hide of a buffaloe, which drying,fhrinketh fo as it puts them to vaft tortures, which lead to a miferable death. Theidols in this and the adjoining iflands are made with heads of kine, fwine, dogs, and inother fafhions more monftrous, as with faces on their fhoulders, with four, ten, oreven an hundred hands; and to theſe they afcribe moft power, and do moft reverence,and fay, that fo they learned of their progenitors. They fometimes eat their enemieswhich they take, with great joy, and for great dainties; at leaft fo it is reported of them.The fea, in which this ifland lies, is called the fea of Cin, or Chin, that is, the fea againſtMangi, and in the language of that ifland Mangi is called Chin or Chint, which fea isfo large, that the mariners and expert pilots, who frequent it, fay, that there are ſeventhouſand four hundred and forty iſlands therein, the moſt part of them inhabited; thatthere grows no tree which yields not a good fmell, and that there grow many fpicesof divers kinds, eſpecially lignum aloes, and pepper black and white. The fhips of Zaitum are a year in their voyage, for they go in winter, and return in fummer, havingwinds oftwo forts, which keep their fealons, and this country is far from India; but Iwill leave them, for I never was there, nor are they fubject to the Khan, and return toThis attempt made by the Tartars to conquer Japan is a very curious circumftance, and of great confequence to the hiftory of this country, becauſe mentioned by no other author, which is the reafon thatFather Martini refers us hither on that head, in his moſt accurate work of the empire of China.Zaitum;160 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.Zaitum; from hence failing fouth-weftward one thoufand five hundred miles, paffing agulph called Cheinan, which continues two months failing to the northward, ſtill confining on the fouth-east of Mangi, and elſewhere with Ania and Toloman, and otherprovinces before named. Within it are infinite iflands all in a manner inhabited inthem is found abundance of gold, and they trade one with another.22. This gulph feems like another world; and after one thoufand and five hundredmiles, failing acrofs this gulph, is the county Ziambar, rich and great, having a Kingand a language of their own, idolaters, and paying tribute to the Grand Khan oftwentyelephants, and lignum aloes in great quantities yearly. A. D. 1268 , the Khan hearingof the riches of this ifland, fent thither Sagatu with an army to invade it. Acambatethe King thereof was old , and made his compofition by paying the tribute, which hasbeen mentioned. There are many woods of black ebony there, which are of infinitevalue. Sailing thence betwixt the fouth and fouth-east one thoufand five hundred milesis Java, at preſent ſuppoſed by mariners the greateſt iſland in the world, being above threethouſand miles in circuit, under a King who payeth tribute to none, the Khan not offering to fubject it, becauſe of the length and danger of the voyage. The merchants ofZaitum and Mangi fetch thence abundance of gold and fpices. South and fouth-westward fix hundred miles from Java are two iflands, one Sondur, which is the greater, theother Condur, lefs, both defolate.Fifty miles fouth- eaft from them is a province, or firm land, very rich and great,named Lochae, the people idolaters, having a language of their own, as well as a King.There grows Brafil wood in great plenty, much gold, elephants, wild beafts, and fowl,a fruit called Bercias, large as lemons, very good; the place is mountainous and favage, and the King permits not any one to come thither, left they fhould know hiscountry, and attempt to conquer it. There are abundance of porcelane fhells for money tranſported to other places. Five hundred miles fouthward from Lochae is theifle Pentan, a favage place, which produceth in all the woods fweet trees; fixty miles in the way, the fea is in many places but four fathom, after which failing to the fouth-eaſt .thirty miles further, is the inland and kingdom of Malaiur, which hath a peculiar Kingand language to itfelf, and here a great trade is carried on in fpices from Pentan.One hundred miles fouth-eaft is Java the Lefs, in compafs about two thoufand miles,and hath in it eight kingdoms, and the people as many languages; they are idolaters,have abundance of treaſure, fpices, ebony, and Brafil, and are ſo far to the fouth,that the north ftar cannot there be feen. Mafter Marco was in fix of thofe kingdoms,of which he gives following account, leaving the other two which he faw not.One ofthefe eight kingdoms is Felech, where the idolaters, by frequent trade with Saracens, are converted to the law of Mohammed. In the cities the mountaineers are verybeaftly, eating man's fleſh and all kinds of impure food, and worſhip all day what theyfirft fee in the morning: next to that is Bafma, which hath a language by itfelf; theylive without law like beafts, and fometimes fend hawks to the Khan, who lays claim toall the iſland. For favage beafts they have wild elephants, and unicorns much leſs thanelephants, like the buffaloe in hair; their feet are like elephant's feet, they have onehorn in the midft of the forehead, and hurt none therewith, but with the tongue andknce; for on their tongue are certain long prickles, and fharp, and when they hurtany they trample on him , and prefs him down with their knees, and then tear him topieces with their tongue. The head is like a wild boar's, which he carries downwardsto the ground . They love to ftand in the mire, and are filthy beaſts, and not fuchunicorns are faid to be in our parts, which fuffer themfelves to be taken by maids, butquite contrary. They have many apes, and of feveral kinds; they have gofs-hawksblackTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 161black as ravens, great and good for prey. There are certain fmall apes, in their faceslike men, which they put in boxes, and preferve with fpices, and fell them to merchants, who carry them through the world, fhewing them for pigmies, or little men.Samare is the next kingdom, where Mafter Marco ftaid five months againſt his will,forced by ill weather. There none of the ſtars of Charles's Wain are feen. He oncewent on fhore with two thoufand people, and there fortified for thofe five months, forfear of thoſe brutish men-eaters, and traded meanwhile with them for victuals. Theyhave excellent fish, wine of the date-tree, very wholefome for phthific, dropfy, difcafesof the spleen; fome white, fome red, and Indian nuts as big as a man's head, themiddle whereof is full of a pleafant liquor better than wine; they eat of all forts offleſh without any difference. Dragoian is another of thefe kingdoms claimed by theKhan, having a King and language of their own. I was told of an abominable cuftom, that when one is fick, they fend to enquire of the forcerers whether he fhallefcape? If the devils anfwer no, the kindred fend for fome, whofe office it is toftrangle the fick party; after which they cut him in pieces, and the kindred eat himwith great jollity, even to the marrow of the bones; for, fay they, if any fubſtance ofhim fhould remain, worms would breed thereof, which would want food, and fo die, tothe great torture of the foul of the deceaſed. The bones they afterwards take andcarry into fome caves in the hills, that no beaſt may touch them. If they take anyftranger, they eat him in the fame manner.Lambrai is the fifth kingdom of Java, in which is great plenty of Brafil, of the feedswhereof Mafter Marco brought to Venice, and fowed them, but in vain, the foil beingtoo cold. They have unicorns in great abundance, and choice of beaſts and fowls.Fanfur, the fixth kingdom, hath the beſt camphire, which is fold weight for weightwith gold. In that province they make meal out of great and long trees, as thick astwo men can fathom; whence, paring off the thin bark and wood about three fingersthick, the pith within is meal, which they put in water, and ſtir it very well, the lighteſtdrofs fwimming, and the fineſt fettling to the bottom, and then the water being caftaway, they make paſte, of which Mafter Marco brought fome to Venice, tafting notmuch unlike barley-bread. The wood of this tree thrown into the water finks likeiron, of which they make lancets, but fhort; for if long, they would be too heavy tobear. Theſe they ſharpen, and burn at the tops, with which fo prepared, they willpierce through armour fooner than if they were made of iron. About one hundredand fifty miles from Lambri, failing northwards, are two iflands, one called Nocueran,in which the inhabitants live like beafts, go all naked, both men and women, and worfhip idols, have excellent trees, cloves, fanders white and red, Indian nuts, Brafiland other fpices; the other Angaman, favage as the former, and where I was toldthey had dogs' heads and teeth.24. Sailing hence one thoufand miles to the weft, and a little to the north-weſt, isZeilan, two thouſand and four hundred miles in circuit, and anciently three thouſandand fix hundred miles, as is feen in the maps of the mariners of thoſe places; but thenorth winds have made a great part of it fea. It is the fineſt iſland in the world; theKing is called Sendernaz. The men and women are idolaters, go naked, fave that theycover their privities with a cloth, have no corn, but rice and oil of Sefamino, milk,fleſh, wine of trees, abundance of Brafil, the beſt rubies in the world, fapphires, topazes, amethyſts, and other gems: the King is faid to have the very fineſt ruby that wasever feen, as long as one's hand, and as big as a man's arm, without fpot, fhining like afire, not to be bought for money. Cublai-Khanfent and offered the value of a city for it;but the King anfwered, he would not give it for the treaſure of the world, nor part withVOL. VII. Y it,162 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.it, becauſe it had been his anceſtors. The men are unfit for foldiers, and hire others whenthey have occafion. From Zeilan, failing fixty miles to the weft, lies the great provinceof Malabar, which is not an island but firm continent, called India the Greater, the richeſtprovince in the world: there are in it four Kings, the chief of which is Sinder Candi, inwhofe kingdom they fish for pearls, viz. betwixt Malabar and Zeilan, in a bay where thefea is not above ten or twelve fathom; in which divers defcend , and in bags or nets tiedto their bodies, bring up the oyfters, in which are the pearls: and becauſe there are fomegreat fish which kill the fishermen, they hire certain Bramins to charm them, and theſehave the twentieth, and the King the tenth. Theſe oyfters are found through the wholemonth of April, and till the middle of May, and not at any time elfe. In Septemberthey find them in a place above three hundred miles off, and till the midſt of October.The Khan goes as naked as the reft, fave that he wears fome honourable enfigns, as acollar of precious ftones about his neck, and a thread of filk to his breaft, with onehundred and four fair pearls ftrung thereon to count his prayers by, of which he muſtdaily ſay ſo many to his idols. A fort of bracelets he weareth on three places on hisarms, and likewife on his legs, on his fingers, and on his toes. The prayers whichhe fays are Pacauca, Pacauca, Pacauca, one hundred and four times. This King hathone thouſand concubines, and if any pleaſe him, he takes her, as once he did from hisbrother, whence wars had followed; but the mother threatening to cut off her breasts,which had nouriſhed them, if they proceeded, the quarrel was compofed. He hathmany horfemen for his guard, which always accompany him, who, when the Kingdies, throw themfelves voluntarily into the fire when he is burnt, to do him fervice inthe next world.This Prince and his brethren, the Kings of Malabar, buy their horſes from Ormus,and other parts; the country breeds none, and if it fometimes falls out that it does, yetare they there bred ill-favoured and naught. Condemned perfons will offer themſelvesto die in honour of fuch an idol, which is performed with twelve knives, and twelvewounds in divers parts of the body, at every blow, faying, " I kill myfelf in honour ofthat idol; " and the laſt he thrufts in his heart, and is then burnt by his kindred. Thewives alfo caft themſelves into the fire with their husbands, difrepute following thoſewho refuſe it. They worſhip idols, and moſt of them adore cows, and would not eatfo holy fleſh as beef for all the world. There are fome called Gaui, who eat fuch oxenas die of themſelves, but may not kill them, and daub over their houſes with ox-dung.Thefe Gaui are of the poſterity of thoſe which flew St. Thomas, and cannot enter theplace where his body is. They fit on carpets on the ground in this kingdom: theyhave no corn but rice; are not a martial people; kill no beaſts, but when they will eatany, get the Saracens to do it, or other people; waſh twice a-day, morning and evening, both men and women, and will not otherwife eat, which they who obferve not areaccounted heretics. They touch not their meat with their left hand, but uſe that handonly to wipe, and for other unclean ufes. They drink each in his own pot, and willnot touch another man's pot, nor fuffer their own to touch their mouth, but hold itover, and pour it in. To ftrangers who have no pot they pour drink into his hands,and oblige him to drink with them. Juftice is feverely adminiſtered for crimes, and acreditor may in fome cafes encompaſs his debtor with a circle, which he dares not pafstill he hath paid the debt, or given fecurity; if he does, he is to be put to death; andMafter Marco once faw the King himſelf on horſeback thus encircled by a merchant,whom he had long delayed and put off; neither would the King go out of the circlewhich the merchant had drawn, till he had fatisfied him, the people applauding theKing's juftice. They are very fcrupulous of drinking wine made of the grape, and they9whichTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 163which do it are not thought worthy or honeft men, or admitted to be witneffes, a thingdenied alſo to him who fails by fea, for they fay fuch men are defperate. They thinklechery no fin. It is very hot, and they have no rain but in June, July, and Auguft;without which refreſhing of the air they could not live. They have many phyfiognomers and foothfayers, which obferve beafts and birds, and have an unlucky hour everyday in the week called Choiach, as on Monday, betwixt two and three, on Tueſday thethird hour, and on Wedneſday the ninth, &c. through all the year, fet down in theirbooks. They curiouſly obferve nativities. At thirteen years old they put their boys toget their own livings, who run up and down to buy and fell, having a fmall ſtock giventhem to begin, and in pearl ſeaſon they buy a few pearls, and fell them again to themerchants, which cannot well endure the fun, for little gain; what they get theybring to their mothers to drefs for them, for they may not eat at their father's coft.They have idols, male and female, to whom they offer their daughters, who, whenthe monks or priefts appoint, fing and dance to the idols, and very often fet victualsbefore them, faying that they eat, leaving it the ſpace of a meal, finging all the while,and then they fall to eating in earneſt, after which they return home. The caufe ofthefe facrifices is the houfhold quarrels betwixt the god and goddefs, which, if theyfhould appeafe, they fhould loſe their bleffing. The great men have litters made oflarge canes, which they faften artificially to fome upper place to prevent tarantulas biting,and alfo fleas and other vermin, and for freſh air.The place of St. Thomas's fepulchre is a fmall city, not much frequented by merchants, but very much by Chriftians and Saracens for devotion. The Saracens holdhim a great prophet, and call him Ananias, that is, a holy man. The Chriftians take ofthe earth where he was flain, which is red, and carry it with them with great reverence,and give it, mixed with water, to the fick. A. D. 1288, a great Prince, having morerice than room to lay it in, made bold with St. Thomas's church, in the room wherepilgrims were received; but by a vifion of St. Thomas in the night, was fo terrified thathe quickly left the place. The inhabitants are black, not fo born, but became fo byoften anointing themſelves with jeffamine oil, to obtain that beauty. They paint thedevil white, and their idols black. The cow-worshippers carry with them to battlefome of the hair of a wild ox, as a prefervation againſt dangers, and therefore fuchhairs are fold at a high price.25. Murfili, or Monful, is northward from Malabar five hundred miles; the inhabitants are idolaters. They have diamonds in their hills, which they fearch for aftergreat rains. Weftward from St. Thomas is Lac, whence the Bramins have their original, who are the honefteft merchants in the world, and will not lye for any thing,and faithfully keep any thing committed to their cuſtody, or as brokers fell or bartermerchandiſe for others. They are known by a cotton thread, which they wear overthe ſhoulders, tied under the arm croffing the breaft . They have but one wife, aregreat aftrologers, of great abftinence, and long life; obferve their own fhadow in thefun, when they are to buy, and thence conjecture according to the rules of their art.They conſtantly chew a certain herb, which makes their teeth good, and helps digeſtion.There are fome religious among them, called Tangui, who go altogether naked, liveaufterely, worſhip cows, of which they have little brafs images on their foreheads, andof the ox-bones afhes make an ointment, wherewith they anoint their bodies in diversplaces with great reverence. They neither kill or eat any live creature, nor herbgreen, or root before it is dried, efteeming every thing to have a foul. They ufe nodiſhes, but lay their victuals on dry leaves of apples of paradife. They eafe themſelvesin the fands, and then difperfe it hither and thither, left it fhould breed worms, whichY 2 muft164 THE VOYAGES AND TRAvels of marco polo.muft die for want of food. Some of them live to one hundred and fifty years, andtheir bodies, after death, are burnt.In Zeilan I had forgot to mention a high mountain, which none can afcend but byiron chains, as Iwas told, in the top whereof the Saracens fay is Adam's fepulchre;the idolaters fay it is the body of Sogoman Barchan, the firft idol founder, fon to theKing of that iſland, who betook himſelf to a ſolitary life on the top of this hill, fromwhence no pleaſures nor perfuafions could draw him; his father made an image afterhis death to reprefent him, all of gold, adorned with garments, and commanded all theiflanders to worſhip it: and hence, as they fay, began idolatry. Hither they comefrom remote places in pilgrimage, and there his fore-teeth, and a difh of his, are referved, and as holy relics folemnly fhewed. The Saracens fay they are of Adam,which report caufed the Khan, A. D. 1281 , to fend ambaffadors thither, who obtainedtwo teeth and a diſh, and ſome of his hairs, by grant, from the King of Zeilan, whichhe cauſed to be received bythe whole people of Cambalu without the city, and broughtto his preſence with great honour.Cael is a great city, governed by After, one of the four brethren, who is very rich,alfo very kind to merchants; he hath three hundred concubines. All the people havea cuftom to be continually chewing in their mouths a leaf called Tembul, with fpicesand lime. Coulam is five hundred miles fouth-weſt from Malabar; they are idolaters.There are alfo Chriftians and Jews, who have a ſpeech by themſelves. They havepepper, Brafil, Indico, lions all black, parrots of divers forts, all white as fnow, othersazure, others red, and fome fmall peaco*cks and peahens, very different from ours, andlarger, as are their fruits; they are lecherous, and marry their fifters and near kindred: there are many aftrologers and phyficians. In Camari are apes fo large, thatthey ſeem to be men: and here we had a fight of the north-ſtar. Delai hath a King,and the inhabitants have their own language: the people are idolaters, and have plentyof fpices; the fhips of Mangi come thither. Malabar is a kingdom in the weft, inwhich, and in Guzerat, are many pirates, who fometimes put to fea with above anhundred fail, and rob merchants. They bring with them their wives and children,and there remain all fummer. In Guzerat is abundance of cotton, the trees fix fathomshigh, and laſt twenty years; the cotton of theſe trees is not fit to fpin after theyare above twelve years old, but for quilts: there are many Rhinoceros's. In Canhau is ftore of frankincenfe. It is a great city, where is great trade for horfes. InCambaia is much Indico, buckram, and cotton. sem*nath is a kingdom of a peculiarlanguage, they are idolaters, merchants, and a good people. Refmacoran is a greatkingdom of idolaters and Saracens. The laft province of the Greater India, towardsthe north-weft, is five hundred miles, near which are ſaid to be two iſlands, one ofmen and the other of women, thofe coming to thefe, and there ſtay in March, April,and May. The women keep their fons till twelve years, and then fend them to theirfathers. It ſeems the air of that country admits no other courfe: they are Chriftians,and have their bishop, fubject to the Bishop of Socotora; they are good fishermen,and have ftore of amber. Socotora hath an archbishop, not fubject to the Pope, butto one Zatuli, who refides at Baldach, who choofeth him. The Socotorans are inchanters, as great as any in the world, though excommunicated therefore by theirprelate, and raiſe winds to bring back fuch fhips as have wronged them till they obtainfatisfaction.26. Athouſand miles thence fouthward is Magafter, one of the greateſt and richeſtifles in the world, three thousand miles in circuit, inhabited by Saracens, governed byfour old men; the people live by merchandize, and fell vast quantites of elephants'teeth.THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.165teeth. The currents in theſe parts are of exceeding force. They report ſtrange ſtoriesof fowls called Ruch, like an eagle, but of incomparable bignefs. Zenfibar alſo is faidto be of great length, &c. There are elephants, giraffas, and ſheep, very unlike to ours;the men and women very deformed. I have heard mariners and ſkilful pilots of thofeparts report, and have feen in their writings, which have compaffed the fea of India,that there are in it twelve thouſand and feven hundred iflands inhabited and defert. InIndia Major, which is from Malabar to Chefmacoran, are thirteen kingdoms.India Minor is from Ziambi to Murfili, in which are eight kingdoms, befides manyiflands. The fecond, or Middle India, is called Abafcia, the chief King a Chriftian.There are fix other Kings, three Chriftians, and three Saracens, fubject to him; thereare alfo Jews. St. Thomas having preached in Nubia, came to Abafcia, and there didthe like, and went afterwards to Malabar. They are very valiant foldiers, always inarms againſt the Soldan of Aden, and the people of Nubia. I heard that A. D. 1288,the Great Emperor of the Abiffines would have vifited Jerufalem, but being diffuadedby reaſon of the Saracen kingdoms in the way, he fent a Biſhop of holy life to performhis devotions, who in his return was taken bythe Soldan of Aden, and circumcifed byforce; whereupon the Abiffine Monarch raiſed an army, diſcomfited the Soldan, withtwo other Mohammedan Kings, took and fpoiled Aden. Abafcia is rich in gold; Efcieris fubject to Aden, forty miles diftant fouth- eaft, where is plenty of white frankincenfe,very good, which drops from fmall trees by incifion of the bark, a rich merchandiſe,&c. Some in that country, for want of corn, make bifcuit of fifh, of which they havegreat plenty they alſo feed their beaſts with fish. They take them in March, April,and May.27. After having ſpoken of the provinces on the coaft, I will now return to fomeprovinces more to the north, where many Tartars dwell, which have a King calledCaidu, ofthe race of Zingis-Khan, but fubject to none. Thefe obferve the cuſtoms oftheir anceſtors, dwell not in cities, caftles, or fortreffes, but dwell with their King in thefields, plains, vallies, and forefts, and are eſteemed true Tartars. They have no fortof corn, but live on fleſh and milk, in great peace. They have multitudes of horfes,kine, ſheep, and other beaſts. There are found great white bears, twenty palms long,black foxes, very large, wild affes, and little beaſts called Rondes, which bear the fablefurs, and variarcolini, and thoſe which are called Pharaoh's rats, which the Tartars arefkilful in taking. The great lakes which are frozen, except for a few months in theyear, are the cauſe that in the ſummer it is fcarce to be travelled for mire, and thereforethe merchants in going to buytheir furs, for fourteen days journey through the defart,have fet up for each day a houfe ofwood, where they barter with the inhabitants, and inwinter they ufe fledges without wheels, and plain on the bottom, rifing with a femicircleat the top, or end, which are drawn on the ice by beafts like great dogs, by couples, theДledge-man only with his merchant and furs fitting therein.TheAt the extremity of the region of thefe Tartars is a country reaching to the fartheftnorth, called the obfcure land, becauſe the moſt part of the winter months the funappears not, and the air is thick and darkish, as betimes in the morning with us.men there are pale and fquat, have no Prince, and live like beafts. The Tartars oftenrob them of their cattle in thofe dark months, and, left they ſhould lofe their way, theyride on mares which have colts f*cking, which they leave with a guard at the entranceof that country, where the light beginneth to fail, and when they have taken theirprey, give reins to the mares, which haften to their colts. In their long continuedfummer, they take many of the fineſt furs (on occafion of the Tartars going to rob them),ofwhich I have heard ſome are brought into Ruffia. Ruffia is a great country nearthat166 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.Cthat northern darknefs. The people are Greek Chriftians, the men and women fair,and pay tribute to the King of the Tartars of the weft, on whom they border. On theeaft there is plenty of furs, wax, and mines of filver; it reaches, as I was told, to theocean fea, in which are iflands that abound in ger- falcons and falcons.28. We are now arrived at the clofe of this author's writings, and therefore aremore capable of judging of the particulars they contain, which was the reafon that Ileft fome points to be confidered here, which I fhould otherwife have thrown under thehead of objections. Some critical readers have affected to doubt, whether our author,or rather his performance, deferves credit, from the account that is given of the mannerin which it was wrote, and from the different ſtories that we have told of the original .We have already accounted for the miſtakes that have been made on this head, andſhall here only take notice, that Francis Pipin, of the order of preachers, who made aLatin tranflation of our author's work, tells us in his preface, that from the report ofhis domeſtics, he was fatisfied that Marco Polo was a man of great prudence, remarkably honeft, and one who had the faireſt character that could be. It is not very eaſyto conceive, that fuch a man fhould expofe that credit which he had been at fo muchpains to eſtabliſh, by fending into the world an indigefted heap of fictions and romances.But the fame perfon informs us farther, that Signior Nicolo Polo, the father of our author, was the moſt eſteemed and beft beloved man of his time, and that he conftantlyreported the very fame facts during his whole life, which his fon publiſhed in his works;and as for his uncle Signior Maffio, who enjoyed fome of the principal offices in thegovernment at Venice, and diſtinguiſhed himſelf by his wiſdom and integrity, when hewas upon his death-bed he took particular care to affure his confeffor, that he had reviewed his nephew's work, and that he was fully fatisfied that there was nothing in itthat was not ſtrictly true, and this he gave him leave to declare for the fatisfaction ofthe world. Here then are three credible witneffes to the fame facts, and therefore,according to all the laws of evidence, they ought to be looked upon as thoroughlyeſtabliſhed.We muſt however diftinguish between fuch facts as our author reports from his ownknowledge, and thofe which are grounded only on hearfay and information. We mayaccufe an author of credulity or imprudence, who inferts ftrange and improbable thingsin his writings, but we cannot with juftice charge him with infidelity or falfehood on thathead, and we ought alſo to make fome allowance for the genius of the time in whichhe wrote, becaufe it cannot be prefumed, that even the wifeft and moſt prudent mencan be totally free from the errors of the age in which he flouriſhed: it may not beamifs to give a few inftances with regard to our author.In the twenty- fifth chapter there is an account of diamond mines, in the kingdom ofMurfili, where we have omitted a paffa*ge that is to be met with in moft of the editionsof our author, becaufe it is reported on the credit of the inhabitants, and we were willingto examine it by itſelf, that the reader might perceive we had no intention to impofeupon him thofe improbabilities which had been impofed upon our author himſelf.After having told us that diamonds are found there at the bottom of the rocky mountains, after the rainy feafon is over, he proceeds thus: " They alfo in the fummer-timeafcend theſe mountains, though with great difficulty, becaufe of the vehemence oftheheat, and find abundance of thofe precious ftones among the gravel. In this they arelikewife much expofed to danger from the vast number of ferpents of enormous fize,which ſhelter themſelves in the holes and caverns of theſe rocks, where, nevertheleſs,they find diamonds in the greateſt abundance. Among other methods of obtainingthem, they make uſe of this: there are abundance of white eagles that reft in the upperpartTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO polo. 167part of thoſe rocks, for the fake of feeding on the ferpents, and in the deep vallies andprecipices, where men are afraid to venture themſelves, they throw pieces of raw meat,which the eagles perceiving, immediately ftoop and feize it, with all the little ftonesand gravel that adhere to thefe moift pieces of meat. Such as fearch for diamondswatch the eagles' nefts, and when they leave them, pick up fuch little ftones, and fearchlikewife for diamonds among the eagles' dung. The Kings and great men in thiscountry keep the faireft and fineft of thefe ftones to themſelves, and fuffer the merchants to fell the reft."The famous Julius Cæfar Scaliger was extremely offended with this relation, whichhe treats with the utmoft contempt, and feems to wonder at the affurance of a writerthat expects ſtories of this kind fhould gain credit; yet, after all, I do not fee that thereis any great harm in our author's relating this tale, however improbable it may ſeem,fince without doubt he received it from the inhabitants, and what motives they had totell him ſuch a ſtory is not very difficult to guefs. The native Indians, in all the revolutions that have happened in the countries where they live, have preſerved this tradein their own hands, and by fables of one fort or other kept ftrangers from attemptingto interfere with them. Our author was very probably the first European that was everat the diamond mines, and therefore we have the lefs reafon to be furpriſed at his beingimpoſed upon in an affair of which he could not be a competent judge.But to make the reader fome amends for fo imperfect a relation of the manner inwhich this valuable trade is carried on, I ſhall take this opportunity of inſerting the beſt .account of the matter that I believe has been hitherto given, by one who was an eyewitneſs of it in the year 1680, and that too in the very country known to our authorby the name ofthe kingdom of Murfili. " The diamonds are fo fcattered and difperfed in the earth, and lie fo thin, that in the moſt plentiful mines it is rare to find onein digging, or till they have prepared the ſtuff, and fearched purpofely for them theyare alfo frequently encloſed in clods; and fome of thofe of Molwilleed, and the newmines in the kingdom of Golconda, have the earth fo fixed about them, that, till theygrind them on a rough ſtone with fand, they cannot move it fufficiently to diſcover theyare tranfparent, or were it not for their fhapes, to know them from other ftones. At thefirst opening of the mine, the unfkilful labourers fometimes, to try what they havefound, lay them on a great ftone, and ftriking them one with another, to their coftlyexperience diſcover they have broken a diamond. One I know who had an excellentſtone of eight mangellans, that is, thirty- two grains, ferved fo by ignorant miners he employed. Near the place where they dig they raiſe a wall, with fuch rugged ſtones asthey find at hand, whereof all the mines afford plenty, of about two feet high, and fixfeet over, flooring it well with the fame; for the laying of which they have no othermortar than the earth tempered with water. To ftrengthen and make it tight, theythrow up a bank againſt the fide of it, in one part whereof they leave a ſmall vent abouttwo inches from the bottom, by which it empties itfelf into a little pit made in the earthto receive ſmall ftones, if by chance any fhould run through. The vent being ftopped,theyfill the ciftern they have made with water, foaking therein as much of the earth theydig out of the mine as it can conveniently receive at a time, breaking the clods, pickingout the great ſtones, and ſtirring it with fhovels till the water is all muddy, the gravellyſtuff falling to the bottom; then they open the vent, letting out the foul water, and fupply it with clean, till all the earthy fubftance be waſhed away, and none but a gravelly oneremains at the bottom. Thustheycontinue waſhing till about ten ofthe clock before noon,whenthey take the gravellyftuffthey have waſhed, and ſpread it on a place made plain andfmooth for that purpoſe near the cistern, which being fo dried by the heat of the fun atthat168 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO,that time of the day, they very curiouſly look it over, that the ſmalleſt bit of a ſtonecan hardly eſcape them. They never examine the ſtuff they have waſhed, but betweenthe hours of ten and three, left any cloud, by interpofing, intercept the briſk beams ofthe fun, which they hold very neceffary to affift them in their fearch, the diamonds conftantly reflecting them when they fhine on them, rendering themfelves thereby themore confpicuous." Some of the experteſt labourers are employed in fearching, he that fets them atwork ufually fitting by, and over-looking; but it is hardly poffible, eſpecially wheremany are employed, to watch them fo narrowly but that they may fteal part of whatthey find, as many times fome of them do, and felling it privately, convert it to theirown ufe. Ifthey find a large ftone, they carry it not prefently to their employer, butkeep on looking, having an eye on him, till they obferve he takes notice of it, when,with the turn of their hand, they give him a glimpſe of it, but deliver it not till they havedone work, and then very privately, it being the general endeavour to conceal whatthey find, left it ſhould come to the knowledge of the governor of the place, and herequires a fhare, which in the kingdom of Golconda is ufually practifed , without anyreſpect to the agreement made with them. The miners, thofe that employ them , andthe merchants that buy ftones ofthem, are uſually Pagans, not a Muffelman, that everI heard of, followed the employment. Thefe labourers, and their employers, are Tellingas, commonly natives of or near the place. The merchants are the Banians ofGuzerat, who for fome generations have forfaken their own country to take up thistrade, in which they have had fuch fuccefs, that it is now folely engroffed by them,who, correfponding with their countrymen in Surat, Goa, Golconda, Vifiapore, Agra,and Dilu, and other places in India, furniſh them all with diamonds." The governors of the mines are alfo idolaters. In the King of Golconda's dominions a Tellenga Brammee rents moſt of them, whofe agreement with the adventureris, that all the ſtones found under a pagoda weight are to be their own; all of thatweight and above is to be his, for the King's ufe. But although this agreement befigned and fealed, he minds not at all the performance thereof, but endeavours to engrofs all the profit to himſelf, by tyrannically fqueezing both merchants and miners,whomhe not only taxes very high, but maintaineth ſpies among them oftheir own people.On the leaſt fufpicion that they have been any ways fortunate, he immediately makes ademand on them, and raiſes their tax; elfe on a falfe pretence they have found a greatftone, drubs them till they furrender what they have, to redeem their bodies fromtorture." Beſides, the excife is fo high on all forts of provifions, beetle, and tobacco, whichwith them are eſteemed neceffaries, that the price of all things is doubled; by whichcourſe there is hardly a man to be found worth five hundred pounds amongſt them,moſt of them dealing by monies taken up at intereſt of uſurers, who refide there purpofely to furniſh them, who with the governor eat up their gains, fo that one wouldwonder any of them ſhould ſtay, and not betake themfelves to places where they mighthave better uſage, as there are many in other governments, and fome few that havethe ſenſe to remove; but many their debts, others hopes of a great hit, detains. Bothmerchant and miner go generally naked, only a poor cloth about their middle, and theirfaſh on their heads; they dare not wear a coat, left the governor fhould fay they havethriven much, and are rich, and fo enlarge his demands on them. The wifeft, whenthey find a great ftone, conceal it till they have an opportunity, and then with wifeand children run all away into the Vifiapore country, where they are fecure. The government in the Vifiapore country is better: their agreements obferved, taxes eafier,andTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 169and no fuch impofitions on provifions; the merchants go handfomely clad, amongwhom are feveral perfons of confiderable eftates, which they are permitted to enjoypeaceably, by reafon whereof their mines are much more populous, and better employedthan thofe of Golconda. "It is for the fame reafon that I have omitted another improbable ftory of a bird calleda Ruc, of fuch a monftrous fize as to be able to carry an elephant into the air; whichabfurdities our author was probably induced to believe, bythe ftrange things he dailyfaw in theſe parts of the world, and of which the people in Europe had not fo much asthe leaft idea. Theſe omiffions I thought requifite for keeping the work within bounds,as having no inclination to try the patience of myreaders, by inferting any more oftheſeold travels than feem abfolutely neceffary for connecting the feveral parts of this difcourſe, and fhewing how, in what manner, and by whom thofe great diſcoveries weremade, which enabled the different nations in Europe to carry on fo great a trade asthey do to all parts of the Eaft Indies. This, without doubt, was originally owing tothis work of Marco Polo, who, though no geographer or feaman himſelf, yet left fuchclear and evident proofs of the poffibility of reaching the moft diftant parts of Afia by fea,that his work was more efteemed in Portugal , where the firſt ſpirit of diſcovery appeared,than in Italy itſelf. It remains, in this place, to give a fhort account of the names bywhich he has diftinguifhed the countries he vifited, and particularly to anſwer the greatobjection raiſed againſt his work, from his not making any mention of the famous wallin China for keeping out the Tartars, which ſhall be done in as few words as poffible.Our author following exactly the fentiments of the Tartars, diftinguiſhes all thisgreat country into two parts, viz. Cathay and Mangi, about which many doubts havebeen raiſed, and many difputes fet on foot without any juft grounds, fince it is veryplain, that, under the denomination of Cathay, Marco Polo comprehends the fixnorthern provinces of China, and under that of Mangi the nine fouthern provinces,which are feparated from the former by the great river Kiang; and when we comehereafter to treat of the preſent ſtate of the empire of China, we ſhall take occafionto fhew, that this defcription of his agrees very well with the beſt accounts ofthat empire. This will be the more intelligible to the reader, when he is informed,that the Tartars ftill preſerve theſe very forms of fpeech, that is to fay, give the nameof Cathay to the northern parts, and that of Mangi to the fouthern provinces ofChina. Asto this latter, it is a name of contempt, for Mangi, in the Tartar tongue,implies Barbarians, and fo they efteemed the Chineſe to be, not from the brutality oftheir manners, but from their extravagant haughtinefs and pride, and eſpecially fromthat intolerable hatred and contempt with which theytreated the Tartars themfelves. Theplain reaſon why our author did not mention the famous wall in China was, becauſe heentered it by the fouthern provinces; and as he confines himſelf to the places he faw,or to fuch as were in their neighbourhood, and profecutes his defcription from theweſtern parts of China to the fea, it was impoffible he fhould take notice of it; fo thatwhen we confider this matter attentively, it is very plain, that this circumſtance, inftead of leffening the credit of Marco Polo, ought, in truth, to ftrengthen it very much,fince it is a convincing proof of the truth of what he has afferted in relation to his owntravels, and his defcriptions of the countries through which he paſſed; and evidentlyfhews he did not amufe himſelf with accounts of countries and provinces of which hecould fay nothing but from report, to which, if he had liſtened, his relation muſt havebeen much more obfcure and perplexed than we find it at prefent. But it is now timeto proceed to the conclufion of this fection, by fhewing the advantages that may beobtained by the perufal of Marco Polo's Travels, in order to the thorough underſtanding VOL. VII. Z170 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.ing of our fubject. And this we fhall perform as concifely as poffible, and in fuch amanner as may difengage us from the neceffity of looking into any more of theſe oldwriters forthe future.29. As the inhabitants of Europe, received the firft diftinct account of the vaſtcountry of China from our induftrious Venetians, fo from them likewife they had thecleareft and beft account of the revolutions that had happened in that empire by thepower of the Tartars; a thing of fuch confequence to the right underſtanding whatfubfequent travellers have related, that I will be bold to fay all the difficulties and difcouragements that have been thrown in our way, and have fo long hindered our making a right ufe of the many collections of travels already publiſhed, have arifen in partfrom a humour that for fome time prevailed, of treating Marco Polo's relation as aromance, and partly through the miſtakes made by thofe, who for want of having fufficient lights, and the materials that were requifite, undertook to explain the hiſtory ofthe irruptions of the Tartars into China, and endeavoured to make the dates and factsmentioned in thefe travels, fall in with their accounts, accufing, at every turn, the author of errors and faults, ofwhich themſelves only were guilty. To remedy thefe diforders, and to make the way plainer for the future, we fhall, without running into along difcuffion of what other writers have advanced, obferve, that there have beenthree diftinct conqueſts of China made by the Tartars, of each of which we ſhall givea clear and diſtinct account in very few words. The firſt of theſe was by the EaſternTartars, who, before the time of Zingis Khan, made themſelves maſters of the northernprovinces of China, and fixed the feat of their empire at Khanbalick, Cambalu, orPekin; and this, as I conceive, gave rife to what is called the empire of Cathay; concerning which, all our antient writers in general deliver themſelves with fo much confu-.fion, fometimes reprefenting Cathay as a part of Tartary, fometimes again comprehending under that name the whole empire of China; and at others, diftinguishing it fromboth. But from this diftinction, it clearly appears, that though the ancient empire ofCathay was fituated in China, yet it was an empire raiſed by the Tartars; and that fromwant of attending to this, fo many miſtakes have been introduced.The prince who governed Cathay in the time of Zingis Khan was Altan Khan,againſt whom that great conqueror made his firſt attempt, in the year 1206, and thatwith fuch fuccefs as to oblige this monarch, after various defeats, to fhut himſelf up inthe city of Cambalu, and to fue for a peace, which, with much difficulty, he obtained;for the confirmation of which he gave his daughter in marriage to Zingis- Khan. Thispeace was of but very fhort continuance; for Altan-Khan, having a jealoufy that fomeof his nobility held intelligence with his enemy, he put many of them to death; andfinding the northern parts of his dominions in a manner wafted and depopulated bythelate invafion, he retired to the city of Nankin, which his father had fortified withthree walls the laſt of which was forty leagues in circuit, and left his fon in poffeffionof Khanbalick and of the adjacent countries. The rest of the nobility, enraged atthe inftances of ſeverity before-mentioned, and at the fame time doubting their ownfafety, had immediate recourfe to Zingis- Khan, and drew him a fecond time into Cathay, where he made himſelf maſter of the imperial city of Cambalu; the news ofwhich accident affected Altan-Khan to fuch a degree, that he poifoned himſelf.happened about the year 1210; and thus the Tartars became mafters of the northern partsof China. They continued their conquefts under the reign ofthe fucceffors of ZingisKhan, till the emperor, who reigned when our author was in thefe parts, viz. CoplaiKhan, who in the year 1278 completed the conqueft of Mangi, or the fouthern partsof China. 13ThisTheTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 171The bounds of Zingis- Khan's conquefts on this fide, was the river Hoang; but hisfucceffors annexed all the country between that river and the river of Kiang. All thereft were fubdued by Coplai- Khan, and his general Pe Yen. This was the fecond conqueſt made by the Tartars, who not only deſtroyed the empire formerly eſtabliſhed bytheir countrymen in Cathay, but alſo that of the native Chinefe, which had fubfiftedfor fo many ages. This fhort recapitulation fets this affair in its true light, and not onlyexplains what Marco Polo has told us, and reconciles his accounts with thofe of laterauthors, but alfo connects his relation with that of Rubruquis, and even thoſe of theArabian travellers; fo that taking the whole together, we have a clear and fatisfactoryview of the affairs of China, to that which I call the fecond conqueft by the Tartars;but as the affairs of this country were entirely changed again before the arrival of thePortugueſe by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, I think it will be for the reader'seaſe and advantage to have this hiftory conducted to its clofe before we enter upon thediſcoveries and conquefts of the Portugueſe; becaufe otherwife, when we come toſpeak of the Chineſe as again in the poffeffion of their country, and again driven outand conquered by the Tartars, it must neceffarily introduce infinite confufion. It isfrom the Chineſe writers that we have the reigns of the Tartar emperors who fucceededCoplai-Khan, and of whom there is very little mention made in the hiftories of theTartars.The Chineſe, as I before obferved, called this new imperial family Yuen, and beſtowedthe name of Chi-Tfou upon Coplai-Khan, of whom their hiſtories ſpeak with theutmoſt reverence, and whom they celebrate, for his having opened the great canal mentioned byour author, andwhich has been ever fince juftlyconfidered as one ofthewondersof China. It is three hundred leagues in length, and nine thoufand imperial barks areconftantly employed thereon, in tranfporting the tributes of the fouthern provinces toCambalu or Pekin, and in other ſervices. Theſe writers place the death of this Emperor fomewhat lower than the Tartar hiftorians; for the former fay, that he lived tothe age of fourſcore, and died A. D. 1295, whereas the latter place that event in 1292.He was fucceeded in the empire by his grandfon, whom our author calls Timur, butin the Chineſe chronicles he is ftiled Tching-Tfong; and as his grandfather excelledin power fo he diftinguiſhed himſelf by his clemency and the love of his fubjects.After him reigned feven other princes of his family, all whom were no lefs illuftriouson the ſcore of their perſonal virtues, than glorious from their poffeffing fo large anempire: and it is very remarkable, that the Chineſe hiſtory renders fo great juftice tothis foreign race of Princes, as to ftile the period in which they ruled over China, the" Wife Adminiftration." The laft of them was Chun-ti, a prince of great naturalendowments, but who unfortunately gave himſelf up to priefts and women, leavingthe management of the affairs of the empire entirely to his prime minifter. The Tartar foldiers, through fo long a piece, had loft the original difcipline, and were becomeflothful and effeminate, which fo raiſed the courage of the Chineſe, that they began tofhew a difpofition to revolt; and one Tchou, an obfcure perfon who had been no betterthan a footman, having put himſelf at the head of a body of malecontents, reducedmanyof the great cities in the empire; and became, by degrees, fo powerful, that he twicedefeated the imperial army, and at laſt forced the Tartars to abandon China, afterthey had been poffeffed of it ninety- nine years. This revolution happened in 1370;and Tchou having by his fuccefs in this war raiſed himſelf to the imperial throne, affumed the name of Tai-Tfou, and fixed his imperial refidence in the city of Nankin .And thus it was that the Chineſe, having expelled their conquerors, recovered the dominion of their own country.Z 2 As172 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.As for the Emperor Chun-ti, he retired with his Tartar fubjects northwards, anddied ofgrief and vexation about two years after this revolution happened. The Tartars that were thus expelled, having a ftrong tincture of the Chineſe cuftoms, did notjoin with the reft of the Moguls, but fettled themfelves in the country of Leaoton, andwere, from this time forward, ftiled the Nieuchen Moguls, or " Moguls of the Eaft,"to diſtinguiſh them from the other Moguls, who were called " Moguls of the Weft."This defart country they cultivated with the utmoft care, built therein ſeveral confiderable cities, and practifed that induftry which they had learned by converfing fo longwith the Chinefe; yet, in fome refpects, they ftill retained a tincture of their ancientmanners; for, inftead of remaining firm and united, which feemed to be the onlymeans left for recovering again the dominions they had loft, they fplit themſelves intofeveral little principalities, under fo many Khans; who though their territories werenot very wide, maintained nevertheleſs their independency. Among the moſt confiderable of thofe cities which they erected , were Kirin , Ula, and Kinkrita, all three ofthem feated onthe weft bank ofthe river Sangoro, which falls into the great river Amur,about twelve days journey above its mouth. The city of Kirin is diftant from the province of Leaoton, about three hundred and fixty miles. The city of Ula is in latitudeforty four degrees twenty minutes north, and was confidered as the capital of the Nieuchen Moguls. The Khan of Ula however was far from being a confiderable prince,had no fort of fuperiority over the reft of the Khans of the Eaftern Tartars, was without allies or refources beyond the power of his own fubjects; and yet, as we ſhallfhew hereafter, it was this Khan Ula, that had the courage to undertake, and thegood fortune to accomplish the third conqueft of China *: but at prefent we will leavethe Tartars cultivating their defarts, and return to the new-founded empire of Tchouand his defcendants.The dynafty, founded by this prince, was called Ming, and the Emperor, who, as Lhave faid before, affumed the name of Tai Tfou, reigned thirty-one years with greatglory, and left the empire to his grandfon, who perished in a civil war, and wasfucceeded by his uncle, who, having been formerly King of Pekin, transferred thefeat of the empire thither. The fixth Emperor of this family was Yng Tfong, underwhofe reign the Tartars made new incurfions into China; to oppofe them, the Emperor marched at the head of a great army, and purſuing them confiderably beyond thefamous wall, they fuddenly faced about, attacked and defeated the Chineſe, makingthe Emperor prifoner. His fon who was but two years old, was advanced to the empire, and the brother of the captive Emperor, whofe name was King Ti, declared protector, which promotion gave him an opportunity of feizing the empire. The Tartars,fome time after, releafed Yng Tfong, who choſe however to lead a private life, andleave his brother in poffeffion of the empire, which he enjoyed to his death; and thenthe old Emperor was again feated on the throne.The eleventh emperor of this race was Chi Tfong, who had the good fortune to defeat the Tartars in feveral battles; and it was under his reign that the famous Francis

• Atprefent all the Eaftern Tartary is fubject to the Chineſe Emperors, and is divided into two parts;

the first contains what may be called the hereditary dominions of the family now reigning in China. It is divided into three governments, and the inhabitants are diftinguifhed by the name of Mantcheoux. Thecapital ofthis country is called by the inhabitants themfelves Mongdon, but by the Chineſe Chin Yang,which at this Day is a well-peopled and well -fortified city, where thereis a fovereign tribunal for decidingall affairs that relate to the dominions of Tartary. The other part of this country is ftill under the dominion of its own Princes, who have the title of Khans, which they receive from, and are vaffals to , theEmperor of China. The inhabitants are called fimply Mongols, or Mongous, and the country paſſes alſo under the fame denomination,IO . XavierTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 173Xavier preached the Chriftian religion in the eaft , where he died in 1552. The Emperor Chi Tiong reigned forty- five years, in the latter part of which the government began to decline very fenfibly, as it continued to do under all his fucceffors, down toHoai Tfong, who was the fixteenth and laft Emperor of the family of Ming. It wasunder his reign that Zungt-hy, who was Khan of Ula, formed the defign of makinghimfelf mafter of China, notwithſtanding that all the force he was able to raifedid not exceed fifteen thoufand horfe. He began with entering into private intrigueswith fome of the Chineſe mandarins, who were exiled into the province of Leaoton,by whofe afliftance he foon became mafter of great part of that province. The Emperor fent against him an army more than fufficient to have forced him back into hisown country; but he had fo much addrefs, as to prevent the principal officers ofthis army from doing their duty; fo that by degrees he mastered all the reft of thatprovince, and at laft took poffeffion of its capital *.While this fcene was tranfacted in the eaft, and the whole force of the Chineſe empire employed there to fo little purpofe, new troubles arofe in the weſtern provinces,where feveral bands of thieves and highwaymen committed the moſt extragant outrages;and, at laſt , under the command of one Lycoungz, an obſcure and infamous fellow,plundered ſeveral cities, and even whole provinces, which increafing the number oftheir forces, the rebel had at laſt fufficient power to attempt the fubverfion of the empire. It was with this viewthat he marched directly to Pekin, where in three days hebecame maſter of the place, and the Emperor finding himſelf abandoned, hanged himfelf on a tree in his garden. Lycoungz immediately took the title of Emperor, andendeavoured, by all the methods he could devife, to bring over to his intereft Ou-fanguei, who was general of the army fent against the Tartars, and the only perfon capable of difputing with him the poffeffion of China. That general however rejected allhis offers with contempt, which obliged Lycoungz to take the field once again, and tomarch againſt him with his numerous army: Ou-fan-guei, who fawthat it was fimplyimpoffible for him to think of making head at once againſt the ufurper and the Tartars,refolved to make terms with the fairer enemy of the two, and thereupon invited Zungthy to come to his affiſtance f.This was preciſely what the Tartar prince defired , and therefore he made no difficulty of complying with his demand. He left five thoufand of his own troops in theprovince of Leaoton, and then marched with ten thoufand Tartars and twenty thoufand of the inhabitants of that country to the relief of the Chinefe general, who received him with great joy. They marched together directly towards the ufurper, andwhen they were upon the point of giving him battle, Zungt- hy obferved in a conferencehe had with the Chineſe general, that as the beft part of the forces of the empire, andefpecially thofe of the fouthern and weſtern provinces were extremely afraid of theTartars, it would be very expedient for him to cut the tails of his horſes after theirmanner; by which means the army of the ufurper would take them all for Tartars.Ou-fan-guei following the advice of the Khan, it had fo good an effect, that the rebelswere totally defeated, and Lycoungz obliged to fly with the remainder of his army to-

• As it is not my intention to give the reader here a hiftory of China, but barely to mention fuch facts

as may be neceffary to explain what has been related before, and may occur in fucceeding voyages, I didnot think myfelf obliged to mention all the Emperors of this family, and therefore have touched only on the reigns offuch as might beft anfwer my purpoſe.Thefe facts are fomewhat differently related by different hiftorians; but I have given them the readerfrom the collection of a perſon who has taken great pains to make himſelf mafter of the Chineſe hiftory,which he may probably be prevailed upon to publish when he thinks it perfect enough to bear the in- fpection ofthe critics.wards174 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.wards Pekin. The victorious allies continued their purfuit without the leaft intermiffion; and ontheir drawing near the city, the Chinefe general made proclamation, thatall fuch as did not take part with the ufurper, fhould trim their horfes after the manner of the Tartars, that they might the more eaſily diſtinguiſh them on all occafions. This ftratagem had as great an effect as a fecond victory: fuch multitudesdeclared theinfelves against the ufurper, that finding it abfolutely impoffible to maintain his ground, he firft plundered the imperial city, and then retired with his armyloaded with booty. When the allies where in poffeffion of Pekin, it was agreedthat Zungt-hy, with his forces fhould remain there for the fecurity of the place, andthat Ou-fan-guei with his army, fhould purfue the ufurper till fuch time as an endcould be put to the war.The fame arts, or rather the fame virtues by which the Tartar Prince had gained theaffections of the people of Leaoton, produced the like confequences amongst the inhabitants of Pekin; and as, on the one hand, they were weary of living without thefupport and protection of a governor, fo they flattered themfelves, on the other, withenjoying all imaginable happineſs under a Prince of fo much humanity and fo greatabilities as Zungt-hy, and therefore almoſt of their own accord, they declared him Emperor in the abfence of the Chineſe general, who had himſelf views upon the throne,in which he had very probably fucceeded, if he had not been thus out-witted bytheTartar Zungt-hy, who forefeeing how different a thing it might prove for him to maintain himſelf in poffeffion of fo great an empire, with fuch a handful of forces, was nofooner feated on the imperial throne, than he inftantly difpatched advice of his goodfortune, to the Khans of Eaft Tartary, who were Princes of his own family, inviting themto come, and ſhare with himin fo rich a conqueft. This was certainly a good expedientforfecuring himſelf againſt the ficklenefs or infidelity ofthe Chineſe; but at the fametimeit vifibly expofed the new Emperor to the danger of being undone by his auxiliaries; forthe Khans of the Tartars, who on the firſt fummons haftened to his affiftance, had certainly in view the dividing the Chineſe empire amongst them; but Zungt-hy was aPrince of fuch wiſdom and penetration, that he immediately diſcovered the danger towhich he ftood expofed, and provided againſt it with a fa*gacity equal to its penetration.He divided thefe corps of Tartars as foon as they entered his dominions, fent for ſeveral of their princes to Pekin, and in a fhort time ſo ſeparated them from each other,that they became abfolutely his fubjects, and were unable to act otherwiſe than wasconducive to his fervice. In the conqueft and fettlement of China, this Tartar Princefhewed all the courage and capacity of Julius, all the policy and conduct of AuguftusCæfar, by which he thoroughly accompliſhed the third conqueft of China by the Tartars, which happened in one thouſand fix hundred forty and four, after the Chineſehad preferved their freedom for two hundred fixty-fix years * .This new race of Tartar princes, which ftill continue to reign in China, for thetwenty-fecond dynaſty of their monarchs, is diftinguifhed by the name of Tfing; it ishowever very remarkable, that Zungt- hy is not accounted the firft of thofe emperors,becauſe he died almoft as foon as he was feated on his throne, and before he was entirelyThe Chineſe hiftorians themfelves agree, that this race of Emperors were far inferior to the Tartars,as giving themſelves up too much to a fort of ftudies that were by no means fuitable to their dignities.Some of them were carried away by a vain defire of finding the water of life; that is, a kind of liquor, by drinking of which a man might become immortal; but with fo little fuccefs, that the Emperor Chi-Tfongdied immediately after he drank of this pretended water of life, at the age of fifty-eight. Others werepoffeffed with a violent defire of finding the philofopher's ftone, which induced them to ſpend too much of their time in chemical experiments. The fate of thefe Monarchs fufficiently fhew, that the art ofgovern.ment is the only ſcience worthy of the attention of princes.poffeffedTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 175poffeffed of China, leaving the empire to his fon Chun-Tchi, who was then no morethan fix years old, and to whom his dying father affigned his brother Ama-Van forhis guardian. So early a minority, one would have imagined, muft have been fatal tothe new raifed empire; but Ama-Van, during the non-age of his nephew, conductedall things with fo much wiſdom and fidelity, that when the young Emperor came totake the reins of government into his own hands, he found himſelf in as full poffeffionof his dominions, as if they had defcended to him from a long line of ancestors. TheEmperor Chun-Tchi was himſelf a perfon of extraordinary abilities, eafy and affableamongſt his foldiers, wife and prudent in his councils, and fo refined a politician, thatunder colour of executing the laws with exactneſs, he took off all the great men inChina that were capable of giving him either jealoufy or diſturbance, fo that after areign of feventeen years, he left the empire perfectly fettled to his fon, who was buteight years old.The name of this prince was Cang-hi; he was raiſed to the throne inthe year 1662,and, during his minority, the empire was governed by four great minifters, who executed their offices with the greateſt wiſdom and integrity, fo that this fecond minorityproved not in the leaft dangerous to the empire. It is true, that the famous Chineſegeneral Ou-fan-guei took the advantage of it , and endeavoured to fhake off the yokeof the Tartars, of whom with equal wit and wiſdom, he faid, that he had called inlions to affift him in hunting dogs. He had fome fuccefs at the beginning, and mightprobably have fecured at leaſt ſome part of the empire for himſelf and his pofterityif he had not been very old at the time of his revolt, and died not long after, whichgave the Emperor's minifters an opportunity of taking fuch meaſures, as put it out ofthe power of the Chineſe to rebel for the future. Cang-hi fell nothing fhort, either ofhis father or his grandfather, fo that it may be reckoned an extraordinary felicity inthis family, that for three generations there were as great princes of it as perhaps of anyother in the world. This Emperor was extremely careful with regard to two points,the encouraging and diftinguiſhing his Tartar fubjects, and behaving with the utmoſtjuftice and moderation towards the Chineſe.In the beginning of his reign, indeed, he committed fome neceffary acts of ſeverity,but when he found that he had by this means abfolutelybroken the mutinous fpirit of thepeople of China, he changed his conduct entirely, and applied himfelf wholly to theputting every thing in the beft order poffible, for the benefit of all his fubjects. It waswith this view that he obliged the viceroys and other governors of provinces to adminifter juftice with impartiality and mildnefs, taking from them the power of puniſhingcapitally, and obliging them to fend all fuch fentences to the fupreme tribunal of theempire. In order to take away all diftinctions, and to render his Tartar and Chineſefubjects but one people, he established this regulation; he obliged the Tartars to wearthe Chineſe habit and obliged the Chineſe to cut their hair, after the mode of the Tartars, and this upon pain of death. It may feem ftrange; but it is nevertheleſs true, thatmany refuſed to comply with this order, and chofe rather to part with their lives thantheir hair, and that many more abondoned their native country, to fly into places wherethey might wear their hair as long as they were wont. But the Emperor's edict hadnotwithſtanding the defired effect, that is to fay, freed him from fuch mutinous fpiritsas might have diſturbed the tranquillity of his reign.The moſt important employments, and the moft honourable offices in the government, he gave only to the Tartars; but then he made a law, by which the children ofTartars by Chineſe women, or of Chineſe by Tartarian women, who were bred up inthe cuftoms, and were taught to fpeak the language of the Tartars, were declared capable of the higheſt offices in the empire. He was not more careful of the domefticthan176 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.than of the foreign affairs of his empire, which almoft all his predeceffors had neglectedto a great degree; for he not only reduced all the eaftern Tartars intirely under hisobedience, but made two journeys into that country where he admitted all ranks ofpeople freely to his prefence, and thereby gained the love of the Moguls in the higheſtdegree. As for the Tartars of the weft, he forced them to have refource to his protection, and not only drove the Calmucks from his frontiers, but entering their countryalfo in his turn, took from themthe provinces of Chamil and Tarfan, which ferve asan excellent barrier on that fide of Chineſe empire * .In his perfon, and in his manners, he had nothing of the Tartar, and was fo perfectly acquainted with every government in Europe, that he difcourfed of them in amanner that ſurpriſed even the Europeans themfelves. The late Czar Peter the Firſtfent M. d'Ifmailoff with the character of his embalador to the Chineſe court, whomthe Emperor not only received with all imaginable politenefs, but at the firft audienceprefented his excellency, a nobleman who accompanied him, and his fecretary, eachwith a gold cup full of mead, by which they plainly perceived that he was informed ofthe Czar's cuſtom, whowhen he had a mind to diftinguifh any foreigner, waswont to preſent him with a glass of wine with his own hand. This Emperor Cang-hi reigned withgreat glory fixty-one years, and died on the 20th of December 1722. He left behindhim feventeen fons, the fourth of which he declared his fucceffor, who at his acceffionto the imperial dignity, affumed the name of Yong- Tching, i. e. peace undisturbed.This prince, who is faid to inherit the virtues as well as dominions of his anceſtors, was inquiet poffeffion of the empire in the year 1735, fince which we have not had any certain, or at leaſt very important accounts from China.By this deduction of the Chineſe hiſtory we learn a multitude of things neceffary forthe underſtanding fuch of the fubfequent voyages as mention that country, which wasthe reaſon that I infifted upon it fo long; and we likewife diſcover the uſefulneſs ofthis fort of knowledge, with refpect to the voyages that have gone before. We feethat the Chineſe, with whom our Arabian travellers converfed, were quite another fortof people than thofe that now inhabit China; for they were a pure and unmixed nation, whereas the modern Chineſe are in a great meafure incorporated with the Tartars;from whence it is eafy to difcern, that great alterations muſt have happened in theirmanners, eſpecially if we confider the character that Rubruquis gives the Tartars,which comes much nearer that of the modern Chineſe than any thing we meet with inthe Arabian writers. It appears likewife from the compariſon of the facts related bythe Arabians with thoſe mentioned by Marco Polo of the people of Mangi, that boththeſe writers muſt have reported things with great fidelity, fince they agree in a multitude of particulars. The conqueft of the northern part of China by the Tartars,though not exprefsly mentioned, yet is plainly alluded to by the fecond Arab writer;and as tothe intire conqueft of China by the fame nation, we owe the full account ofit to Marco Polo; for, without the affiftance of his relations, it would have been athing very difficult, if not impoffible, to have difcovered, that Chi- Tfou was the famewith Coplai-Khan, or Cublai-Khan, Emperor of the Tartars, who before he becamemafter of their country was called by the Chineſe Ho-pi-lie t.WeThis Prince took care to fecure the Moguls of the eaft from the ambitious defigns of the Ruffians,and for that purpofe made a very wife and honourable treaty with the Czar Peter the firft, for fettlingthe limits of their reſpective empires, in .confequence of which the town and fortrefs of Albaffinfkoy was demolished.The change of names is a very clear proof that no fort of blame ought to lie on Marco Polo for writing places after a different orthography than what is commonlyused; and we have this advantage from it,thatTHE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO. 177We likewiſe learn from this fuccinct view of the Chineſe hiſtory that the Tartars, whonow poffefs China, are the very fame nation that formerly poffeffed it, contrary to whatfome very learned men afferted, and which was generally believed half an age ago. Welikewife fee, that the reigning family in China are direct defcendants of Cublai- Khanand confequently of Zingis-Khan, that famous conqueror, whofe empire, as we haveelſewhere fhewn, was the moſt extenſive that has been hitherto known in the world.Theſe things are of very great confequence, if we read voyages for the fake of improving and enlarging our knowledge, and not merely for the fake of amufement, whichhowever, is rather increafed than leffened, by attending to thefe circumſtances. Wecan eaſily apprehend, after a little reflection, that in the time of our Arabian travellers,and even in that of Marco Polo, the Chineſe empire muſt have been in a much bettercondition, and its trade much more flouriſhing than when it was firft vifited by thePortugueze, English and Dutch. Before that time it had not been expoſed to thofecruel ravages that enfued first on the breaking out of their civil wars, and next fromthe laft conqueft by the Tartars. Befides, we can at any time have recourfe to thisfhort hiſtory, when we are at a lofs as to the facts mentioned in fubfequent voyages,and by comparing the times in which they happened with the dates that are therein fetdown, obtain an eaſy ſolution of doubts that perhaps we could never otherwiſe havegot over.It is from the confideration of thefe advantages, and that as far as in my power liesI might remove all obftacles whatſoever to the perfect understanding of this fubject, thatI have determined to give the reader in the next fection a conciſe hiſtory of the otherTartar empire in the Indies, I mean that of the Great Mogul, who was likewife a defcendant from the fame family with the great conqueror I have fo often mentioned. Bypurfuing this method, which I have brought into the narroweſt compafs poffible, thereader will gain fuch a previous knowledge of a great number of facts as never to beat a lofs in perufing any of the voyages to the Eaft- Indics, either in this, or in anyother collection , which, without fuch an introduction, it would have been abfolutelyimpracticable for him to have underſtood, and that for many reafons, of which I willtake the liberty to mention only a few. In the first place then, every voyage bringsus not only into a new country, but, if I may fo fpeak, introduces us into a newcompany, with the character of which, if we have not fome previous acquaintance, itis impoffible for us to be at our eafe, whereas if we know in general who and what theyare, we enter immediately into the true fenfe of the relation, and hear all that is toldus with pleaſure. In the next place, it often happens, that either from the fear ofappearing tedious, or from fome other motive, the writers of voyages give us onlyfhort hints as to the government of the countries through which they pafs, or the characters of princes that reign in them, which would be utterly unintelligible to fuch asnever heard of them before, and yet may be fufficient for the information of thoſe whohave a general notion of the poſture of things in that country at the time mentioned bythe author. Laſtly, we are by theſe means enabled to rectify the miſtakes of fuchthat we learn the Tartar appellations, and have thereby an opportunity of comparing them with theChineſe . I cannot help remarking upon this occafion, that in all probability Ho-pi-lie is no more thanthe Tartar name of Khoplai (for fo in that language it is written ) expreffed in Chineſe characters; but forthe name given him, after he attained the empire, of Chi-Tfou, it may be rendered the firſt of hisrace, for Chi fignifies the beginning, and Tfou a kind of violet-coloured plume or feather worn in the imperial diademVOL. VII.1A A writers,178 THE VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO.writers, to diftinguish between the truth and falfehood of what they relate, andto form a clear and certain judgment of the merit of their performances.It may poffibly be objected, that for the fame reafons which have been offered infupport of theſe two hiftories of the Chineſe and of the Indian empires, we might beobliged to write the hiftory of all the other princes that have reigned in the UpperAfia, which objection, however, is not at all founded in fact, fince in the first place thehiftories of all the little princes in India are very far from being fo neceffary as thofe ofthe capital empires; and in the next, howneceffary foever we might think them, it isimpoffible for us to write any fuch hiftories, becauſe the neceffary materials for themare not to be found. When therefore this matter is ſeriouſly confidered , it appears tobe a new argument in favour of our defign; for, fince there have been but two greatempires in this part of the world, of which any juſt and regular account can be given,and to which all books of voyages and travels through the Eaft-Indies muft neceffarilyrefer, it would feem very abfurd and unreaſonable, after all the pains we have taken inthe darker ages of this hiftory, to decline that period of it, which is at once the moft ufeful, and will appear by far the moſt agreeable to a modern reader, as there is not inthe compafs of univerfal hiſtory any branch fo full of extraordinary events, or in whichthere occur more furprizing turns and revolutions than in that which we are about togive.Add to all this, that however deficient the reft of the oriental hiftories maybe, wehave abundant materials for this, and thoſe too as excellent in the kind as can be defired; for befides the particular relations afforded us by feveral writers of credit, whowere actually on the fpot when thofe events happened which they record, we have verygreat lights given us by fuch ofthe oriental writers as have undertaken to explain the feveral expeditions of the Tartars, and eſpecially thofe of the famous Timur- Bec, known tous by the name of Tamerlane, whofe conquefts, though lefs extenfive, have, notwithftanding, made a greater figure in our general hiſtories than thofe of his glorious predeceffor Zingis-Khan. Befides all which we have the fingular advantage of having agreat part of this hiftory taken fromthe very records of that empire which it concerns,by the induftry of Mr. Manouchi , who was forty years in that country, in the quality of phyſician to its emperors, and had thereby an opportunity of having free recourfe to thofe records, which for the benefit of pofterity, as well as his own information, he tranſcribed.This Mr. Manouchi was a Venetian by birth, but he wrote his hiftory of Indoftan in the Portuguezelanguage, which was then, and is ftill common in the east . We owe the publication of it to the famousJefuit Father Cartrou, who dedicated his French tranflation to the Duke of Burgundy, the father of theprefent Louis XV. In his preface to that work, he promiſes fome farther memoirs by the fame hand;but I cannot find that theſe were ever publifhed, which is the more wonderful, confidering the great reputation that the firft part of the work acquired. As Father Cartrou is lately dead, it is very poflible thoſepapers may fall into other hands, and yet fee the light.AN( 179 )AN ACCOUNTOF THETRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANS THROUGH INDIA AND CHINA,IN THE NINTH CENTURY*.Tranflated from the Arabic by the Abbé RENAUDOT.--1. A concife Account of the original Editor ofthefe Voyages, and ofthe Works which renderhimfamous. 2. The Antiquity ofthefe Relations, and ofthe Manufcriptfrom which theywere tranflated. - 3. Of the Sea of Herkend, and of the Iflands therein. - 4. Ofthethe Inland of Serandib, or Ceylon; the riches it contains, and the Manners of its Inhabitants. -5. Offeveral other Islands, particularly thofe ofAndaman, the Inhabitantsof which eat human Flefb. - 6. Of an Ifland in which are Silver Mines, and otherextraordinary Things in thefe Seas . -7. Of the Trade of China, and of the Respectfhewn there to the Mohammedans. - 8. A very clear anddiftinct Account of the Navigation of China, which is probably the first Account of it that was ever published.9. Ofan Iland in which there are no Womenfeen. 10. Ofthe PortofCanfu in China,and of the Irregularity of the Tides there.-11. Of many remarkable Things obfervedin the Countries touched at in this Voyage to China. -12. The Customs and Mannersofthe Chinefe in civil and religious Affairs. - 13 . An Account of the four great Kings,viz. the Khaliff, the Emperor ofChina, the Emperor ofthe Greeks, and the Balbara oftheIndies. -14. Afuccinct Account offeveral other Kingdoms in the Indies. — 15.-15. TheAccount of China refumed, the Number ofthe Cities in that Empire, andthe extraordinaryDifcipline maintained in them. -16. Of the Burials of the Chinese, and of their domeftic Affairs. -17. Of the Power of the Viceroys, and of the Emperor of China.18. Ofthe public Revenues ofthe Chinefe Empire. 19. Ofthe Paffes requifitefortravelling through that Country. -20. Of the Administration ofJustice in China.21. Their Laws with regard to Bankrupts. -22. Other wife Regulations practifed inthat Country. -23. Mifcellaneous Cuftoms among the Chineſe. 24. Of the Methodspractifed for difcovering Truth in Trials in the Indies. -25. Some other extraordinaryCuftoms among the Indians. - 26. The Vices ofthe Chineſe, and the Punishment ofbadGovernors among them. 27. Several Laws in India and China. 28. StrangeCuſtoms that prevail among the Inhabitants of both Countries. - 29. A Comparison between India and China. 30. Of other Countries bordering upon Chinahina.31 . . ThePreface of the fecond Author in Confirmation of what the former had delivered.32. The Hiftory of a great Revolution in China, by the Rebellion of one Baichu.-33. The Emperor of China restored, and the Declenfion of that Empire. 34. Ofvarious Punishments in Ufe among the Chinefe. -35. A curious Account of the Maintenance of public Women in China. ·36. Of various Regulations in the Chinese Empire.-37. Of the Excellence ofthe Chineſe Painters. 38. The Hiftory of Eben Wahab,an Arab, who made a Voyage into Perfia. 39. His Conference with the Emperor.40. Some veryfingular Paffa*ges in relation to the Knowledge of the Emperor, withregard to the Religions in other Countries. 41. Conclufion of the Arab's Conference--------

• Harris, i. 521. It was thought proper that this Account ſhould follow the firſt diſcovery of China by European travellers.

A A 2 with180 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANS

p-with the Emperor ofChina. 42. Other Circumftances from that Traveller's Relation.-43. Ofthe Communication between the Ocean and the Mediterranean. 44. OftheProvince of Zapage, and of the Commodities it produces. 45. A remarkable Story ofan ancient Prince of this Country. 46. TheWar between the King of Komar andtheKing ofZapage. -47. The Conclufion ofthat War. -48. Ofthe Doctrine ofthe Metempfychofis, or Tranfmigration ofSouls, with a remarkable Story on that Subject. 49. Amostfingular Act ofJustice done by the Emperor of China, on behalf ofan Arabian Merchant, against his Favourite. - 50. The great Care taken with refpect to the Adminiftration of Justice in China. 51. Of the Situation of the Province of Choraffan.52. Ofthe Animal that produces Mufk; the Reafon why the Musk ofThibet is betterthan that of China, and of the feveral Sorts ofthat Perfume. 53. Ofcertain Customsin China that refemble thofe of the Arabs. 54. The Cuftom of the Indians to burnthemfelves on particular Occafions, and of their great Conftancy in Acts of this Nature.55. An incredible Story ofthe defperate Courage of a certain Indian. —56. OtherInftances of thefame Nature. 57. Ofthe immenfe Riches of Serandib, or Ceylon, andof the Laws of that Country. -58. Ofthe flagrant Vices, and exceffive Debauchery ofthofe People. 59. Ofthe rainy Seafon in the Indies. - 60. Ofthe Indian Brachmansand Penitents.-61 . Monftrous Errors proceedingfrom religious Miftakes. -62. Shipsbuilt, rigged, and ladenfrom a Plantation ofCocoa Trees. 63. Ofthe Country oftheZinges, or Negroes, with an Account of thofe People. 64. Of the Iland of Socotra,and its Productions . - 65. Of the different Seas omitted in the former Relation. -66. Ofthe Riches ofthe Indian Ocean 67. Ofthe Formation of Pearl, according tothe Notion of the Arabs. -68. A very fingular Story on the foregoing Subject. -69. Somefarther Particulars as to the Customs ofthe Indians. - 70. The Use ofthisSection with regard to the History ofthe Indies in the ninth Century. —71 . AdditionalRemarks and Obfervations.----―-1. THE moſt natural, eafy, and certain method of attaining a perfect knowledge ofthe difcoveries made in the Eaft Indies, is unquestionably that of reading the best voyagesand travels into thofe parts, in the order of time in which they were made; for by thismeans they illuftrate each other, and ferve as a kind of commentaries, deliver thehiftory of places and perfons with the leaft poffible confufion, and fhew us at once thedifferent ftate of the countries mentioned in them in different periods of time, and theadvances that were made in perfecting the knowledge of thofe countries by fuch as undertook to go thither, and to report what they had feen and heard, for the informationof others and of pofterity. Of all the travellers into theſe parts of the world, whofewritings are ftill preferved, thofe which are contained in this fection are beyond alldoubt the moſt ancient, and in that refpect, as well as in many others, extremely curious. To render thefe as clear and as intelligible as is poffible to our readers, we ſhallfirst give ſome memoirs of that eminent French critic who tranflated and made thempublic, and fhall next give a fuccinct account from the materials he has afforded us ofthe authors themſelves, the nature of their works, the circumftances which peculiarlyrecommend them , the reafons which induce us to believe they are genuine, and thecredit which on that account is due to them.It was Eufebius Renaudot who delivered thefe venerable remains of antiquity fromthe obſcurity in which they had been buried for ages, and fent them abroad in theFrench language, with fome very valuable notes and differtations of his own.He wasa perfon whofe family had been diftinguiſhed for their learning through feveral deſcents.His grandfather, Theophraftus Renaudot, eſtabliſhed the French Gazette in the year1631,THROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 1811631 , under the patronage of Cardinal Richlieu. His father was firft phyfician to theDauphin, fon to Lewis XIV. This gentleman addicted himſelf chiefly to the ſtudy ofdivinity and the oriental languages, which might have raiſed him to fome eminent ſtation in the church, if, from his great modeſty and unaffected love of privacy, he had notftudiouſly declined it. He was very early taken notice of at court, where the politenefs of his manners recommended him as ftrongly to the principal ininifters, as thefeverity of his ftudies. endeared him to most of the learned men of his time.In the year 1689 he was chofen a member of the French Academy, and in 1691 became a member ofthat ofInfcriptions, and ofthe Belles Lettres. He accompanied Cardinal.Noailles to Rome in 1700, and was with him in the Conclave in which Clement XI.was raiſed to the papal throne, by whom the Abbé Renaudot was fo much eſteemd,that he kept him at Rome feven or eight months after the Cardinal's departure, andforced upon him a benefice, which he had the modefty to refufe, though his circum--ftances were not fuch as made it unneceffary to him.In his return to France, the Grand Duke of Tuſcany kept him a whole month atFlorence, where he had an apartment in the palace; and during his ſtay there, wasreceived into the famous academy ofLa Crufca; after which the Grand Duke loaded himwith prefents, and ſent him to Marſeilles in his own veſſel.He publiſhed after his return to France many learned works, and particularly in theyear 1713, " The Hiſtory ofthe Patriarchs of Alexandria, from St. Mark to the Cloſeof the Thirteenth Century," with an Appendix, containing the hiſtory of the Mohammedans in Egypt, from their own writers; which gained him great reputation.. In1716 he publiſhed, in two volumes in quarto, " The Hiftory ofthe Oriental Liturgies,"which was alfo much efteemed. And in the year 1718 he fent abroad thefe voyages.and travels, which were likewife received with univerfal applaufe. Befides thefe, he.publiſhed many other learned treatiſes; and having for many years weakened his conftitution by an affiduous application to his ftudies, he died on the ift of September 1720,of a fevere fit of the cholic, in the feventy-fourth year of his age, with the reputation of being one of the moſt learned men, and one of the exacteſt critics of histime *.2. As to the firſt of theſe voyages, we know not by whom it was written, the beginning of it being imperfect; but it appears clearly that it was written in the year oftheHegira 237, A. D. 851. The latter, which is no more than a commentary or difcourfeupon the former, appears to have been the work of Abu Zeid al Hafan of Siraf, whopenned it about the year of the Hegira 303, A. D. 915. It appears therefore, thatboth of them.are, at leaſt, two centuries older than any accounts that had been publifhed before. They were tranflated from an original manufcript in the library of theCount de Seignelay, the age of which was afcertained by the character in which it waswritten. But there is ſtill a plainer proof of its being penned in the year of the Hegira 619, A. D. 1173, becauſe there are at the end of it fome obfervations in the famehand, relating to the extent ofthe walls and fortifications of the city of Damafcus, underthe reign of the famous Sultan Noureddin, and of other cities under his dominion; inwhich the writer fpeaks of him as ftill living and therefore as that monarch died thefame year, this manuſcript is clearly between five and fix hundred years old †t.It is alſo very apparent, that there is nothing in either of theſe works, that can createthe leaſt fufpicion that they arelater than theſe dates ſpeak them; but, on the contrary,

• Hiftoire de l'Academie des Infcriptions, tom. v. p. 384.

See M. Renaudot's Preface to thefe Relations.all182 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSall the facts mentioned in them, which are capable of being examined and comparedwith other hiſtories, afford the cleareft teftimonies of their being genuine and authentic. The great value of theſe relations ariſes from their giving us a large account ofChina, above four hundred years earlier than the Travels of Marco Polo * , who, tilltheſe accounts were publiſhed, was always eſteemed the firſt author we had on thatfubject.There are abundance of very curious and remarkable paffa*ges in both theſe writers,that inform us of cuftoms and events not mentioned any where elfe; and, though it betrue that ſome of theſe appear to be fabulous, yet it is no lefs true, that the greateſtpart of them are confirmed and juftified bythe beſt writers in fucceeding ages. Butwithout fpending time to little purpofe in remarking on what will be obvious to thereader himſelf in the perufal of thefe pieces, we fhall proceed to the relations themſelves.Obferving only, that the first of them begins abruptly, on account of there being apage or two wanting in the original manufcript; which very probably contained thename and country of its author, and the occafion of his voyage; the lofs of which thereis great reafon to regret.3. The third of the feas we have to mention, is that of Herkend t . Between this feaand that of Delarowi are many iſlands, to the number, as they fay, of nineteen hundred;which divide thofe two feas from each other , and are governed by a Queen §.Among theſe iſlands they find ambergris in lumps of extraordinary bignefs, as alfo inleffer pieces, which refemble plants torn up. This amber is produced at the bottom ofthe fea, as plants upon earth; and when the fea is tempeftuous, the violence of thewaves tears it up from the bottom, and wafhes it to the fhore in the form of a muſhroom or truffle. Theſe iſlands are full of that kind of palm-tree which bears the cocoanut, and are from one to four leagues diſtant from each other, all inhabited. Thewealth of the inhabitants confiſts in fhells, of which even the Queen's treaſury is full.They ſay there are no workmen more expert than theſe iſlanders; and that of the fibresof the cocoa-nut they make fhirts all of a piece, as alfo vefts or tunics. Of the fametree they build ſhips and houfes, and they are fkilful in all other workmanſhip. Theirfhells they have from the fea at fuch times when they riſe up to the ſurface, when the

• Marco Polo returned from his voyage, A.D. 1295.

By the fea of Herkend, in all probability, our author means the fea about the Maldives; which, according to the eastern geographers, divides that part ofthe Indian Ocean from the fea of Delarowi, which is thegulph called by the ancients Sinus Magnus. The eaſtern writers frequently ſpeak of the feven feas, which feems to be rather a proverbial phrafe, than a geographical definition . The feas, without comprehendingthe ocean, which they call Bah-Mahit, are the fea of China, the fea of India, the fea of Perfia, the fea ofKolzuma, or the Red Sea, fo called from a town which is thought to be the Clyfma of the ancients; thefea of Rum, or of Greece, which is the Mediterranean; the fea called Al-Chozar, or the Cafpian; and thefea of Pont, or the Pontus Euxinus; but thefe are not all the names they give them, for the fea of Indiais very often called the Green Sea; that of Perfia, the fea of Baffora; and other names they have for par- ticular parts of theſe feas.veryIt is no wonder that the Arabs had but a very imperfect knowledge of thefe iflands, fince we are notwell informed about them to this day. The reader may probably think that our author has multipliedthem, from the number he ſpeaks of; but the truth is, that he rather diminishes them; for the moſt accurate writers we have affure us that there are twelve thousand of them; and this is faid to be the fignification of their name in the Malabar tongue, viz . Male dive, i. e . a thouſand iſlands; that round numberbeing put for the true number of them, let it be what it will. We fhall hereafter give the reader a full account of theſe iſlands, and therefore fhall infift no longer on themhere.The fubfequent accounts we have had ofthe Maldives do not juftify this particular, if the intent oftheauthor was to inform us that theſe iſlands were always governed by a woman. It might perhaps be fo inhis time, where, by accident, one woman might have fucceeded another, as Queen Elizabeth did Queen Mary here.inhabitantsTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA, 183inhabitants throw branches of the cocoa-nut tree into the fea, and the fhells ftick tothem. They call them Kaptaje in their language.4. Beyond theſe iſlands, in the fea of Herkend, is Serendib * , or Ceylon, the chiefof all thoſe iſlands, which are called Dobijat. It is all compaffed by the fea, and on itscoaft they fish for pearl. In this country there is a mountain called Rahun, to thetopof which it is thought Adam afcended , and there left the print of his foot in a rock,which is feventy cubits in length; and they ſay that Adam at the fame time ſtood withhis other foot in the fea. About this mountain are mines of rubies, opals, and amethyfts. This ifland, which is of great extent, has two Kings; and here are foundlignum aloes, gold, precious ftones, and pearls, which are fiſhed for on the coaft; asalfo a kind of large fhells, which they ufe inſtead of trumpets, and are much valued.Inthe fame fea towards the Serendib, there are other ifles, but not fo many in number, though of vaft extent, and unknown. One of thefe iflands, called Ramni * , isunder feveral Princes, in which there is great plenty of gold. The inhabitants herehave cocoa-nut trees, which fupply them with food, and therewith alfo they paint theirbodies, and oil themſelves.The cuſtom of the country is, that no one may marry till he has flain an enemy inbattle, and brought off his head. If he has killed two, he claims two wives; and if hehas flain fifty, he may marry fifty wives. This cuftom proceeds from the number ofenemies which furround them; fo that he amongſt them who kills the greateſt numberis the moſt confidered. Thefe iflands of Ramni abound with elephants, red-wood, andtrees called Chairzan, and the inhabitants eat human fleſh.5. Thefe iflands feparate the fea of Herkend from the fea of Shelahet, and beyondthem are others called Najabalus, which are pretty well peopled; both the men andthe women there go naked, except that the women conceal their private parts with theleaves oftrees. When fhipping is among theſe iſlands, the inhabitants come off inembarkations, and bring with them ambergris and cocoa-nuts, which they truck foriron; for they want no clothing, being free from the inconveniences either of heat orcold. Beyond theſe two iſlands lies the fea of Andaman: the people on this coaſteat human fleſh quite raw; their complexion is black, their hair frizzled, their countenance and eyes frightful, their feet are very large, and almoſt a cubit in length, andthey go quite naked. They have no forts of barks or other veffels; if they had, theywould feize and devour all the paffengers they could lay hands on. When ſhipshave been kept back by contrary winds, they are often in thefe feas obliged to drop anchor on this barbarous coaft for the fake of water, when they have expended theirftock; and upon theſe occafions they commonly lofe fome of their men f.6. Beyond this there is a mountainous and yet inhabited iſland , where, it is faid, thereare mines of filver; but as it does not lie in the uſual track of fhipping, many have

• This, as we have fhewn elfewhere, is the Taprobana of the ancients; and I think ſcarcely any iſland

has been called by more names than thoſe which have been beſtowed on this; but whereas in the ancientwork ofCofmas Indopleuftes, it is called Sielendiba, it is very eaſy to account for this, and to fhew that itis only a Greek termination given to the true name; for b is often put for u, and conſequently Sielendibais the fame with Sielendive; that is, Sielen Iſland; whence the modern name, as we ufually write it, viz.the Ifland of Ceylon.+ In fome of the Arabian geographers, theſe are called the Iſlands of Rami; we ſhall give the reader fome account of them in a fubfequent voyage.It is moſt certain that, upon a ftrict inquiry, moft of the ftories of man-eaters have been found to befables void of all foundation; but it muſt be allowed, in regard to our author's account, that what he ſayshas never yet been difproved; for the very lateſt accounts we have of the Indies, give theſe people the fame character that he does.10.fought184 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSfought for it in vain, though remarkable for a very lofty mountain, which is calledKathenai. It once fo happened, that a fhip failing in this latitude had fight of themountain, and ſhaped her courfe for it, and falling in with the land, fent a boat onfhore, with hands to cut wood: the men kindled a fire, and faw filver run from it,which plainly indicated there was a mine of this metal in that place; they fhippedtherefore as much of the earth or ore as they thought fit; but as they were proceedingon their voyage they met with fuch a ftorm, that to lighten their fhip, they were undera neceffity of throw.ng all their ore overboard.Since that time the mountain has been carefully fought, but it has never fince beenfeen. To conclude, there are many fuch iſlands in the fea, more in number than canbe fet down, fome inacceffible by feimen, and fome unknown to them.In theſe feas itoften happens, that a whitiſh cloud at once fpreads over a fhip, and lets down a longthin tongue or ſpout, quite to the furface of the water, which then is turned round as bya whirlwind; and if a veffel happens to be in the way, fhe is immediately fwallowed upthereby. But at length this cloud mounts up again, and difcharges itfelf in a prodigious rain. It is not known whether this water is f*cked up by the clouds, or how thiscomes to pafs. All theſe feas are fubject to great ftorms, which makes them boil uplike water over a fire. Then it is that the furf daſhes fhips against the iſlands, and breaksthem to pieces with unſpeakable violence; and then alfo it is that fiſh of all fizes arethrown dead afhore upon the rocks. The wind, which commonly blows upon the feaof Herkend, is from another quarter, viz. from the north-weft, but the fea is alfo fubject to as violent agitations as thofe juft mentioned, and then ambergris is torn up fromthe bottom, and particularly where it is very deep; and the deeper it is, the more valuable the ambergris.It is likewiſe obſerved, with refpect to that fea, that when it is thus toffed by the tempeftuous winds, it fparkles like fire, and that it is infefted by a certain kind offifh calledLockham , which frequently preys upon men. This is probably no other than the ſhark.which is common enough on all the coafts of the Indies. Here there is a part of themanufcript loft, wherein the author treated of the trade to China, as it flood in histime, and of the caufes which had brought it into a declining condition. Hethenceeds thus:pro7. Amongſt others, the fires that frequently happen at Canfu are notthe leaft. Canfuis the port of all the fhips of the Arabs who trade in China, and fires are there veryfrequent, becauſe the houſes are built with nothing but wood, or elſe with ſplit cane;befides fhips are often loft in going and coming, or they are plundered, or obligedto make too long a ſtay in harbours, or to fell their goods out of the country fubject tothe Arabs, and there make up their cargo. In fhort, fhips are under a neceffity ofwafting a confiderable time in refitting, not to ſpeak of any other caufes of delay.Soliman, the merchant * , relates that at Canfu, which is the principal refort of merchants, there is a Mohammedan appointed judge over thoſe of his religion, by the authority ofthe Emperor of China; and that he is judge of all the Mohaminedans whor*fort to thoſe parts. Upon feſtival days he performs the public fervice with the Mohammedans, and pronounces the fermon, or Kotbat, which he concludes in the ufualform, with prayers for the Sultan of Moflems (or Muffelmen). The merchants of Irak,As to this Soliman the merchant, it is very probable that fome account was given of him in the pagethat is loft; but as to the Mohammedan conful, it is a very extraordinary fact, and deferves particular no- tice, becauſe it plainly fhews, that the Mohammedans had for fome time carried on a regular and ſettled trade to China, which is what from other accounts we could never have ſuſpected.6-i. e. Perfia,THROUGH INDIA AND CHINA.. 185i. e. Perfia, who trade thither, are no way diffatisfied with his conduct or adminiftration in this poft, becauſe his decifions are juft and equitable, and conformable to the Koran.8. As for the places whence fhips depart, and thofe they touch at, many perfonsaffirm, that the navigation is performed in the following order: moft of the Chineſeſhips take in their cargo at Siraff * , where alfo they fhip their goods which come fromBafra, or Baffora, Oman, and other ports; and this they do, becauſe in this fea thereare frequent forms, and fhoal water in many places. From Bafra to Siraff is an hundred and twenty leagues; and when fhips have loaded at this laft place, they there wateralfo; and from thence make fail for a place called Mafcat, which is in the extremity ofthe province of Oman, about two hundred leagues from Siraff. On the east coast ofthis fea, between Siraff and Mafcat, is a place called Nafis Bani al Safak, and an iſlandcalled Ebn Kahowan; and in this fea are rocks called Oman, and a narrow ſtrait calledDordur, between two rocks, where veffels do venture, but the Chineſe ſhips dare not.There are alfo two rocks called Koflir and Howare, which fcarce appear above thewater's edge: after they are clear of theſe rocks they ſteer for a place called sh*tu Oman,and at Mafcat take in water, which is drawn out of wells; and here alſo they are fupplied with cattle of the province of Oman: from thence fhips take their departurefor the Indies, and firſt they touch at Kaukammali; and from Maſcat to this place it isa month's fail with a fair wind.This is a frontier place, and the chief arfenal in the province of the fame name: andhere the Chineſe fhips put in and are in fafety: freſh water is to be had here, and the Chinefe pay a thoufand drams for duties, but others pay only from one dinar to ten dinars.From Mafcat to Kaukammali it is a month's fail; and then having watered at this place,they begin to enter the fea of Herkend, and having failed through it, touch at a placecalled Lajabalus, where the inhabitants underſtand not the Arabic, or any other language in uſe with merchants. They wear no clothes, are white, and weak in their feet.9. It is faid their women are not to be feen t; and that the men, leaving the iſland incanoes, hollowed out of one piece, go in queft of them, and carry them cocoa-nuts,canes, moufa, and palm-wine. This liquor is white, and, if drank freſh, has the taſteof the cocoa-nut, and fweet like honey; if kept ſomewhat longer, it becomes as ſtrongas wine; but if it is kept for feveral days it turns to vinegar. They give it in exchangefor iron; and in like manner they truck the little quantity of amber, which is thrownon their coafts, for bits of iron. The bargain is driven by motions of the hand. Butthey are very quick, and are apt to carry off iron from the merchants, and leave them nothing in return.From hence fhips fteer towards Calabar, the name of a kingdom on the coaft to theright-hand beyond the Indies. Bar fignifies a coaft in the language of the country;and this depends on the kingdom of Zapage. The inhabitants are dreffed in thoſe fortsof ftriped garments which the Arabs call Fauta; and they commonly wear but one ata time, which is equally obferved by perfons of every degree. At this place they comIt is a very difficult thing to diftinguish, at this diftance of time, the route laid down by our author,chiefly by reafon of the changes of names, ofwhich we have particularly an inftance in this great port ofSiraff, not to be met with in any of our maps, of which however we have fome mention made in otherArabian writers, who fay, that it lay fixty leagues from Shiraz, that it ftood in the Gulph of Perfia, andthat when it decayed, the trade thereofwas tranfported to the island of Ormuz.We fhall have an opportunity of explaining this ftrange ftory, which is confirmed by Marco Polo andNicolo di Conti, when we come to ſpeak of the travels of the former, who affures us that there were twoillands, one entirely inhabited by men, the other by women, and that theſe people were Chriſtians.VQL. VII. BR monly186 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSmonly take in water, which is filled from wells fed by fprings, and which they like better than what is drawn out of cifterns and tanks. Calabar is about a month's voyagefrom a place called Kaukam, which is almoſt upon the ſkirts of the fea of Herkend. Inten days after this, fhips reach Betuma; from whence, in ten days more, they come upwith Kadrange.It is to be obferved, that in all the iflands and peninfulas of the Indies, they find waterwhen they dig for it. In this laft mentioned place there is a very lofty mountain, whichis peopled by none but flaves and fugitives; from thence in ten days they arrive at Senif.Here is fresh water, and hence comes the aromatic wood we call Hud al Senefi. Here isa King; the inhabitants are black, and wear two ftriped garments. Having wateredat this place, it is ten days' paffa*ge to Sanderfulat, an ifland where is freſh water; thenthey fleer through the fea of Sanji, and fo tothe gates of China; for fo they call certainrocks and fhoals in that fea, forming a narrow ftrait, through which fhips pafs. It requires a month to fail from Sanderfulat to China; and it takes up eight whole days tofteer clear ofthefe rocks.10. When a fhip has got through thefe gates, fhe, with the tide of flood, goesinto a fresh water gulph, and drops anchor in the chief port of China, which isthat of Canfu; and here they have freſh water both from fprings and rivers, as theyhave alfo in moft of the other cities of China. The city is adorned with largefquares, and fupplied with every thing neceffary for defence againſt an enemy, andin moft of the other provinces there are citics of ftrength, fortified in the famemanner.In this port it cbbs and flows * twice in twenty-four hours; but with this difference,that whereas from Bafra to the iſland called Bani Kahouan, it flows when the moon isat full, and ebbs when the rifes and when the fets; from near Bani Kahouan quite tothe coaft of China, it is flood when the moon rifes, and when fhe is towards her heightit is ebb; and fo, on the contrary, when the fets, it is flowing water, and when fhe isquite hidden under the horizon, the tide falls.11. They fay, that in the iſland of Muljan, which is between Serendib and Cala, onthe eaſtern fhore of the Indies, there are negroes quite naked, and that when they meetwith a ſtranger, they hang him with his head downwards, and flice him in picces, whichthey eat quite raw f. Thefe negroes have no King, and feed upon fiſh, mauſa, cocoanuts, and fugar-canes; they have ponds and fome lakes in the country. They reportalfo, that in fome parts of this fea there is a fmallifh kind of fifh, which flies upon thewater, and which they call the fea- locuft; and that in another part there is a fifh, whichleaving the fea, gets up to the cocoa-nut trees, and having drained them of their juice,takes to the fea again. To all which they add, that in the fea there is a fort of fifh likea lobſter, which petrifies as foon as taken out of its element; they pulverize it, and itis good for feveral difeafes of the eyes.

• It is very probable, or rather certain, from the account given by our author, that this muſt be the

port of Canton, and the irregularity of the tide is a circumftance that strongly confirms it; and a circumftance which fhews, at the fame time, that the Arabs were not fo ignorant in thofe matters as they are generally imagined.+ It muil be allowed, that there are abundance of very odd accounts in theſe relations; but it muſt beowned, at the fame time, that there are very few of them which have been difproved. What followsabout petrified crabs or lobſters, is a full proof that the port he ſpeaks of muit be Canton; for FatherMartini tells us the fame thing; adding, that thefe crabs are found only on that part of the coaftof China which is oppofite to the island of Haiman, and that the Portugueze ufe the powder ofthefe petrified crabs as an abforbent in fevers. The ftory of this fish is alfo reported by Father Martini.5TheyTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 187They fay alfo, that near Zapage there is a mountain, called the Mountain of Fire,which no one can approach; that in the day-time it fends forth a thick fmoke, and inthe night it throws out flames. At the foot of this mountain there are two fprings offrefh water, the one hot, and the other cold.12. The Chineſe are dreffed in filk both winter and fummer, and this kind of drefsis common to the Prince and the peafant. In winter they wear drawers of a particularmake, which fall down to their feet. Ofthefe they put on two, three, four, five, ormore if they can, one over another, and are very careful to be covered quite down totheir feet, becaufe of the damps, which are very great, and of which they are very apprehenfive. In fummer they only wear a fingle garment of filk, or fome fuch drefs,but have no turbans.Their common food is rice, which they often eat with a broth, like what the Arabsmake of meat or fifh, which they pour upon the rice. The Kings eat wheat-bread, andall forts of animals, not excepting fwine and fome others. They have feveral forts offruits, apples, lemons, quinces, moulats, fugar-canes, citruls, figs, grapes, cucumbersof two forts, trees which bear a fubftance like meal, walnuts, almonds, filberts, piſtachios, plumbs, apricots, fervices, and cocoa-nuts, but they have no ſtore of palms; theyhave only a few about fome private houſes.Their drink is a kind of wine made of rice; they have no other wine in the country,nor is there any brought to them: they know not what it is, nor do they drink of it.They have vinegar alfo, and a kind of comfit like what the Arabs call natef, and fomeothers.They are not very nice in point of cleanlinefs, and wash not with water when theyeafe nature, but only wipe themſelves with paper; they eat of dead animals , and practife many other things like the Magians; and in truth, the religion of the one and theother is much the fame. The Chineſe women appear uncovered, and adorn their headswith ſmall ivory combs, of which they wear fometimes a fcore together; the men arecovered with caps of a particular make. The law they obferve with regard to thievesis to put them to death as foon as they are caught.Ourauthor feems here to interrupt his narration, and to take occafion from what hehas before reported (and which in the main is confirmed by later writers), to compare the cuſtoms of the Indians and Chineſe, intermixing his difcourfe alſo with othermatters.13. The Indians and Chineſe agree, that there are four great or principal Kings inthe world; they all allow the King ofthe Arabs to be the first, and to be, beyond difpute, the most powerful of Kings, the most wealthy, and the moſt excellent every way;becauſe he is the Prince and Head of a great religion , and becauſe no other furpatleshm.The Emperor of China reckons himſelf next after the King of the Arabs, and afterhim the King of the Greeks, and laſtly the Balhara, King of Moharmi al Adon, or ofthoſe who have their ears bored *.This Balhara is the moſt illuftrious prince in all the Indies; and all the other Kingsthere, though each is maſter and independent in his kingdom, acknowledge thus farIt is very highly probable, that this Balhara, or monarch of the nation which have their ears bored,which is plainly the Indians, was no other than the Samorin, or Emperor of Calicut, who, according tothe reports of the most ancient Portugueze hiftorians, was acknowledged as a kind of Emperor in the Indies, fix hundred years before they difcovered the paffa*ge to them bythe Cape of Good Hope.BB 2 his188 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANShis pre-eminence. When he fends ambaffadors to them, they receive them with extraordinary honours, becauſe of the refpect they bear him. This King makes magnificent prefents after the manner of the Arabs, and has horfes and elephants in greatnumbers, and great treaſures in money. He has of thoſe pieces of filver called Thartarian drams, which weigh half a dram more than the Arabian dram. They are coinedwith the dye of the Prince, and bear the year of his reign from the laſt of the reign ofhis predeceffor.They compute not their years from the æra of Mohammed, as the Arabs do, butonly by the years of their Kings. Moſt of theſe Princes live a long time, and many ofthem have reigned above fifty years, and thoſe of the country believe, that the lengthof their lives and of their reigns is granted them in recompence for their kindneſs to theArabs. In truth, there are no Princes more heartily affectionate to the Arabs, andtheir fubjects profefs the fame friendſhip for us.Balhara is not a proper name, but an appellative common to all theſe Kings, as wasCofroes and fome others. The country under the dominion of this Prince begins onthe coaſt of the province called Kamkam, and reaches by land to the confines of China.He is furrounded by the dominions of many Kings, who are at war with him, and yethe never marches againſt them.14. One of thoſe Kings is the King of Harez, who has very numerous forces, andis ſtronger in horfe than all other Princes of the Indies, but is an enemy to the Arabs;though he at the fame time confeffes their King to be the greateſt of Kings, nor is therea Prince in the Indies who has a greater averfion to the Mohammedan faith. His dominions are on a promontory, where are much riches, many camels, and other cattle.The inhabitants here traffic for filver, which they watch for, and they fay there aremines of the fame on the continent. There is no talk of robbers in this country anymore than in the reft ofthe Indies.On one fide of this kingdom lies that of Tafek, which is not of very great extent.This King has the fineſt white women in all the Indies; but he is awed by the Kingsabout him, his army being but ſmall. He has a great affection for the Arabs, as wellas the Balhara.Theſe kingdoms border upon the lands of a King called Rami, who is at war withthe King of Harez, and with the Balhara alfo. This Prince is not much conſideredeither for his birth, or the antiquity of his kingdom; but his forces are more numerousthanthofe ofthe Balhara, and even than thofe of the Kings of Harez and Tafek. Theyfay, that when he takes the field, he appears at the head of fifty thoufand elephants,and that he commonly marches in the winter feafon; becauſe the elephants not beingable to bear thirſt, he can move at no other time. They add likewife, that in his armythere are commonly from ten to fifteen thoufand tents. In this fame country they makecotton garments in fuch extraordinary perfection, that no where elſe are the like to befeen. Theſe garments are for the moſt part round, and wove to that degree of finenefs, that they may be drawn through aring of a moderate fize. Shells are current inthis country, and ferve for ſmall money, notwithſtanding that they have gold and filver, wood aloes, and fable fkins, of which they make the furniture for faddles andhoufings.

• This is another good reafon why the monarch here mentioned fhould be taken for the Emperor of

Calicut, fince he likewife was not called by his proper name, but by fuch an appellative as this; and ifwe could obtain an etymology of thefe words that could be depended upon, it is very likely that Balharaand Samorin would be found to mean the fame thing.InTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 189In this fame country is the famous karkandan * , that is, the (rhinoceros, or) unicorn,who has but one horn upon his forehead, and thereon a round ſpot, with the reprefentation of a man. The whole horn is black, except the fpot in the middle, which iswhite. The unicorn is much fmaller than the elephant; from the neck downwards hepretty much reſembles the buffalo; his ftrength is very extraordinary, for he excelstherein all other creatures; his hoof is not cloven, and from his foot to his fhoulder isall of a piece. The elephant flies from the unicorn, whofe lowing is like that of an ox,with fomething of the cry of the camel; his flesh is not forbidden, and we have eatenofit; there are great numbers of this creature in the fens of this kingdom, as alfo in allthe other provinces of the Indies; but the horns of theſe are moſt efteemed; and uponthem are generally feen the figures of men, peaco*cks, fifhes, and other refemblances.The Chineſe adorn their girdles with thefe fort of figures, fo that fome of their girdlesare worth two or three thoufand pieces of gold in China, and fometimes more, theprice augmenting with the beauty of the figure. All the things we have here enumerated are to be purchaſed in the kingdom of Rahmi for fhells, which are the currentmoney of the country.After this kingdom there is another, which is an inland fſtate diſtant from the coaft,and called Kaſchbin; the inhabitants are white, and bore their ears; they have camels,and their country is for the moſt part defart, and full of mountains; farther upon thecoaſt there is a ſmall kingdom called Hitrange, which is very poor; but it has a bay,where the fea throws up great quantities of ambergris; they have alſo elephant's teethand pepper; but the inhabitants eat it green, becauſe of the fmallneſs of the quantitythey gather. Beyond theſe kingdoms here mentioned, there are others of number unknown, and among the reft that of Mujet; the inhabitants are white, and dreſs after theChineſe mode; their country is full of mountains, with white tops, and of very greatextent; here are very great quantities of muſk, eſteemed the moſt exquifite in the world.They have war with all the neighbouring kingdoms.The kingdom of Mabed † is beyond that of Mujet; therein are many cities, and theinhabitants have a great refemblance to the Chineſe, even more than thofe of Mujet;for they have officers or eunuchs, like thoſe who govern the cities amongſt the Chineſe;the country of Mabed is bordering upon China, and is at peace with the Emperor, butnot fubject to him. The Mabed fends every year ambaſſadors and prefents to the Emperor of China, who on his part fends ambaffadors and prefents to them. Their country is ofgreat extent; and when the ambaffadors of Mabed enter China, they are carefully watched, and never once allowed to furvey the country, for fear they ſhould formdefigns of conquering it, which would be no difficult task for them, becauſe of theirgreat numbers, and becauſe they are divided from China only by mountains androcks.15. Theyfay, that in the Kingdom of China there are above two hundred cities, withjurifdiction over others, and have each a governor, and an eunuch or lieutenant . Canfuis one of theſe cities, being the port for all ſhipping, and prefiding over twenty towns.Atown is dignified with the title of city, when it is allowed fome of thoſe great Chineſetrumpets, which are faſhioned after this manner: they are three or four cubits inWe have already given fo large an account of the rhinoceros, that we fhall not trouble the reader withany thing on that fubject here, but content ourſelves with obferving, that it is evident this writer makesthe unicorn and the rhinoceros the fame creature, agreeable to what we have advanced elſewhere.It would be an endleſs thing to fatigue the reader with conjectures about theſe countries, the nainesof which are totally unknownto us; fo that all we can fay ofthem with certainty is, that they lie betweenCape Comorin and China.3 length,190 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSlength, and as much about as can be grafped with both hands; but they grow narrowtowards the end, which is fitted to the mouth; on the outfide they are coloured withChineſe ink, and may be heard a mile off. Each city has four gates, at each of whichare five oftheſe trumpets, which the Chineſe found at certain hours of the day and ofthe night. There are alfo in each city ten drums, which they beat at the fame time;and this they do as a public token oftheir obedience to the Emperor; as alfo to fignifythe hour ofthe day, and ofthe night, to which end they have alſo dials and clocks with weights.They coin a great deal of copper money, like what the Arabs call falus: they havetreafures like other Kings; but they have only this fort of fmall money, which is current all over the country; for though they have gold, filver, pearls, filk, and richftuffs in great abundance, they confider them only as moveables and merchandize,and the copper pieces are the only current coin; from foreign parts they have ivory,frankincenfe, copper in pigs, tortoife- fhells, and unicorns' horns, which we have mentioned, and with which they adorn their girdles. Of their own ftock, they haveabundance of beafts of burden, horſes, affes, and dromedaries; but they have no Arabian horfes.They have an excellent kind of earth, wherewith they make a ware of equal fineneſswith glafs, and equally tranſparent. When merchants arrive here * , the Chineſe feizeon their cargoes, and convey them to warehoufes, where they remain fix months, andtill the laſt merchantman be arrived; then they take three in ten, or thirty per cent ofeach commodity, and return the reft to the merchant. If the Emperor hath a mindfor any particular thing, his officers have a right to take it, preferably to any other perfons whatfoever, paying for it to the utmoft value. They difpatch this bufinefs immediately, and without the leaft injuftice; they commonly take camphire, which they payfor after the rate offifty fakuges per man, and the fakuge is worth a thoufand falus, orpieces of copper. When it happens that the Emperor does not take camphire, it fellsfor half as much again.16. The Chineſe do not bury their dead till the day twelvemonth of their deceaſe.Till the expiration of this term they keep them in coffins; for having previouſly driedthem with quick-lime that they may keep, they place them in fome part of theirhoufes. The bodies of their Kings are embalmed with aloes and camphire. Theymourn for three whole years; and whofoever fhould not do fo would be chaftizedwith the bamboo, a puniſhment both men and women are liable to; at the fametime they are reproached, " What then, thou art not concerned at the death of thyparent?"They bury their dead in deep pits, much like thofe in ufe among the Arabs; till thisis done they conflantly fet victuals before the corpfe; and as it is in the evening thatthey thus exhibit meat and drink to their dead, if the next morning they find nothingleft, they imagine that they have confumed all , and fay, " The deceafed hath eaten. 'They ceaſe not from bewailing their dead, nor from fetting meat and drink before themas long as they are kept inthe houfe, infomuch that their expences upon thofe occafions,and in thus paying their laſt duties to their departed relations, are ſo exorbitant as oftento ruin them, and confume their wealth and eſtates. Formerly they, with the dead

• This account of the conduct of the Chineſe towards the merchants, correfponds fo well both with ancient and modern relations, that it leaves no room for us to doubt either of the truth ofthem, or of it, and

cannot but illuſtrate, and at the fame time confirm in the opinion of the reader, many things delivered inour obfervations on the foregoing ſections.bodiesTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 191bodies of their Kings, or others ofthe royal blood, buried very rich apparel, and thoſeforts of girdles which we have obferved coft fo much; but this cuftom is now out ofdate, becauſe it has happened that the bodies of fome have been dug up by thieves, forthefake of what was buried with them.The Chineſe, poor and rich, great and fmall, learn to read and write; the titles oftheir Kings or governors, are varied according to the dignity and rank of the cities under them. Thofe of the ſmaller cities are called Tufing; and this word fignifies the governor of atown; thofe ofthe greater cities, as Canfu, for example, are ftyled Difu;and the eunuch, or lieutenant, is ftyled Tukam. Thefe eunuchs are felected from theinhabitants of the cities. There is alfo a fupreme judge, and him they call Lakſhimamakvan; other names they have for other officers, which we know not how properlyto exprefs.Be17. A man is not raiſed to the dignity of a Prince, or governor of a city, till hehas attained his fortieth year; for then, fay they, he hath experience. When one ofthefe Princes, or Vice- Kings, keeps his court in a city, he is feated upon a tribunal,and receives the petitions or complaints of the people. Behind this tribunal there isan officer called Lieu , who keeps ftanding, and according to the order he receivesfrom the Prince, indorfes his anſwer on the petition , for they never anſwer otherwiſethan in writing, or admit of any applications, but what are committed to paper.fore the parties prefent their petitions to the Prince, they get them examined by anofficer, who, if he difcovers any fault, fends them back again; for no man may drawup theſe writings which are to be prefented to the Prince, except a clerk verfed in bufinefs; and at the bottom of each writing they put, " Written by fuch a one, the fonof fuch a one;" and if in this cafe there happen any blunder or mistake, the clerk is bambooed *.The Prince never feats himſelf on his tribunal till he has eaten and drank, for fearhe ſhould be miſtaken in fomething; and each of theſe princes or governors has hisfubfiftence from the public treafury ofthe city he commands. The Emperor of China,who is above all thefe Princes or petty Kings, never appears in public but once inten months, fancying, that if he thewed himfelf oftener to the people, they would lofethe veneration they have for him; for he holds it as a maxim, that principalities.cannot fubfift but by force, and that the people know not what juftice is; and thatthus conſtraint and violence muſt be uſed to maintain amongst them the majefty ofempire.18. They have no duty impofed upon their lands, but are fubject to a poll-tax, whichis levied upon men only, and that according to their condition and capacity. WhenanyArabs, or other ftrangers, are in this country, the Chineſe tax them according to their fubftance. When any dearth makes neceffaries dear, then the King opens hisftore-houfes, and fells all forts of provifions much cheaper than they are to be had atmarket: and hence no dearth is ofany long continuance amongthe Chineſe. The fumsthat are gathered from this capitation-tax, are laid up in the public treafury; and Ibelieve, that from this tax fifty thouſand dinars are paid every day into the treaſury ofCanfu alone, although this city is not one of the largeſt in China.The Emperor referves likewife to himſelf the revenues which arife from the falt-mines,and from a certain herb which they drink with hot water, and ofwhich great quantitiesThis kind of practice is ftill in ufe at China, fo that there can be nothing clearer than that this accountis both genuine and exact; fince it is impoffible to conceive how an Arabian author of the age in whichthis manufcript was wrote, fhould be maſter of theſe facts, none of which were known in Europe till fome ages after.are192 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSare fold in all the cities of China, to the amount of great fums; they call it Ttcha, thatis tea, and it is a fhrub more bufhy than the pomegranate tree, and of a more pleaſantfmell, but has a kind of bitternefs with it. Their way is to boil water, which theypour upon this leaf; and this drink cures all forts of difeafes. Whatever fums comeinto the treafury, arife from the poll-tax, the duties upon the falt, and the tax upon this leaf *.19. In each city there is a fmall bell hung to the wall above the Prince's or Governor'shead; and this bell may be rung by a ftring, which reaches about three miles, andcroffes the highway to the end that people may get at it; when the ftring is pulled, thebell ſtrikes overthe governor's bead, and ftraight he commands that the perfon who thusdemands juftice, be brought before him; and accordingly the complainant fets forthhis cafe in perfon; and the fame practice is in ufe throughout all other provinces.If a man has a mind to travel from one place to another, he must take two paffeswith him, the one from the Governor, the other from the eunuch or lieutenant. TheGovernor's paſs permits him to fet out on his journey, and takes notice of the name ofthe traveller, and of thofe alfo of his company, the age and family ofthe one and the other;for every body in China, whether a native, or an Arab, or any other foreigner, isobliged to declare all he knows of himſelf, nor can he poffibly be excuſed.The eunuch, or lieutenant's paſs, ſpecifies the quantity of goods or money which thetraveller and thoſe with him take along with them; andthis is done for the informationofthe frontier places, where theſe two paffes are examined; for whenever a traveller arrives at any of them it is regiſtered, that fuch a one, the fon of fuch a one, of fucha family, paffed through this place on fuch a day, in fuch a month, in fuch a year, and infuch company; and by this means they prevent any one from carrying off the money oreffects of other perfons, or their being loft: fo that if any thing hath been carriedoff unjustly, or the traveller dies on the road, they immediately know what is becomeof the thing, and they are either reftored to the claimant or to his heirst .20. The Chineſe adminifter juftice with great ftrictneſs in all their tribunals. Whenany perfon commences a fuit against another, he fets down his claim in writing, andthe defendant writes down his defence, which he figns, and holds between his fingers.Thefe two writings are delivered in together; and being examined, fentence is deliveredin writing, and each party has his papers returned to him; but firſt they give back tothe defendant his writing that he may acknowledge it.When one party denies what the other affirms, he is ordered to return his writing:and if the defendant thinks he may do it fafely, and accordingly delivers his paper afecond time, they alſo call for that of the plaintiff, and then they fay to him who denies what the other affirms, Make it appear that your antagoniſt has no right to demandof you what is in debate; but take notice if he makes out what you deny, you fhallundergo twenty ftrokes of the bamboo upon the backſide, and pay a fine of twentyfakuges, which make about two hundred dinars. Now this punishment is fuch, asthe criminal could not furvive; it is fo grievous, that no perfon in all China may, ofhis own authority, inflict it upon another, upon pain of death, and confifcation of hisIt appears from hence, that the custom of drinking tea in China, is much more antient than we havegenerally imagined it, for it muft have prevailed long before our traveller went into this country, other- wife a tax upon it would have been ineffectual. It may not be amifs to obferve here, that the remarksof the author are equally natural and judicious; for he infifts chiefly on thoſe things in which the Chineſediffered moſt from the Mohammedans, as that they did not circumcife, were not vey exact in waſhing,and made no conſcience of eating blood.+ The reader will remember that this was a fettled regulation among the antient Indians, fo that it isvery probable that the Chineſe derived a great part of their policy from the Indians.goods,THROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 193 1goods, and fo nobody is ever fo hardy as to expofe himſelf to fo certain a danger;wherefore juſtice is well adminiſtered to every one. They require no witneſs, nor dothey put the parties upon oath.21. When any man becomes a bankrupt in this country, they throw him into prifonin the Governor's palace, and he is immediately put upon the declaration of hiseffects. After he has been a month in prifon, he is releafed by the Governor's order,and proclamation is made, that fuch'a one, the fon of fuch a one, has confumed thefubftance of fuch a one; and that if he has any effects in the hands of any perſon, in anyfhape whatſoever, it muſt be made known in the term of a month. In the meantimethe bankrupt is bambooed on the backſide, if diſcovery is made of any effects of his;and at the fame time is upbraided with having been a month in priſon eating and drinking, though he had wherewithal to fatisfy his creditors. He is chaſtiſed in the famemanner, whether he makes any declaration of his effects or not. They reproach him, thathe has made it his ſtudyto get byfraud the fubftance of private perfons into his hands, andembezzle it; and that he ought not fo to defraud thofe he had dealings with, by ſtrippingthem of their property. But after all, if they cannot diſcover him to have been guiltyof any fraud, and if it is proved to the magiftrate, that the man has nothing in theworld, the creditors are called in, and receive a part of their debt out of the treaſuryof the Bagbun. This is the ordinary title of the Emperors of China, and fignifies thefon of Heaven; but we commonly pronounce it after a different manner, and call himMagbun. Then it is publickly forbidden to buy of or fell to this man upon pain ofdeath, that he may not defraud any of his creditors by concealing their money. Ifdiſcovery be made that he hath any fums in the hands of another, and if the perfon heentrufts make no delaration within the time limited, he is bambooed to death, and nothing is faid to the proprietor or bankrupt. The fums that they difcover are dividedamong the creditors, and the debtor or bankrupt muft never more concern himſelfwith trade *.22. The Chinefe have a ftone which is ten cubits high, erected in the public fquaresof their cities, and on this ftone are engraved the names of all forts of medicines, withthe exact price of each; and when the poor ftand in need of any relief from phyfic,they go to the treaſury, where they receive the price each medicine is rated at. Thereis in China no tax upon land; they only levy fo much per head, according to thewealth and poffeffions of the fubject. When a male child is born, his name is immediatelyentered in the King's books; and when this child has attained his eighteenth year, hebegins to pay for his head; but they demand it not ofthe man who has feen his eightiethyear; onthe contrary he receives a gratification by way of penfion from the public treafury; and in doing this, the Chineſe fay, that they make this provifion for him in hisold days, in acknowledgment for what they received of him when he was young.23. There are ſchools in every town for teaching the poor children to write and read,and the mafters are maintained at the public charge. The women wear nothing ontheir heads but their hair, whereas the men are covered. In China there is a certain towncalled Tayu, which has a caftle advantageouſly ſeated on a hill, and all the fortreffes inthe kingdom are called by the fame name. The Chineſe are generally handfome, ofcomely ftature, fair, and by no means addicted to exceffes of wine; their hair isThis fact is likewife confirmed by later travellers; and though there feems to be a great deal of fe--verity in it, yet it is well adapted to the genius of the Chineſe, who would not fail to become bankruptsfrequently, if they were allowed to trade afterwards; and perhaps the introducing this law in other countries, in cafe of a fecond or third bankruptcy, might be found very effectual.VOL. VII,сс blacker.194 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSblacker than the hair of any other nation in the world; and the Chineſe women wearit curled.24. In the Indies, when a man accufes another of a crime punishable with death,the cuſtom is to afk the accufed if he is willing to go through the trial by fire; and ifhe anſwers in the affirmative, they heat a piece of iron till it is red-hot. This done,they bid him ſtretch forth his hand, and upon it they put feven leaves of a certain tree,and upon theſe leaves they put the red-hot iron, and in this condition he walks backwardand forward for fome time, and then throws off the iron. Immediately after this theyput his hand into a leathern bag, which they feal with the prince's fignet; and if at theend of three days he appears and declares he has fuffered no hurt, they order him totake out his hand; when if no fign of fire is vifible, they declare him innocent, anddelivered from the punishment which threatened him, and his accufer is condemnedto pay a Man of gold as a fine to the Prince.Sometimes they boil water in a cauldron * , till it is fo hot that no one can touch it;then they throw an iron ring into it, and command the perfon accuſed to thrust hishand down, and bring out the ring.. I faw one who did this, and received no mannerof hurt. The accufer is in this cafe alfo to pay a Man of gold.25. When a king dies in this ifland of Sarandib, they lay his body on an open chariot, in fuch a manner that his head hangs backwards till it almoſt touches the ground,and his hair is upon the earth; and this chariot is followed by a woman with a broominher hand, therewith to fweep duft on the face of the deceaſed, while fhe cries outwith a loud voice, " O man, behold your King, who was yeſterday your maſter, butnow the empire he exerciſed over you is vaniſhed and gone; he is reduced to the ſtateyou behold, having left the world, and the arbiter of death hath withdrawn his ſoul;reckon therefore no more upon the uncertain hopes of life."This † proclamation or fome other like it, they continue for three days; after whichthe dead body of the King is embalmed with fandal wood, camphire and ſaffron, andis then burned, and the afhes are ſcattered abroad to the wind. It is a univerfal cuſtomall over the Indies to burn the bodies of the dead. The iſland of Sarandib is the laſtof the iſlands of the Indies. When they burn a king, it is ufual for his wives to jumpinto the fire, and to burn with him; but this they are not conftrained to do if they arenot willing.In the Indies there are men who profefs to live in the woods and mountains, and todefpife what other men moſt value. Theſe abftain from every thing but fuch wildherbs and fruits as fpring in the woods, and put an iron buckle upon their natural parts,that they may not be able to have any commerce with women. Some of them are

• This manner of finding out the truth by appealing to God in ſo extraordinary a manner, was in uſe

in most countries . Sophocles mentions it as practifed by the antients . The Caffres on the coaſt ofMofambique, if they are accuſed of any capital crime, lick iron to prove their innocence. The Indians of Calicut decide their differences in the fame manner. If a man is accuſed of theft, he and the accuferarebrought before the judge; a pint of oil is heated till it almoft boils, and then the party accufed dipsin three of his fingers, which are immediately bound up, and opened on the third day; when, if it appearshe is fcalded, he fuffers death; and if not, the fame fentence falls upon the accufer. All this is the moreprobable, fince this was once the common law of our own country, as the reader will perceive by confult- ing any of our gloffographers on the word ordeal.The author of Arabian Geography, and many others of the oriental writers, have tranfcribed this paffa*ge verbatim, from whence it appears evidently that they were acquainted with this work. Thereader may remember, that the accounts given by the antients ofthe manners of the inhabitants of Taprobana agree perfectly well with this account.10 quiteTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA.195quite naked, or have only a leopard's fkin thrown over them, and in this plight keepftanding with their faces towards the fun. I formerly faw one in the pofture I havedeſcribed, and returning to the Indies about fixteen years afterwards I found him inthe very fame attitude, and was aftoniſhed he had not loft his eye-fight by the heat ofthe fun . In all thefe kingdoms the fovereign power refides in the royal family, andnever departs from it; and the next heirs of this family fucceed each other. In likemanner there are families of learned men, of phyficians, and of all the artificers concerned in architecture, and none of thefe are mixed with a family of a profeflion different from their own. The feveral ftates of the Indies are not fubject to one king, buteach province has its own king. The Balhara is nevertheleſs in the Indies as King ofKings. The Chineſe are fond of gaming, and all manner of diverfions; on the contrary, the Indians condemn them, and have no pleaſure in them. They drink nowine, nor make any uſe of vinegar, becauſe it is made of wine; and yet they abſtainnot therefrom as a religious duty, but for another reaſon. They fay, that if a king isgiven to wine, he ought not to be deemed a king: for, continue they, as there are frequent wars with the neighbouring ſtates, how fhould a drunkard manage the affairs ofhis kingdom?&26. The wars, in which they engage with neighbouring princes, are not uſually⚫ undertaken with a view to poffefs themfelves of their dominions; and I neverheard of any but the people bordering upon the pepper country, that have ſeized onthe poffeffions of their neighbours after victory. When a prince makes himſelf mafter of fome other principality, he confers the government thereof upon fome perfonof the royal family of the conquered country; and thus he keeps it in fubjection tohimſelf, from a perfuafion that the natives would never agree to be otherwife governed.When any one of the princes or governors of cities within the dominions of the Emperor of China is guilty of a crime, he is put to death, and eaten; and in general it maybe faid that the Chineſe eat all thoſe that are put to death. When the Indians andChineſe are about to marry, the parties come to an agreement; then preſents are made,and at laſt the marriage is celebrated with the found of many forts of inftruments anddrums. The prefents they ſend confiſt of money, and in this every one does what hecan afford.27. If a man in the Indies runs away with a woman, and abufes her body, they killboth him and the woman, unleſs it be proved that ſhe was forced; then the man onlyis puniſhed with death: but if the woman confented to the evil deed, they are bothpuniſhed with death. Theft is always puniſhed capitally, as well in the Indies as inChina, whether the theft be confiderable or inconfiderable; and particularly in the Indies,where, if a thief has ftolen but the value of a ſmall piece of money, or a thing ofgreater worth, they take a long, ſtrong, and fharp ftake, which they apply to his fundament, and thruft it through till it comes out at his neck. The Chineſe are addictedto the abominable vice of fodomy, and the filthy practice of it they number amongthe indifferent things they perform in honour of their idols.The Chineſe buildings are of wood, with ftone, plaſter, brick, and mortar. TheChineſe and Indians are not fatisfied with one wife, but both nations marry as manyas they pleaſe. Rice is the common food of the Indians, who eat no wheat; whereasthe Chineſe eat of rice and wheat indifferently. Circumcifion is not practiſed eitherThefe penances among the Indians, as furprising or as incredible as they ſeem to be, are confirmed by all the travellers that have written of thoſe countries, whether antient or modern, as we ſhall have an opportunity of fhewing in the fubfequent part of this chapter.CC 2 by196THE TRAVELSOF TWO MOHAMMEDANSby the Indians or Chineſe. The Chineſe worſhip idols, pray to them, and fall downbefore them; and they have books which explain the articles of their religion. TheIndians fuffer their beards to grow, and I have ſeen one of them with a beard threecubits long; they wear no whiſkers; but the Chineſe, for the moſt part, have no beardand have all fmooth. The Indians, upon the death of a relation, fhave both head andface. When any man in the Indies is caft into prifon , they allow him neither victualsnor drink for ſeven days together, and this with them anfwers the end of other torturesto extort from the criminal a confeffion of the truth. The Chineſe have judges befidesthe governors, who decide in caufes between fubject and fubject, and the fame they havein the Indies. Both in China and in the Indies there are leopards and wolves, but nolions. Highway robbers are puniſhed with death.29. Boththe Chineſe and the Indians imagine the idols they worſhip ſpeak to them andgive them anſwers. Neither the one nor the other kill their meat by cutting the throat,as the Mohammedans, but by beating them on the mouth till they die. They wafh notwith well-water; the Chineſe wipe themſelves with paper, whereas the Indians wafhevery day before they eat.The Indians touch not their wives while their difeafe is upon them, but turn themout of their houſes, and avoid them; the Chineſe behave in a quite contrary manner.The Indians waſh not only the mouth, but the whole body alfo before they eat, whichthe Chineſe obſerve not. The country of the Indies is larger in extent than that ofChina, and exceeds it by one half; the number of kingdoms is greater in the Indiesthan in China, but China is the more populous of the two.It is not ufual to fee palm-trees either in the Indies or in China, but they have alfoother forts of fruits and trees, which we have not. The Indians have no grapes, andthe Chineſe have not many, but both abound in other fruits; though the pomegranatethrives more plentifully in India than in China.The Chineſe have no fciences, and their religion and moſt of their laws are derivedfrom the Indians; nay, they are of opinion that the Indians taught them the worſhip ofidols, and confider them as a very religious nation; both the one and the other believethe Metempſychofis *; but they differ in many points touching the precepts of theirreligions. Phyfic and philoſophy are cultivated among the Indians, and the Chineſehave ſome ſkill in medicine; but it almoft wholly confifts in the art of applying hotirons or cauteries. They have alfo fome fmattering of aftronomy, but therein alfo theIndians furpaſs the Chineſe. I know not that there is fo much as one of either nationthat has embraced Mohammedifm, or ſpeaks Arabic. The Indians have but few horſes,and there are more in China; but the Chineſe have no elephants, and cannot endureto have them in their country, for they abhor them. The Indian dominions furniſh agreat number of foldiers, who are not paid by the King, but when they are rendezvouſed for war, take the field entirely at their own expence, and are no charge to theKing; whereas the Chineſe allow their forces much the fame pay with the Arabs.China is a pleaſant and fruitful country; moſt ofthe Indian provinces have no cities,whereas in China there are many in number, great in extent, and well fortified: theclimate of China is more wholeſome, and the country itſelf is leſs fenny. The air thereis alſo much better, and there is fcarce a blind perfon to be feen, or any one fubject tothe diſeaſes of the eyes; and the fame advantages are enjoyed by feveral provinces ofthe• Of this doctrine we have already fpoken in our account of the philofophy of the Brachmans; and inour notes upon the fubfequent treatife, we ſhall take occafion to fhew when it was firſt embraced in China,and with what modifications it is ftill taught there.Indies:THROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 197Indies: the rivers of thoſe two countries are large, and furpafs our greateſt rivers;much rain falls in both theſe countries. In the Indies are many defert tracks, butChina is inhabited and peopled throughout its whole extent. The Chineſe are handfomer than the Indians, and come nearer to the Arabs, not only in countenance,but in drefs, in their way of riding, in their manners, and in their ceremonies: theywear long garments, and girdles in form of belts. The Indians wear two fhortvefts; and the men, as well as the women, wear golden bracelets, adorned with preciousftones.30. Beyond the continent of China, there is a country called Tagazgaz, from the nameof a nation ofthe Turks, who there inhabit, and alſo the country of Kakhan , or Tibet,which is bordering on the country of the Turks . The iflands of Sila are inhabited bywhite people, who fend prefents to the Emperor of China, and who are perfuaded, thatif they did not fend him prefents, the rain of Heaven would not fall upon their country.None of our people have been there to inform us concerning them: they have whitefalcons.As we are now arrived to the end of this work, it may not be amifs to offer herefome remarks that may tend to enlighten the foregoing difcourfe, and prepare us at thefame time for that which is come. We are informed that the date of this narration wasof the Hegira 237, A. D. 851 , which circumftance, though preferved to us in the enfuing difcourfe, was very probably contained in the firft leaf of this, which is wanting inthe manufcript. But though it was written then, yet it feems highly probable, that ourauthor's firf journey to the Indies was, at leaft, twenty years before; becauſe he obferves, that he made a fecond journey there fixteen years afterwards; and we mayverywell allow four years for the time spent in the firft journey, and the ſpace that mightintervene between his return and his compofing this treatiſe. According to this calculation, his firft voyage to the Indies was in the year of the Hegira 217, Ă. D. 833 , andhis fecond An. Heg. 235, A. D. 849.As to the occafion of his voyages, there is nothing occurs in this account that cangive us the leaſt light into it; however, it ſeems moſt probable, that he underwent theſefatigues on the fcore of commerce; for it can hardly be fuppofed, that a man wouldhave made fo long a journey a fecond time, purely out of curiofity, and to fatisfy thedefire of being better acquainted with thefe people, which had been excited by hisformer intercourfe with them. There is not much to be obferved with refpect to theform of this treatiſe, or the ſtile in which it is written; and yet fomething there is worthmentioning with reſpect to each of them. We cannot, indeed, boaft much of the regularity of his method; and yet it would be unjuſt to condemn it entirely, becaufe, forwant of having the introduction to it, we cannot determine exactly what was his plan,and confequently cannot fay how far he came up to or fell fhort of it. One thing Ithink is manifeft, which is, that the ſcope of his undertaking is a compariſon betweenthe Indians and the Chineſe; at leaſt he falls into this immediately after he has deſcribedthe uſual navigation from Siraf to China; and confidered in this light, his treatiſe appears regular enough. As to his ftile, it is extremely fimple and plain, and has nothing

• We fhall take another opportunity of acquainting the reader with the hiftory of the ancient Turks,

and fhall only obferve here, that the nations here mentioned are to be confidered as dwelling in their nativeregion, before they became famous by their irruption into Perfia, which is the country every where meantin this and in the fubfequent treatiſe by the name of Irak, and before they became Mohammedans; whichis the more neceffary, becauſe from the prefent ſtate of things it is very natural to connect the ideas which wehave of the modern Turks, with thefe accounts of their ancestors.2of198THE TRAVELSOF TWO MOHAMMEDANSof that fwelling hyperbolical eloquence which is generally obferved in oriental writers;upon which I beg leave to remark, that, with regard to the Arabs, as well as othernations, this was a vice that prevailed in later times, after poetry and rhetorick hadbeen more cultivated than they were in the first ages of their empire, which has beenthe cafe in moft other nations.One cannot poffibly doubt, that this piece was extremely well received when it firſtcame abroad, and that it had maintained its reputation for a confiderable ſpace of time,appears from the fecond treatiſe, which we are about to give the reader. It ſeems, thatwhen the affairs of China were better known, fome Prince, or other perſon of diſtinction, defired the author of the following pages to look over that diſcourſe, and to informhim, how far the facts contained therein had been confirmed or contradicted, by fucceeding relations. What time this happened, we cannot with any certainty fay, fromthe compariſon of the two pieces, or from the lights given us by the learned and accuratecritick who publiſhed them. The manufcript which the Abbé Renaudot made uſe of,was apparently older than the year of the Hegira 569, which anſwers to the year ofChrift 1173; but the difcourfe muft certainly have been written long before that time.In our notes we have fhewn that Eben- Wahab travelled into China, A. H. 185, A. D.898; and the author of this laft treatiſe informs us, that he had converfed with thisman after his return, and had from him the facts which he has inferted in his diſcourſe;fo that the book itſelf muſt have been two centuries older than the manufcript fromwhich the Abbé Renaudot publifhed it, and might probably be written fixty or feventyyears after the foregoing treatife. Thefe are all the lights which, from an affiduousftudy of theſe valuable fragments of antiquity, we have been able to give the reader,and therefore we ſhall detain him no longer from the piece itſelf, which in the originalbears the following title.•The Difcourfe of Abu Zeid al Hafan, of Siraf, concerning the Voyage to the Indies and China.31. Having very carefully examined the book I was directed to perufe, that I mightconfirm what the author relates, when he agrees with what I have heard concerning theaffairs of the fea, the kingdoms on the coaft, and the ſtate of the countries; and that Imight add upon this head, what I have elſewhere collected concerning them, which isnot to be found in this book, I find it was written in the year of the Hegira 237, andthat the accounts the author gives in regard to things at fea, were in his time very true,and agreeable to what I have underſtood from merchants, who from Irak failed throughthofe feas. I find alſo, that all the author writes is agreeable to truth, except fome fewpaffa*ges.Speaking of the cuſtom of fetting meat before the dead, which he attributes to theChineſe, he ſays, when they have ferved up the meat over night, and find nothing in the morning, they cry, The deceaſed hath eaten. Wehad been told the fame, and believed it, till we met with a man of undoubted credit, who being aſked concerning thiscuftom, he anſwered, that the fact was not fo, and that this notion was groundleſs, aswell as what is vulgarly faid of the idolatrous nations, that they imagine their idols ſpeakto them.He told us alfo, that fince thoſe days the affairs of China wear quite another faceand fince much is related to fhew the reaſon why the voyages to China are interrupted,andTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 199and howthe country has been ruined, many cuftoms aboliſhed, and the empire divided,I will here declare the caufes I know of this revolution *32. The great troubles which have embroiled the affairs of this empire, which haveput a stop to the juſtice and righteouſneſs there formerly practifed, and which have, infine, interrupted the ordinary navigation from Siraf to China, flowed from this fource:An officer, who was confiderable for his employment, though not of the royal family,revolted fome time ago; this man's name was Baichu, and he began with committinghoftilities in the country, marching his armies into many places, to the great lofs of theinhabitants, till winning a party over to him by his liberalities, he got together a multitude of vagabonds and abandoned people, whom he formed into a confiderable bodyoftroops.His army thus ftrengthened, and himſelf in a condition to undertake any thing, hediſcovered his defign of fubduing the empire, and marched ſtraight to Canfu, one of themoſt noted cities in China, and at that time the port for all the Arabian merchants.This city ftands upon a great river fome days diſtance from the entrance, fo that thewater there is freſh. But the citizens, fhutting their gates againſt him, he refolved tobefiege the place, and the fiege lafted a great while. This was tranfacted in the year ofthe Hegira 264, and of Chrift 877.At last he became maſter of the city, and put all the inhabitants to the fword. Thereare perfons fully acquainted with the affairs of China, who affure us, that beſides theChineſe who were maffacred upon this occafion, there periſhed one hundred and twentythouſand Mohammedans, Jews, Chriſtians, and Parfees, who were there on account oftraffick. The number of the profeffors of theſe four religions, who thus perifhed, isexactly known, becauſe the Chineſe are exceedingly nice in the accounts they keep ofthem.He alſo cut down the mulberry trees, and almoſt all the trees of other kinds: butwe ſpeak of the mulberry in particular, becauſe the Chineſe cultivate it carefully, forthe fake of its leaf, on which their filkworms fubfift. This devaſtation is the caufe whyfilk has failed, and that the trade which uſed to be driven therein through all the countries under the Arabs, is quite at a ſtand. Having facked and deftroyed Canfu,he poffeffed himſelf of many other cities, which he attacked one after another, theEmperor of China not having it in its power to ftop his progrefs. He advancedthen to the capital city, called Cumdan; and the Emperor left this, his royal ſeat,making a precipitate retreat to the city of Hamdu, on the frontiers, towards the province of Tibet.The rebel, puffed up by theſe great fucceffes, and perceiving himſelf maſter of thecountries, fell upon the other cities, which he demoliſhed, having firſt flain moſtof the inhabitants, with a view, in this general butchery, to involve all the feveralbranches of the royal blood, that none might furvive to difpute the empire withhim. We had the news of theſe revolutions, and of the total ruin of China, which ſtillcontinues.

• The account here given by our author very plainly proves, that the trade to China was conſidered in

his time as very ancient, and of very great confequence, infomuch that whatever affected the peace of that country, was looked upon as a thing of common concern to all the nations of the Eaſt. But till theſetravels were publiſhed, who could have imagined this? Who would have fufpected that the affairs ofChina were fo well known to the Arabs? And therefore when theſe things are maturely weighed, whocan doubt that we had reafon to advance it as a thing highly probable, that long before this, the empiresof China and the Indies were in the moft flouriſhing condition, as well in point of foreign commerce, as of domeftic œconomy.Thus200 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSThus were affairs fituated, and the rebel ftood uncontrolled by any diſadvantage thatmight abafe his authority * .33. At laft the Emperor of China wrote to the King of Tagazgaz , in Turkeſtanwith whom, befides the nearnefs of his dominions, he was, in fome degree, allied bymarriage; and at the fame time, fent an einbaffy to him, to implore his affiftance for reducing this rebel. Upon this, the King of Tagazgaz difpatched his fon, at the head ofa very numerous army, to fight this oppreffor; and after many battles, and almoſt continual fkirmiſhes, he utterly defeated him. It was never known what became of therebel fome believe he fell in battle, while others thought he ended his days in anothermanner.The Emperor of China returned then to Cumdan, and although he was extremelyweakened, and much difpirited, becauſe ofthe embezzlement of his treaſures, and thelofs of his captains and beft troops, and becaufe of all the late calamities, he nevertheleſsmade himſelf mafter of all the provinces which had been conquered from him. However he never laid hands on the goods of his fubjects, but fatisfied himſelf with whatwas yet left in his coffers, and the ſmall remainders of public money, his condition indifpenfably obliged him to take up with what his fubjects would give him , and to require nothing from them but obedience to his mandates, forbearing to ſqueeze moneyfrom them, becauſe the King's governors had exhaufted them already.Thus China became almoſt like the empire of Alexander after the defeat and deathofDarius † , when he divided the provinces he took from the Perfians amongſt fo manychiefs, who erected themſelves into fo many kings; for now each of theſe ChineſePrinces joined with fome other to wage war againſt a third, without confulting theEmperor; and when the ſtrongeſt had fubdued the weakeft, and was become mafterof his province, all was wafted and unmercifully plundered, and the fubjects of thevanquished Prince were unnaturally devoured, a cruelty allowed by the laws of theirreligion, which even permit human flesh to be expofed to fale in the public markets.Then arofe, as was natural from thefe confufions, many unjuſt dealings with the merchants who traded thither, which having gathered the force of a precedent, there wasno grievance, no treatment fo bad, but they exercifed upon the Arabs, and the maſtersof fhips; they extorted from the merchants what was uncuftomary, they ſeized uponIt is a very difficult thing to pretend to fettle the chronology of the Chineſe empire; and the verylearned editor of thefe travels confeffes that he is not able to give any fatisfactory account of this revolution. It fo falls out, however, that Father du Halde, in his Hiftory ofChina, lately publifhed, has enabledus to fet this matter right, or at leaft very nearly right. He informs us, that in the reign of the EmperorHi Tfong, who was the eighteenth of the dynaity of Tang, the affairs of China fell into very great diforder, from the heavy taxes laid upon the people, and a great famine caufed by the inundation of rivers, andinfinite numbers of grafs-hoppers that deftroyed their harvefts. While things were in this fituation , therehappened ſeveral revolts in the provinces, which encouraged a certain rebel, whofe name was Hoan Tfia, toput himself at the head of the malcontents, and that with fuch fuccefs, as to drive the Emperor from theimperial city, ofwhich he made himſelfmafter; but he was afterwards defeated, and the Emperor reſtored.It must be owned that there is about twenty years difference between the time mentioned by our author,and the date of this revolution, affigned by Father du Halde. I fhall not take upon me to decide where themiftake lies; but I conceive that the reader will be of the fame opinion with me, in concluding this to bethe revolution mentioned in the text.+ All the oriental writers agree in giving a different account of the divifion of the empire of Alexanderthe Great, from that which is given us by the Greeks; and that this notion of theirs was ancient, appearsfrom what we are told by the author of the firft book of Maccabees, who, having related the conqueft ofthe Perfian empire by Alexander the Great, adds the following remarkable words, 1 Maccab. i . 5, 6." And after thefe things, he fell fick and perceived that he fhould die. Wherefore he called his fervants,fuch as were honourable, and had been brought up with him from his youth, and parted his kingdomamongthem while he was yet alive. ”theirTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 201their effects, and behaved towards them in a manner directly oppofite to ancient ufa*ges,and for theſe things has God punifhed them, by withdrawing his bleffing from them inevery refpect; and particularly by caufing the navigation to be forfaken, and the merchants to return in crowds to Siraf and Oman; agrecable to the all-ruling will of theAlmighty Mafter, whofe name be bleffed!34. The author, in his book, notes fome cuftoms and laws of the Chineſe, but mentions not the puniſhments inflicted on married perfons, when convicted of adultery; thiscrime, as well as homicide and theft, is punifhed with death, and they execute the criminal in this manner; they bind both the hands together, and then force them backwards over the head, till they reft upon the neck; they then faften the right foot tothe right hand, and the left foot to the left hand, fo that both hands and feet areftrongly bound behind the back; and thus bundled up, it is impoffible for the criminalto ftir, nor wants he any body to hold him. This torture disjoints the neck, makes thejoints ftart out of their fockets, and diflocates the thighs; in fhort, the patient is in fomiferable a condition , that were he to continue therein but a few hours, there would beno need of any thing elfe to make an end of him: but when they have bound him as wehave faid, they give him ſo many ſtrokes with a bamboo, which they always uſe upon thelike occafions, and which alone were fufficient to kill the criminal, and leave off whenhe is at the very laſt gaſp of life, abandoning the body to the people, who eat it * .35. There are women in China who refufe to marry, and chuſe rather to live a diffolute life of perpetual debauchery. The cuftom is for thefe women to prefent themfelves in full audience before the commanding officer of the garrifon in the city, anddeclare their averfion to marriage, and their defire to enter into the ftate of publicwomen; they then defire to be regiſtered in the ufual form amongſt theſe proſtitutes,and the form is this; they write down the name ofthe woman, her family, the numberof her jewels, the feveral particulars of her attire, and the place of her abode; thus fheis admitted a public woman: after this, they put about her neck a ſtring, at whichhangs a copper ring with the King's fignet, and deliver to her a writing which certifiesthat ſhe is received into the lift of common proſtitutes, and entitles her to a yearly penfion of fo many falus, to be paid her out of the public treafury, and threatens withdeath the perfon who fhould take her to wife. They every year give public noticeofwhat is to be obferved with regard to thofe women, and turn out thoſe who have wornout their charms. In the evening theſe women walk abroad in dreffes of different colours, without any veil, and proſtitute themſelves to all new comers that love debauchery;but the Chineſe themſelves fend for them to their houfes, whence they depart not tillthe next morning t.36. The Chineſe coin no money befides the little pieces of copper, like thoſe we callfalus, nor will they allow gold or filver to be coined into fpecie, like the dinars anddrams that are current with us; for, fay they, if athiefgoes with an evil intent into thehouſe of an Arab, where is gold and filver coin, he may carry off ten thouſand pieces

• As barbarous as this custom may appear, and as ſeemingly inconfiftent as it may be with the politenefs of the Chineſe, yet it is very certain that our authors are not the only writers that have mentioned it, as from the travels of Marco Polo. appears

This account of their public women is confirmed by a great number of writers ancient and modern,fo that there appears to be no reafon for calling the truth of it in queftion. In the hiftory of theDutch embaffy to the Emperor of China, there is a print of one of theſe ladies, as fhe is conductedthrough the city on an afs, attended by a perfon, who cries her price, as he would that of any othercommodity.VOL. VII. DD of202 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSofgold, and almoft as many pieces of filver, and not be much burdened therewith, andfo be the ruin of the man who thould fuffer this lofs: whereas, if a thief has the famedefign on the houſe of a Chineſe artificer, he cannot at moſt take away above ten thoufand falus, or pieces of copper, which do not make above ten meticals or dinars ofgold.Theſe pieces of copper are alloyed with fomething of a different kind, and are of thefize of a dram, or piece of filver called bagli; in the middle they have a pretty largehole to ftring them by a thouſand of them are worth a metical of gold, or a dinar,and they ſtring them by thouſands, with a knot between every hundred. All theirpayments in general are made with this money, whether they buy or fell lands, furniture, merchandize, or any thing elfe. There are fome of thefe pieces at Siraf, withChineſe characters upon them.I need fay nothing as to the frequent fires which happen in China, or the Chineſemanner of building. The city of Canfu is built in the manner he defcribes, that is, ofwood with canes, interwoven just like our works of ſplit cane; they waſh the whole overwith a kind ofvarnish, which they make ofhemp feed, and this becomes as white as milk;fo that when the walls are covered therewith they have a wonderful glofs. They haveno ſtairs in their houfes, nor do they build with different ſtories, but put every thing theyhave into chefts which run upon wheels, and which in cafe of fire they can eaſily drawfrom place to place without any hindrance from ftairs, and fo fave their things preſently.As for the inferior officers in the cities, they commonly have the directions of thecuſtoms and the keys of the treaſury: fome of thefe have been taken on the frontiersand caftrated, others of them have been cut by their own fathers, who have fent themas a prefent to the Emperor. Thefe officers are at the head of the principal affairs offtate, of the Emperor's private affairs, and of his treaſures; and thoſe particularly whoare fent to Canfu, are felected from this body * .37. It is customary for them, as well as the kings or governors of all the cities, toappear abroad fromtime to time, in folemn proceffion; at fuch times they are preceded bymen, who carry great pieces of wood like thofethe Chriftians of the Levant ufed inſteadof bells: the noife they make is heard a great way, and as foon as it is heard nobodyſtands in the road of the eunuch, or prince: if a man is at his door, he goes into hishoufe, and keeps his door fhut till the prince or eunuch of the city is gone by; fo nofoul is to be ſeen in the way; and this is enjoined, that they may be held in the greaterveneration, and to ſtrike a dread, that the people may not fee them often, and that theymay not growfo familiar as to ſpeak to them.The eunuch, or lieutenant, and the principal officers, wear very magnificent dreffesof filk, fo fine that none of this fort is brought into the country fubject to the Arabs,the Chineſe keep it up at fo high a rate. One of the chief merchants, whofe wordscannot be called in queftion, relates, that he waited on an eunuch, whom the Emperorhad fent to Canfu, in order to purchaſe fome things he wanted out of the goods carried thither from the country of the Arabs; and that upon his breaſt he perceived afhort veft, which was under another filk veſt, and which feemed to be under two othervefts ofthe fame kind; that the eunuch, obferving him to look ſtedfaftly upon his breaſt,faid, " I fee you keep your eyes fixed upon my ftomach, what may be the meaning ofit?" The merchant immediately cried out, " I am furpriſed at the beauty of that littleveft, which appears under your other garments.' The eunuch laughed, and held outAll thefe facts are attefted by later writers, fo that notwithstanding they feem at first fight very ſtrangeand improbable, yet it must be owned there is as good evidence for them as for any other facts in the feveralrelations we have heard of the customs and manners of theſe people.15 hisTHORUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 203his ſhirt fleeve to him; " Count, fays he, how many veſts I have above it:" he did fo ,and counted five, one on another; and the waiſtcoat, or fhort veft was underneath.Theſe garments are wove with raw filk, which has never been wafhed or fulled; andwhat is worn by the princes or governors, is ftill more rich, and more exquifitelywrought.The Chineſe ſurpaſs all nations in all arts, and particularly in painting; and theyperform fuch perfect work as others can but faintly imitate. When an artificer hasfinished a fine piece, he carries it to the Prince's palace to demand the reward hethinks he deferves for the beauty of his performance; and the cuſtom is, for thePrince to order him to leave his work at the palace gate, where it ftands a wholeyear. If, during that time, no perfon finds a fault therein, the artificer is rewarded,and admitted into the body of artifts; but if the leaft fault be found, it is rejected,and the workman fent away empty.It happened once, as the ftory goes, that one of theſe painters drew an ear of corn,with a bird perched on it, upon a piece of filk; and his performance was fo admirable,that all who beheld it were aſtoniſhed. This piece ftood expofed to public view, tillone day a crooked fellow paffing by the palace, found fault with the picture, and wasimmediately conducted to the Prince or Governor of the city, who at the fame timefent for the painter. Then he aſked this crooked fellow what fault he had to find withthis piece; to which he anſwered, " Every body knows that a bird never fettles upon anear of corn but it bends under him, whereas this painter has repreſented his ear boltupright, though he has perched a bird upon it; this is the fault I have to find. " Theobjection was heldjuft, and the Prince beftowed no reward upon the artiſt. They pretendby this, and fuch other means, to excite their workmen to perfection, by engagingthem to be extremely nice and circumfpect in what they undertake, and to apply theirwhole genius to what is to go out of their hands * .38. There was formerly a man of the tribe of Korkiſh, whofe name was EbnWahab, defcended of Hebar the fon of Al Afud, and he dwelt at Bafra; this manleft Bafra when that city was facked, and came to Siraf, where he faw a fhip readyto fail for China. The humour took him to go on board of this fhip, and in herhe went to China, where in the ſequel he had the curiofity to travel to the Emperor'scourt; and leaving Canfu, he reached Cumdam, after a journey of two months; heſtaid a long time at the Emperor's court, and prefented feveral petitions; wherein hefignified that he was of the family of the prophet of the Arabs. Having waited a confiderable while, the Emperor at laft ordered him to be lodged in a houſe appointedfor him, and to be fupplied with every thing he wanted. This done, the Emperorwrote to the Governor of Canfu, commanding him carefully to inform himſelf amongthe merchants concerning the relation this man pretended to bear to the prophet ofthe Arabs; and the Governor, by his anfwers, confirming the truth of what he hadfaid, touching his extraction, the Emperor gave him audience, and made him rich prefents, wherewith he returned to Irak t.ThisThere is nothing very furprifing in this account, for the very fame method had been in ufe among theGreeks long before, and has been fince practifed in Italy and elfewhere; and without doubt it is the truemethod of coming at thejuft knowledge of the value offuch performances; and therefore fomething of thisfort is annually practifed at Paris.It feems a little ftrange, that the learned Abbé Renandot did not endeavour to fettle the time whenthis Arabian traveller went to China, efpecially when there is a circumftance which feems to fix it, viz.the plundering of Baffora, upon which it is faid he took a refolution of going to Siraff. In order to fupply this defect, I have confulted Abul- Pharajus, who informs us, that A.H 285, which anfwers to A.D. DD 2898,204 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSThis man, when we faw him, was much advanced in years, but had his fenfes perfectly, and told us, that when he had his audience, the Emperor afked him manyqueſtions about the Arabs, and particularly how they had deftroyed the kingdom of thePerfians. Ebn Wahab made anſwer, that they did it by the affiftance of God; andbecauſe the Perfians were immerfed in idolatry, adoring the ftars, the fun, and moon,inſtead ofworshipping the true God.To this the Emperor replied, that the Arabs had conquered the moft illuftriouskingdom of the whole earth, the beſt cultivated, the moſt opulent, the moſt pregnantof fine wits, and of the most extenfive fame. Then faid he, " What account do thepeople in your parts make of the other kings of the earth?" To which the Arab replied, that he knew them not. Then faid the Emperor to the interpreter, " Tell himwe eſteem but five kings; that he whofe kingdom is of the wideft extent, is the Maſterof Irak, for he is in the midft of the world, and furrounded by the territories of otherkings; and we find he is called the King of Kings. After him we reckon our Emperor here prefent, and we find that he is ftiled the King of mankind, for no king isinveſted with a more abfolute authority over his fubjects, nor is there a people underthe fun more dutiful and fubmiffive to their fovereign than the people of this country.We therefore, in this refpect, are the Kings of the human race; after us the King ofthe Turks, whofe kingdom borders upon us, and him we call the King of lions. Nextis the King ofthe elephants, who is the King of the Indies, whom we alfo call the Kingof wiſdom, becauſe he derives his origin from the Indians. And laft of all the Kingof Greece, whom we ftyle the King of men; for upon the face of the earth, thereare no men of better manners, nor of comelier prefence, than his fubjects. Thefe,added he, are the moſt illuftrious of all kings, nor are others to compare withthem."" ThatThen faid Ebn Wahab, he ordered the interpreter to ask me, " If I knew mymaſter and my lord, meaning the prophet ( Mohammed), and if I had feen him?" Imade anfwer, " How fhould I have feen him who is with God?" He replied ,is not what I mean, I aſk you, what fort of a man he was in his perfon?" I replied," That he was very handfome. " Then he called for a great box, and opening it, hetook out another contained therein , which he fet before him , and faid to the interpreter, " Shew him his mafter and his lord; " and I faw in the box the images oftheprophets; whereat I moved my lips, praying to myſelf in honour of their memory.The Emperor did not imagine I fhould know them again, and faid to the interpreter, " Afk him why he moves his lips?" I answered, " I was praying in memory ofthe prophets; " " Howdo you know them?" faid the Emperor. I replied, that I knewthem by the reprefentation of their hiftories. " There, faid I, is Noah in the ark, whowas faved with thoſe that were with him at the fame time;" and I made the ufualfalute to Noah and his company. Then the Emperor laughed, and faid , “ Thou artnot miſtaken in the name of Noah, and thou haft named him right; but as for theuniverfal deluge, it is what we knew not. It is true, indeed, that a flood coveredpart of the earth, but it reached not our country, nor even the Indies. " I made my898, there was one Ahu Said, who revolted againſt the Khaliff, and ruined Baffora, which occafionedthe walling and fortifying that city, which coft fourteen thousand pieces of gold. The Khaliff then reigning was Al Mohated, in whofe time Elmacinus informs us, things were in great confufion; and he likewife takes notice ofthis rebellion . The date agrees very well with the reft of this hiftory, and particularlywith the account given by this man, of the reaſons which induced him to quit his country in his conferencewith the Emperor of China.ΤΟ anfwerTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 205anfwer to this, and endeavoured to remove his objections the beſt I could; and thenfaid again to him, " There is Mofes with his rod, and the children of Ifrael. " Heagreed with me as to the ſmall extent of their country, and the manner how the ancient inhabitants were deftroyed by Mofes. I then faid to him, " He there, is Jefus,upon an aſs, and here are his Apoftles with him. ” " He," faid the Emperor, " wasnot long upon earth, feeing that all he did was tranfacted within the fpace of fomewhat better than thirty months."After this the fame Ebn Wahab faw the hiftories of the other prophets preſentedin the fame manner we have already declared; and he fancied that what was written ingreat characters, under each figure, might be the names of the prophets, the countrieswhence they were, and the fubjects of their prophecies. Then faid the fame EbnWahab, I ſaw the image of Mohammed riding upon a camel, and his companionsabout him on their camels, with fhoes of the Arabian mode on their feet, and leatherngirdles about their loins. At this I wept, and the Emperor commanded the interpreter to ask me, why I wept? I anfwered, " There is our prophet and our lord,who is alfo my coufin." He faid I was right, and added, that he and his people hadfubdued the fineſt of all kingdoms; but that he had not the fatisfaction of enjoying hisconquefts, though his fucceffors had.I afterwards faw a great number of other prophets, fome ofthem ftretching forththeir right hand, and with their three fingers bent down between the thumb and thefore-finger, juſt like thofe who hold up the hand to make oath; others were ſtanding,and pointed to the heavens with their finger, and others were in different poſtures. Theinterpreter took them to be the figures of their prophets, and thofe of the Indians.The Emperor then aſked me many queſtions concerning the Khaliffs, their uſual dreſs,and concerning many precepts and injunctions of the Mohammedan religion, and Íanfwered him the best I could.41. After this, he faid, " What is your opinion concerning the age of the world?"I made anſwer, that opinions varied upon that head; that fome were for fix thouſandyears, and others would not allow fo many, and that others reckoned it at a ſtill higherrate; but that it was, at leaſt, as old as I had faid. At this the Emperor and his firſtminiſter, who was near him, broke out into laughter, and the Emperor made manyobjections to what I had advanced. At laſt, ſaid he, “ What does your prophet teachupon this fubject, does he ſay as you do?" My memory failed me, and I affured himthat he did.Hereupon I obferved that I had difpleafed him, and his difpleaſure appeared plainlyin his countenance. Then he ordered the interpreter to ſpeak to me in the followingterms: " Take heed of what you fay, for kings never fpeak but to be informed ofthe truth of what they would know. What did you mean by giving the Emperor tounderſtand, that there are among you various opinions concerning the age of theworld? If fo it be, you are alſo divided upon the things your prophet has faid at thefame time, that no diverfity of opinions are to be admitted on what the prophets havepronounced, all which muſt be revered as fure and infallible; take heed then howyoutalk at fuch a rate any more •To this he fubjoined many other things, which, through length of time, have efcaped my remembrance. At last he aſked me, " Howis it that thou haft forfaken thyThis plainly fhews, that the Chineſe were formerly well acquainted with the hiftory of other nations,and affords us good grounds to believe that their records must have been deſtroyed in fome fubfequent revolution; for, otherwife, it is impoffible to account for their ignorance in matters ofthis nature in fucceed- ingtimes.King,206 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSKing, to whom thou art nearer, not only by the place of thy abode, but by bloodalfo, than thou art to us?" In return to which, I informed him of the revolutionswhich had happened at Baffora, and how I came to Siraf, where I faw a fhip ready tofail for China; and that having heard of the glory of his empire, and its abundancein all neceffaries, curiofity excited me to a defire of coming into his country, that Imight behold it with mine own eyes; that I fhould foon depart for my own countryand the kingdom of my coufin, and that I would make a faithful report of what I hadfeen ofthe magnificence ofthe empire of China, and the vaft extent of the provincesit contains, and that I would make a grateful acknowledgment of the kind ufa*ge Ithere met with, which feemed to pleaſe him very much. He then made me rich prefents, and ordered that I fhould be conducted to Canfu upon poft-horfes. He alfowrote to the Governor of the city, commanding him to treat me with much honour,and to furnish me with the like recommendations to the other governors of the provinces, that they might entertain me till the time of my departure. I was thus treatedevery where during my ftay, plentifully fupplied with all neceffaries of life, and honoured with many prefents till the time of my departure from China.42. We afked Ebn Wahab many queftions concerning the city of Cumdan, wherethe Emperor keeps his court; he told us that the city was very large and extremelypopulous, that it was divided into two parts by a very long and very broad ſtreet;that the Emperor, his chief minifters, the foldiery, the fupreme judge, the eunuchs,and all belonging to the Imperial houfhold, lived in that part of the city which is onthe right hand eastward; that the people had no inanner of communication with them;and that they were not admitted into the places watered by canals from different rivers,the borders of which were planted with trees, and adorned with magnificent palaces.The part on the left hand weftward, is inhabited by the ordinary people and the merchants, where are alfo great ſquares, and markets for all the neceffaries of life. Atbreak of day, the officers of the King's houfhold, with the inferior fervants, the purveyors, and the domeftics of the grandees of the court, come fome on foot, others onhorfeback, into that divifion of the city, where are the public markets, and the habitations of fuch as deal in all forts of goods, where they buy whatever they want, andreturn not again to the fame place till their occafions call them thither next morning.It is by the fame traveller related , that this city has a very pleaſant fituation in themidſt of a moft fertile foil, watered by feveral rivers, and hardly deficient in any thingexcept palm-trees, which grow not there.43. In our times difcovery has been made of a thing quite new and unknown tothoſe who lived before us. No body imagined that the great fea, which extends fromthe Indies to China, had any cornmunication with the fea of Syria, nor could any oneapprehend the poffibility of any fuch thing . Now behold what has come to pafs in ourdays, according to what we have heard. In the fea of Rum, or the Mediterranean,they found the wreck of an Arabian fhip which had been fhattered by tempefts; forall her men perifhing, and fhe being dafhed to pieces by the waves, the remains of herwere driven by wind and weather into the fea of Chozars, and from thence to thecanal of the Mediterrancan Sea, and at laſt were thrown on the fhore of Syria * .ThisThis is one of the most curious paffa*ges in this treatife, inafmuch as it plainly proves, that theArabians had the fame notions in geography with the Greeks, or, to fpeak with greater propriety, hadtheir notions of geography from them. Our author fays plainly, that, according to his judgment, theIndian Ocean wafhed the coaft of Great Tartary, and fo fell into the Cafpian Sea, by which paffa*ge hefuppofes that this fhip was driven from the Indian Sea into the Mediteranean. The conjecture waswrong;THROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 207This renders it evident, that the feafurrounds all the country of China and Cila, orSila, the uttermoft parts of Turkeftan, and the country of the Chozars; and thatthen it enters at the ftrait till it waſhes the fhore of Syria. The proof of this is deduced from the conftruction of the fhip we are ſpeaking of; for none but the fhips ofSiraf are ſo put together, that the planks are not nailed or bolted, but joined togetherin an extraordinary manner, as if they were fewn. Whereas the planking of all ſhipsof the Mediterranean Sea, and of the coaft of Syria, are nailed, and not joined togetherin that way *.We have alfo heard it reported, that ambergris has been found in the fea of Syria,which feems hard to believe, and was unknown to former times. If this be as isfaid, it is impoffible that amber fhould have been thrown up in the fea of Syria, butby the fea of Aden, and of Kolzum, which has communication with the feas whereamber is found; and becauſe God has put a feparation between theſe feas, if this ftorybe true, it muſt neceffarily have been, that this amber was driven firft from theIndian Sea into the others, and fo from the one to the other, till it at laft came intothe fea of Syria †.44. We will now begin to fpeak of the province of Zapage, which is oppofite toChina, and diſtant from thence a full month's fail by fea, or lefs, if the wind be fair.The King of this country is ftiled Mehrage, and they fay his dominions are nine hundred leagues in circumference, and that this King is mafter of many iſlands which lieround about. Thus altogether this kingdom is above a thoufand leagues in extent;among thoſe iſlands there is one called Serbeza, which is faid to be four hundredleagues in circuit; and another called Rahmi, which is eight hundred leagues incompafs, and produces redwood, camphire, and many other commodities. In thisfame kingdom is the iſland of Cala, which is the mid paffa*ge between China and thecountry ofthe Arabs.This ifland, they fay, is fourfcore leagues in circumference; and hither they bringall forts of merchandize, wood-aloes of feveral forts, camphire, fandal-wood, ivory,the wood called cabahi, ebony, redwood, all forts of fpice, and many other thingstoo tedious to enumerate. At prefent the commerce is carried on between this iflandand that of Oman. The Mehrage is the fovereign over all thefe iflands; and that inwhich he makes his abode is extremely fertile, and fo very populous, that the townswrong; but there is ftill fomething in it very bold, and well imagined, and at the bottom ſomething oftruth too; for though it was impoffible that this fhip fhould come into the Mediterranean in the mannerour author imagines, yet it is not impoffible but it might have come through the north-eaft paffa*ge, agreeable to the first part of his fuppofition; and if bythe fea of Chozars, we underſtand that of Mufcovy, he would be quite right.

• I very much doubt, whether the conftruction of this veffel, as our author defcribes it, be fufficient

evidence of its coming from the Indies. It is very poffible that it might have been a boat belonging tothe inhabitants of Greenland, or of fome other country bordering upon Hudfon's Bay; fince it is verycertain that there are fuch veffels in thefe parts, and it is not at all impoffible that this might have comefrom thence. I do not pretend, however, abfolutely to contradict him, but only to fhew that the argument he uſes is not conclufive, though I think, as things then flood , he had fufficient grounds to believe it was conclufive.It is most evident, from our author's way of reafoning, that he had no notion of any paffa*ge by theCape of Good Hope; for ifhe had, he would moft certainly have taken this opportunity of infinuating it.At the fame time, however, I leave it to the reader's confideration, whether this veffel, fuppofing it to havebeen built in the Eaft Indies, might not have come this way into the Mediterranean, more probably than bythe north-eaft paffa*ge. It is likewife clear from what our author has delivered, that the Arabians knewno more of Japan, which they called Sila, than they learned from the Chineſe, fince by the teftimony ofthe oldeſt of our authors no Arab had yet fet foot there in the year of the Hegira 230, A‚D.844.almoſt208 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSalmoft crowd one upon another. A perfon of great probity relates, that when theco*cks crow at their accuſtomed hours, juft as with us when at rooft, upon trees, theyanfwer each other a hundred leagues round and more, becauſe of the proximity ofthevillages which almoft touch each other; and he adds, that no part of it is uninhabited,of its land uncultivated . Thofe who travel in this country may ſtop at everyſtep, and find fhelter from the beams of the noon- day fun; and if they are tired, theymayrepoſe themſelves every day at noon, go which way theywill.nor any45. Yet what follows from the teftimony of feveral perfons, is the moſt remarkable particular we have heard concerning the ifland of Zapage. There was formerly a King, or, as he is there called, Mehrage; his palace is ftill to be feen on ariver as broad as the Tygris at Bagdad, or at Baffora. The fea intercepts the course ofits waters, and drives them back again with the flood; and during the ebb, it ftreamsout freſh water a good way into the fea. This river is let into a finall pond cloſe tothe King's palace; and every morning the officer, who has charge of his houfhold,brings an ingot of gold wrought in a particular manner, which is thrown into the pondin the prefence of the King. The tide rifing, covers it with the reft, and quite conceals them from fight. But low water difcovers them, and they appear plain by thebeams of the fun. The King comes to view them as often as he repairs to an apartment of ftate, which locks upon this pond. This cuftom is very fcrupulously obferved; and thus they every day throw an ingot of gold into this pond as long asthe King lives, not touching them upon any account, but regarding this as a facredtreaſure.proporWhen the King dies, his fucceffor caufes them all to be taken out, and not one ofthem is ever mifling. They count them, and melt them down; and this done, thefums arifing out of this great quantity of gold are diftributed to thofe of the royalhoufhold, men, women, and children, to the fuperior and inferior officers, each intion to the rank he bears; and the furplus is given away to the poor and infirm. Thenthey reckon up the number of ingots, and what they weigh, and fay, fuch a Mehragereigned ſo many years; for he left ſo many ingots of gold in the pond of the kings, andthey were diftributed after his death to the people. It is accounted a felicity with themto have reigned a long while, and to have thus multiplied the number of thoſe ingotsgiven away at their death.46. Their ancient hiftory relates, that one of the kings of Komar would have wagedwar with him in this ifland. This country of Komar is the fame from whence theybring the wood-aloes called Hud al Komari, nor is there any kingdom more populousin proportion than that of Komar. The inhabitants are all very courageous, and theboundleſs commerce with women, and the ufe of wine, are forbidden among them;nor have they any wine in their country. This kingdom was at peace with that ofZapage, where reigned the Mehrage. They are divided from each other by a paffa*geof ten or twenty days fail, with a very eafy gale. They fay, that in former days therewas a very young and high fpirited Prince in this ifland of Komar. This King was oneday in his palace, which looks upon a river much like the Euphrates at the entrance,and but a day's journey from the fea; his prime minifters were with him, and in thedifcourfe they had together, notice was taken of the kingdom of the Mehrage, andits glory, how well it was peopled and cultivated, and the crowd of iſlands which depended thereupon.Then faid the King of Komar to his minifter, I am feized with a defire which Iearneſtly wish to fee accomplished. The minifter, who was a wife and a prudentman, and no ſtranger to the levity of his mafter, anſwered, My Lord, what is yourdefire?THROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 209defire? I could wifh, replied the King, to fee in a difh the head ofthe Mehrage ofZapage. The minifter, well aware it was jealoufy that infpired him with this impetuous fury, rejoined, My Lord, I wifh you would not difturb your mind with fuchthoughts, fince nothing ever fell out between thofe people and us, to furnish matter ofcomplaint; they never offended us by word or deed, or ever did us the leaft injury;befides, they are divided from us, and have no manner of communication with ourcountry, nor do they diſcover any inclination of making a conqueſt of this kingdom.No one therefore ought to hearken to fuch difcourfe, or make a word of anfwer uponthis head. The King was enraged at this reply, and faid not a word thereto; butwithout any regard had to the good advice of his firft minifter, he opened the famething to the principal officers of ftate, and to fuch of his courtiers as he thoughtproper.47. This matter being rumoured about, at length reached the ears of the Mehrage.He, who then reigned, was a wife and an active prince, of confummate experience,and in the flower of his age. He called for his firſt miniſter, and having acquaintedhim with what he had heard, faid to him, it is by no means proper to publifh thebehaviour of this giddy Prince, or to betray how little we eſteem him, becauſe of hisyouth and flender experience; nor is it expedient to divulge what he ſaid againſt me;for fuch ſpeeches cannot but be prejudicial to the dignity of a King. Having thus enjoined his minifter to conceal what had paffed between them, he commanded him toprepare a thouſand ſhips of no extraordinary fize, and to equip them with all thingsneceffary, arms and ammunition, and to man them with as many of his beſt forcesas they could tranſport. Then he gave out that he would make a voyage throughthe neighbouring iflands under his dominion, to divert himſelf. He wrote alfo to allthe tributary princes of thoſe iſlands, to acquaint them, that he defigned them a vifit;and this being a public talk, each of thofe kings prepared for the reception of theMehrage.When every thing was in readineſs as he had ordered, he went on board his ſhips, andwith a powerful army failed over to the kingdom of Komar. The King and thoſebelonging to his court were effeminate creatures, who all the day long did nothing butview their faces and rub their teeth, with mirrors and tooth-picks in their hands, or ifthey moved, had them carried after them by flaves. So the King of Komar diſcoverednothing ofthe Mehrage's purpoſe, till he appeared in the mouth of the river, on whichſtood the palace of the King of Komar, and till he had landed his troops, who immediately inveſted the capital, and there took him. The King was taken in his palace, and all that belonged to him fled without fighting.Then the Mehrage caufed proclamation to be made, that he granted entire fecurityof life and effects to all the inhabitants of the country, and feating himſelf on thethrone ofthe King of Komar, now a captive, he ordered him to be brought into hisprefence, together with his firft minifter. Then addreffing himſelf to the King ofKomar, he faid, Who was it filled your head with a project unequal to your ſtrength,and abfolutely impoffible for you to compaſs? What would you have done if you hadgained your point? This Prince, who had nothing to fay for himſelf, made no anfwer. Then, continued the Mehrage, if you had enjoyed the pleafure you wifhed, offeeing my head in a difh before you, you would have fpoiled my kingdom, and retained itafter you had committed all forts of violence. I will not fo behave with regard to you,but yet I will execute upon you what you wiſhed concerning me, and then will I returninto my kingdom, without touching any thing in your dominions, and without carrying away ought of great value or ſmall, defirous only that you may be recorded anVOL. VII. EI example,210 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSexample, for the inftruction of thoſe who fhall come after you, that none may exceedthe bounds of his power, that each may be contented with his own, and that thoſehave difturbed may be reftored to perfect fecurity * .youThis faid, he ordered them to ftrike off his head, and then turning to the minifter,he faid, You have done all a good minifter could do; I know you offered good advice to your mafter, and that he hearkened not unto you. Confider who may beſtfucceed this fool for the good of the kingdom, and fet him immediately upon thethrone. This donc, the Mehrage departed for his own territories, and neither did heor any of his lay hands on the leaft thing in the kingdom of Komar. When he arrivedin his own kingdom, he fat down upon the throne, and being in the palace whichlooked upon the pond before mentioned, he caufed the head of the King of Komar tobe put into a bafon and fet before him, and calling in the chiefs of his kingdom, he acquainted them with all he had done, and with the reafons which had induced him tothe expedition we have related , and they approved the deed with acclamations and prayers for his profperity. Then he ordered the head of the King of Komar to be waſhedand embalmed, and put it into a coffer, and fent it back to the King of Komar, whohad been elected in the room of him he had put to death; at the fame time writing aletter to this new Prince in the following terms: What inclined us to do what we didto your predeceffor, and your Lord, was, his known malevolence towards us; andthat we might fet an example to his equals, we have been ſo happy as to treat him as he would have treated us. But we think it convenient to fend his head back to you,having had no defign of detaining it, or of arrogating any glory to ourſelves, from theadvantage we obtained over him. The news of this action being reported to the Kingsof the Indies and of China, it added to the refpect they before had for the Mehrage,and from that time it has been a cuftom with the kings of Komar, every morning theyrife, to turn towards the country of Zapage, to proftrate themſelves on the ground,and to make the moſt profound inclinations in honour of the Mehrage.48. All the kings of the Indies and of China believe the metempfychofis or tranfmigration offouls, and make it an article of their religion. A perfon of credit relates, that one of thefe princes being newly recovered of the fmall-pox, and beholdinghimſelf in a glafs, was deeply troubled to fee how fadly his face was disfigured, andthat turning himſelf towards one of the five fons of his brother, he faid to him, ſureit never happened to any man as to me, to remain in his body after fuch a change,?but this body is only a veffel puffed up with wind, and when the foul leaves it, fhepaffes inftantly into another. Go mount you upon the throne, for I am about to feparate my body from my foul, until I return into another body: at the fame time hecalled for a fharp and keen cangiar, with which he commanded his nephew to cutoff his head, which the other did, and he was afterwards burnt, as is the cuftom ofthe country t . Our author here quits his fubject fomewhat abruptly, in order to returnagain

• This is a very pleafant ftory, and well related; but with refpect to the country in which it happened, I think it very difficult to fay any thing with certainty, and yet this does not at all leffen the credibility

of the fact . It is not impoffible, however, that this hiftory might relate to fome of the iſlands which arenow called Philippines, or perhaps fome of the iſlands in the ftraits of Sonda. I pretend to determine nothing in fuch doubtful points, but leave the reader to decide for himfelf, according to the lights given him by the author, who appears to have written with great caution and fidelity.This doctrine of the metempfychofis is generally held among the Chinefe. Their hiftories ſay, thatone Xekia, or Shekia, an Indian philofopher, who lived about a thousand years before Chrift, was thefirft that taught this doctrine of tranfmigration; and our authors add, that the Chineſe had it from theIndians. It over-ran China in the year of Chrift 65, and the chiefs of this fect have to this day their abodeTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 211again to the country of China and the manners of its inhabitants. The reafon ofthisis not at firſt fight very evident, but if we confider that he follows the former writer,we fhall very eaſily diſcern that this was the true cauſe of his making ſo ſudden a tranfition. What he had before faid was in confequence of the facts delivered by the firſtauthor in regard to the Indies, and having difcuffed thefe, it was natural for him tofollow that author in what he fays of China and the Chineſe, and indeed it muſt be allowed, that notwithſtanding theſe fmall interruptions, there are ſcarce any books oftravels of fo ancient a date, written in a clearer or better method than, thefe.49. The Chineſe were wonderfully regular in all things relating to government,before the laſt revolution deſtroyed and reduced them to the ftate they are in at prefent. There was a certain merchant, a native of Choraffan, who coming into Irak,there dealt to a confiderable amount, and having brought up a quantity of goods wentto China. This man was extremely ſelfiſh and of incredible avarice; it happened thatthe Emperor of China had fent one of his eunuchs to Canfu, the city of all the Arabiantraders, there to purchaſe what he wanted, and was to be had on board of the fhipthat was arrived. This eunuch was one of thoſe who had the largest fhare in hismafter's good opinion and confidence, and was keeper of his treaſure and of all that heefteemed precious.A difpute arofe between this eunuch and the before mentioned merchant, aboutfome pieces of ivory and other goods, and it ran fo high that the merchant refuſedto deal with him. But this affair making a great noife, the eunuch puſhed it fo far,that he forced from him the choice of his goods, defpifing whatever the other couldfay to him. The merchant withdrawing himſelf, went privately to Cumdan wherethe Emperor refides, and which is two months journey from Canfu, and being arrivedhe went to the ftring of the bell mentioned in the former book. The cuftom was,that whoever pulled it was thereupon fent ten days journey from thence, into a kindof banishment; it was ordered alfo that he fhould be committed to priſon, there toremain for two whole months; which expired, the vice-king or governor of the province releaſed him, and faid you have involved yourſelf in an affair which may turn toyour utter ruin, and to the lofs of your life if you ſpeak not real truth; forafmuch asthe Emperor hath appointed minifters and governors to diftribute juftice to you and toall ftrangers, nor is there any one of them that would not right you, if when you appear before the Emperor your wrongs are not fuch as may entitle you to have recourfeto him, it will most certainly coſt you your life, to the end that every man who wouldprefume to do as you have done, may be deterred from the fame. Withdraw therefore immediately, and begone about your bufinefs. Now ifthe party endeavoured tofly, he was chaſtifed with fifty ftrokes of the bamboo, and was then fent back to thecountry whence he came; but if he perfifted in his demand of redrefs, he was admitted to an audience of the Emperor.abode on or near the mountain Tientai in the province of Chekiang. This Xekia, according to the Chinefe tradition in Navarette, has been born eight thouſand times over, the last time in the form of a whiteelephant. Itis he that was called Fohee after his apotheofis . The fect of Xekia, as we are told by fatherMartini, hold the metempfychofis; but this fect is divided into two branches, the one believing the exterior metempfychofis, or that the fouls of men pafs after death into other bodies, and thefe worship idols,and abitain from every thing that has life, while the other fect has faith in an interior metempfychofis,which is the principal foundation of their morality, which confifts in the fuppreffing the paflions, whichare as fo many different animals proceeding from man; but neither the one nor the other expect rewardsor dread puniſhments in the world to come.EE 2 The212 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSThe Choraffanian ftrenuouſly perfifted in his demand of juſtice, and of leave to beadmitted to the Emperor, which was at length granted him. The interpreter afkinghim his buſineſs, he related what had befallen him with the Emperor's officer, and howhe had forced fromhim a part of his effects. This thing was foon divulged and noiſedabout at Canfu; in the mean time the Emperor commanded the merchant to be caftinto prifon, and that care fhould be there taken that he wanted not for either victualsor drink.At the fame time he ordered his prime-miniſter to write to the Governor of Canfu,charging him to inform himſelf concerning the complaints of this merchant, and toexamine into the grounds thereof; at the fame time alfo three principal officers receivedthe fame order. Thefe officers are called of the right, of the left, and of the midſt,according to their rank, and have the command of the Emperor's forces under theprime-minifter. He trufts them with the guard of his perfon, and when he takes thefield for fome military enterprize, or on any other account, each of them, accordingto his rank, marches near him. Theſe three officers wrote each apart what they hadupon the ſtricteſt enquiry difcovered of the matter, and affured the Emperor that themerchant's complaint was juſt and well founded.Theſe firſt informations were followed and confirmed by many more fent to theEmperor from divers parts, and the eunuch was cited to appear. He no fooner arrived thanthe Emperor feized on all his effects, and deprived him of his office as treafurer, and then ſaid to him, Deathought to be thy doom for giving this man, who iscome from Choraffan on the frontiers of my kingdom, caufe of complaint againſt me.He hath been in the country of the Arabs, whence he came into the kingdoms of theIndies, and at laſt to my city, feeking his advantage by trade, and thou wouldſt havehad him return croſs theſe kingdoms, and have faid to all the people in his way, I havebeen abuſed in China, where they have ſtripped me of my fubftance. I grant thee thylife in confideration of thy former ſervices in the rank thou heldeft in my houſe, but Iwill confer on thee a command among the dead, forafmuch as thou haft not been ableto acquit thyself of thy duty in that thou holdeſt over the living, and he ordered him tobe fent to the tombs of the kings, to have the cuftody of them, and there to remainfor life *.50. One thing moft worthy admiration in China before the late commotions, wasthe good order they obferved in the adminiſtration ofjuſtice, and the majeſty of their tribunals; to fill them, they made choice of fuch men as were perfectly verfed in their laws,and fuch confequently as were never at a lofs, when they were to pafs judgment, men offincerity, zealous in the cauſe of juftice upon every occafion, not be biaffed by what thegreat could offer to embroil a difpute, fo that juftice was always adminiſtered to himwho had right on his fide.In a word, they made choice of upright men, of men who neither oppreffed thepoor, or accepted preſents from the rich. When they defigned to promote any manto the office of principal judge, they previouſly fent him to all the chief cities of theempire, in each of which he ſtaid a month or two.. During this fpace it was his bu-

• This was a very extraordinary act ofjuftice in the Chineſe Emperor, and very agreeable to the maxims of that empire, in which they are very fond, upon particular occafions, of doing things of this nature, efpecially where ftrangers are concerned, for two reafons: the firft is, that theſe ſtories may be

blazed abroad and create an high idea of the equity of their judgments, a thing very agreeable to thenatural vanity of theſe people: the other, that it may have a good effect at home, and ferve to make eventhe greateſt and moſt powerful perfons in China afraid of committing exceffes in their refpective offices.finefsTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 213finefs moſt minutely to enquire into the affairs of the people, into all that paffed in thecity, and into the various cuſtoms. He informed himſelf of all fuch as deferved to bebelieved upon their teſtimony, and this knowledge was of uſe to him in the fequel, as occafion required. After he had gone through all the cities in the manner aforefaid,and made a ſtay of fometime in the moſt confiderable of them, he repaired to the imperial court where he was invefted with the dignity of fupreme judge.To him therefore the Emperor referred the nomination of all the other judges, andby him were they appointed, after he had acquainted the Emperor with thoſe who inhis whole dominions were moft worthy of exercifing jurifdiction, each in his own city,or in others; for he knew who were commendable for their underſtanding; and fo noone was raiſed who poffeffed not adequate endowments, or who bore not teftimonyaccording to the truth when he was interrogated. The Emperor allows none of hisjudges to write to him upon any affair when he is informed that he has done injuſtice,and even deprives them of their office. The fupreme judge caufes proclamation everyday to be made before his gate by his officers, and in his name they cry out, If anyman hath been wronged by the Vice-King, or Governor, who is not to be feen of thepeople, or by any one of his relations, or officers, or by any one of the body of thepeople I will do him ample juſtice, fo foon as the offender is put into my hands, andthat I have charge of him. This proclamation is thrice repeated.It is an ancient cuftom with them never to degrade a vice-king or governor of a city,but by virtue of letters iffued out of the council or divan of kings; and this is commonly executed for ſome flagrant malverfation, or when judgement is fufpended or delayed: but when the governor avoids theſe two things, it is feldom he is diſturbed withletters of revocation, which are never drawn up but on a legal account. The poſts ofjudicature are conferred on none but perfons of probity, and lovers of juſtice, and ſogood order is maintained in the kingdom.51. The province of Choraffan is almoft on the borders of China. From China toSogd, it is of about two months journey through almoſt impaffable defarts, andthrough a country all covered with fand, where no water is to be found. It is not refreſhed by any rivers, nor is there any habitation in this province; and for this reaſonit is that the Choraffanians can make no irruptions into China. That part of this empire which lies fartheft weftward, is the province of Medu, which borders upon Tibet,fo that on this fide the two nations are at war with each other.Among thoſe of our time who have travelled into China we were acquainted withone, who told us, he had feen a man that had a veffel with muſk in it on his back, andhad travelled on foot from Samare, and to Canfu, the port for all merchants fromSiraf. He had by land travelled through all the cities of China one after another;which he might eaſily do, becauſe the provinces of China and Tibet, where the creature that affords mufk is met with, are contiguous. The Chineſe carry off as many oftheſe creatures as they can; and thofe of Tibet, on their part do the fame *.ThisAs to this country of Tibet, it may not be amifs to fay fomething of it here, becauſe it will occur inthe fubfequent part of this work. It makes at this day a part only of the great kingdom of Tangut,which, according to the beft accounts that I have met with, is thus fituated . It has the empire of China on the eaft. The kingdom of Ava, or of Brama, on the fouth. The dominions of the Great Mogul onthe weft, and thofe of the Contaifch, or Great Khan of the Talmuc Tartars on the north.kingdom is divided into two parts; that which lies to the north is the kingdom of Tangut properly focalled; and the fouth part is the country of Tibet. Both taken together, make the patrimony of thatfamous ecclefiaftical prince the Grand Lama, who is the pope or fovereign pontiff ofthe Tartars that are not:Mohammedans; but whether they or he ought to be efteemed Pagans or Chriftians is a point that admitsof much difpute, and ſhall therefore be difcuffed in another place.But214 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSBut the mufk of Tibet is far preferable to that of China for two reafons; firft, inTibet this creature feeds on aromatic paftures, while in China he has nothing to fubfifthim but what is common; fecondly, the inhabitants of Tibet preferve their bladdersor cods of mufk in the pure natural ftate, while the Chineſe adulterate all that comeinto their hands. They dip them alfo into the fea, or elfe expofe them to the dew;and having kept them fome time, they take off the outward membrane, and then clofethem up; and this mufk paffes in the country of the Arabs for mufk of Tibet, becaufeof its excellence.The moft exquifite of all the forts of mufk is what the roebucks that yield it leavebehind them when they rub themfelves against the rocks on the mountains; for thehumour whence it is generated, falling down towards the navel of the creature, itthere gathers into a quantity of turbid blood exactly like biles, and fuch-like tumours;when this fwelling is ripe, the creature, fenfible of a painful itching, ſeeks out forftones, and rubs himfelf againſt the fame, till he opens his fore, and the contents runNow as foon as this matter falls from the creature, it coagulates, the woundcloſes, and the fame kind of humour gathers to a head again as before.out.In Tibet there are men who make it their buſineſs to collect this mufk, and are veryready in knowing it; and having found it, they carefully collect it, and put it up inbladders, and it is carried to their Kings. This mufk is moft exquifite, when it hasripened in the bladder of the creature which bears it. It furpaffes all others in goodnefs, just as fruit is better when it is gathered ripe from the tree, than when it is pulledgreen.There is ſtill another way of getting mufk; they infnare the creature in toils, andfhoot him with arrows; but it often happens, that the hunters cut the tumours of thecreature before the mufk is elaborated; and in this cafe it has at firſt an ill ſcent, that prevails till the matter is thickened, which fometimes does not happen in a great while;but fo foon as it coagulates, it turns to mufk. This mufk is a creature like our roebuck, his ſkin and colour the fame, with flender legs, a ſplit horn, ſmooth, but fomewhat bending withal; on each fide he has two finall white teeth, which are ſtraight,and rife above his muzzle, each half a finger, or fomewhat lefs in length, and in theirform not unlike the teeth of the elephant; and this is the mark which diftinguiſhesthis creature from other roebucks * .53. The emperors of China write to the kings or governments of cities, to theeunuchs, or lieutenants, and their letters are conveyed by poft-horfes, with a cuttail, difpofed almoft like the pofts among the Arabs, in fuch order as every bodyknows.

• • We have formerly mentioned the animal which produces mufk, the manner in which it is prepared,

and the value of that rich perfume. At prefent we fhall only remark, that the beft writers, ancient andmodern, agree perfectly with our author in opinion, that the richest and higheſt flavoured mufk is that ofTibet, or, as others call it, Tumgage; and this becauſe ofthe aromatic paftures in that land, fuch as areno where elfe to be found. That the Indian mufk comes next in degree of fineness, if ſo we may term it,with what was brought to Cabul, and the other trading towns of the Indies by merchants, who carriedit from China by land, and difpofed of it throughout the east. That the Chineſe muſk is worſt of all,not only becauſe the Chineſe adulterate it feveral ways, but alſo becauſe what is produced naturally in thatkingdom is not comparable to what is in Tibet. All this is confirmed by the teftimony of the learnedGolius; and Father Martini Teixeira fays, the mufk that does not come from China is always the heft;and that the reafon is, becauſe the Chinefe cannot find in their hearts to let that or any thing elfe that paffesthrough their hands efcape unadulterated. At prefent the kingdom of Boutan is the greateſt mart formufk; and thence it is, that the Indian merchants fetch the beft fort of this perfume, whether in the cod,or out of it.BefidesTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 215Befides what we have here related concerning the Chineſe cuftoms, it is ufual for theprinces, and even the people to make water ſtanding. Perfons of dignity, as the vicekings, and the principal officers, have gilded canes, a cubit long, which are boredthrough; and thefe they ufe as often as they make water, ftanding upright all thetime, and by this means the tube carries the water to a good diſtance from them.Theyare of opinion, that all pains in the kidneys, the ftrangury, and even the ſtone,are caufed by making water in a fitting poſture; and that the reins cannot free themfelves abfolutely of theſe humours, but by ftanding to evacuate; and that thus thispofture contributes exceedingly to the prefervation of health. They fuffer their hairto grow, for the men will not round the head of a child when he comes into the world,as the Arabs do, for they fay it caufes a confiderable alteration in the brain, and thattheir fenfes are very fenfibly impaired thereby. They fuffer the head then to be allcovered with hair, which they carefully comb.As for their marriages, they obferve the degrees of confanguinity after this manner:they are divided among themfelves into families and tribes, like the Arabs, and fomeother nations; and they know each other bythe difference oftheir defcents. No manever marries in his own tribe, juft as the children of Thummin among the Arabs takenot to wife a daughter of the fame race of Thummin; and a man of one family efpoufesnot a woman of the fame. But, for example, a man of the family of Robayat marriesinto that of Modzar; and in like manner a Modzar marries with a Robayat'; they are ofopinion, that fuch alliances add to the nobility of the children by increafing their alliances, and rendering their families more powerful.Here our author makes, as it were, another break in his work, in order to pafs oncemore to the Indians, and their cuftoms. In fpeaking of the method purſued bythefirft author, we obferved that the main defign of his work was, by comparing themanners of the Indians with thofe of the Chinefe, to render them both better knownto and more fully underſtood by his countrymen. His commentator therefore, withgreat propriety, follows the fame track; and as he had confulted both books and travellers to illuftrate what had been faid of China, we ſhall find him as diligent in whatregards India.54. In the kingdom of the Balhara, and in all the other kingdoms of the Indies,there are certain perfons who burn themfelves. This cuftom proceeds from their notionof a Metempfychofis or tranfmigration , which they firmly believe as a truth never to bedifputed. There are kings, who, upon their acceffion, obferve the following ceremony:they drefs a great quantity of rice, and pour it upon leaves of the Moufa in fight ofthe King; then three or four hundred perfons come of their own accord without theleaft conſtraint on the part of the king, and prefent themſelves before him; after he haseaten fome of this rice, he gives a little of it to fome of them as faft as they come upto him one after another, and they eat it in his prefence . By eating of this rice,they all engage to burn themſelves on the day the king dies, or is flain; and they puncIn theThis was a very old cuftom in other parts of the world, as appears from what Cæfar tells us of theAmbacti amongst the Gauls. In the Indies this notion generally prevailed; for in the iſland of Ceylon theKing had always about him certain noblemen, who filed themfelves faithful to the King in this world,and in the next, and whofe curtom it was to burn themfelves when he died. Barbofa obferves the famething with refpect to the Naires, a fort of Indian foldiers, who always perished with their chief.kingdom of Tonquin, when the King died, many of his nobles defired to be buried with him.word, all the Portuguefe writers confirm this, and give us many inftances in fupport of it .they make ufe of n their writings, to expreſs this act of devoting themfelves in fuch a manner to a Monarch,is Fazerfe Amoucos.113In aThe termtually216 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANStually fulfil their promife, throwing themſelves into the fire from the firft to the laſt,fo that not one of them is left behind.When a man is determined to burn himself, he first goes to the King's palace to afkleave fo to do, and having obtained it, he goes round the public fquares of the city,and proceeding afterwards to the place where the pile is heaped up with dry wood,while round about it ftand many perſons who feed the fire, fo that it is very violent,and blazes prodigioufly. At laft the perfon comes preceded by a number of inftruments, and moves round the place in the midſt of his friends and relations; duringwhich fome put upon his head a garland of ftraw, or dry herbs, which they fill withburning coals, whereon they pour fandarac, which catches fire as ſtrongly as naphtha;nevertheleſs, he continues the proceffion although the crown of his head be all on fire,and the stench of his burnt flefh be fmelt, not fo much as changing countenance in theleaft, or betraying the fmalleft fenfe of pain: at laſt he comes to the pile, throws himfelf into it, and is foon reduced to aſhes *.55. A certain perfon, to whom we give entire credit, fays, he beheld one of theſeIndians burn himſelf, and avers, that when he came near to the pile, he drew out acangiar, and with it ripped down his breaſt to the rim of his belly, and that this donehe with his left hand pulled out a flap of his liver, and with the cangiar cut a piece of itwhich he gave to one of his brothers, talking all the time, and diſcovering an invincible contempt of death, and a wonderful patience under his torments, til at laſt heleaped into the fire in his paffa*ge to hell.56. The perfon who affirmed this added, that in the mountains of this country thereare Indians, who in opinions and manners differ but little from thofe we call Kanifiansand Jelidians, and who are addicted to all manner of fuperftition and vice. There is agreat emulation between theſe mountaineers and the people on the coaft, the lattercontinually going up to the mountains to dare the inhabitants there to do as they do,and the mountaineers on their part as frequently coming down to the coaſt with defiances of the fame nature.Among others, there once came down a man on this errand, and having gathereda number of the inhabitants of the coaſt about him, who came as well out of curiofityto ſee the fight, as with intent to imitate him, he told them to do what he was aboutto perform, or if they defpaired of doing it, to acknowledge themſelves overcome.He fat himſelf down then in a place planted with canes, and directed them to bendone of them down to the ground. Thefe canes are like our fugar canes, bend likethem, and have a very large ftem; when they are pulled down they lie along, but whenlet go they rife again with prodigious violence. One of the largeſt of theſe he cauſedto be bowed down to his height, and faſtened his hair ſtrongly thereto, when taking inhis hand his cangiar, which ſparkled like fire, he ſaid to thoſe about him, I am goingto cut off my head with this cangiar. As foon as it is fevered from my body,let go thecane, and when it flies up with my head, I will laugh and you fhall hear me. Thepeople of the coaft had not courage enough to imitate him. The perſon who related

• There are many modern authors who atteft every circumſtance mentioned in this account; but it

muft be acknowledged, few befides women burn themſelves; and that the Bramins, who were wont tobehave with fo much conftancy on fuch occafions, are now content to die in the fame way with other men;and even the women, generally ſpeaking, are far enough from that ſpirit of heroifm for which they were fo famous in former ages. They burn themſelves, indeed, with the dead bodies of their huſbands, as intimes paft, but not with fo good a will; nor would they do it at all, but that the cuftom of their countryand the power their relations have over them, oblige them to it.34 thefeTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 217times thefe facts are very generally known, for this part of the Indies is in the neighbourhood of the country of the Arabs, and we hear from thence every day.57. It is a cuftomary thing alfo for men and women of the Indian blood, to defirethofe of their family to throw them into the fire, or drown them when they are grownold, or perceive themfelves fink under the weight of their years, firmly believing thatthey are to return in other bodies. They burn their dead. It has often times happened in the ifle of Sarandib, where there is a mine of precious ftones in a mountain, apearl fifhery, and other rare and extraordinary things, that an Indian would come intothe Buzar, or market-place, with his Kris, as they call a kind of cangiar they wear,made after a very particular manner, and feize on the moſt wealthy merchant there prefent, and holding his Kris to his throat, leading him by the veft out of the city in themidſt of a throng of people, while not a foul of them dared attempt his refcue; for ifany attempt of this kind was made, the Indian was fure to kill the merchant, andmake away with himſelf: when he had got him out of the city, he obliged him toredeem himſelf with a fum of money. This outrage continuing, the kings ordained thatfuch Indians fhould be feized; but when they came to execute this order, the Indiankilled the merchant firft, and then himfelf: the fame misfortune befel many other merchants; and after this manner a number both of Arabs and Indians perifhed: themerchants therefore fought after other means to fecure themfelves and the Indians wereno longer apprehended.58. In the mountain of Sarandib they find precious ftones of various colours, red,green, and yellow, moſt of which are at certain times forced out of caverns and otherreceffes by rains and torrents. In thefe places the king has his officers to keep an eyeover thoſe who pick them up: many times alfo they are dug out of mines in the famemanner as metals; and they fometimes find precious ftones in the ore, which muſt bebroken to get at them.The King of this ifland makes laws, which are the fundamentals of the religionand government of the country; here are doctors and affemblies of learned men, likethofe of the Hadithis among the Arabs. The Indians repair to theſe affemblies, andwrite down what they hear of the lives of their prophets, and the various expofitionsof their laws. Here is a very great idol of the fineft gold, but concerning the weightthereof travellers are not agreed. Here alfo are temples, where great fums of moneyare expended in incenfe *In this fame iſland there is a very great multitude of Jews, as well as of many otherfects, even Tanouis, or Manichees, the King permitting the free exercife of everyreligion. At the end of this iſland are vallies of great length and breadth, which extend quite to the fea. Here travellers ftay two months and more in that called GabSarandib, allured bythe beauty of the country, chequered with groves and plains,water and meads, and bleffed with a wholefome air. This valley opens upon the feacalled Harkand, and is tranfcendently pleafant. Youthere buy a fheep for half a dram ,and for the fame you purchaſe as much of their drink as may fuffice many perfons.It appears, that this ifland, which is that of Ceylon, has been in all ages famous for its immenfewealth and riches. As to the idol that our author mentions, it is not impoflible that the priests of thiscountry might practife the fame art, which has been uſed at Siam, where they have a monstrous idol of clayand bricks, very artificially gilt, which was for many ages fuppofed to be pure gold; though it must beallowed, that there are few countries where fuch a golden image might be looked for with greater probability, than in this ifland, the people having been always equally remarkable for their wealth and fuper- ftition.VOL. VII. F FThis218 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSThis drink is made of palm-honey, boiled and prepared with Tari (Toddi) , or juice which runs from the tree.59. Gaming is the ufual diverfion of the inhabitants here; they play at draughts,and their principal paftime is fighting of co*cks, which are very large in this country,and better provided with fpurs than co*cks commonly are; and befides this, the Indians arm them with blades of iron in the form of cangiars. Upon theſe combats theybet gold, filver, lands, and farms, which are won by the owner of the co*ck that beats.They play alfo at draughts, and venture great fums upon this game, but with fuch fury,that thofe who have not wherewithal, debauchees, and defperate people, often playaway the ends of their fingers.While they are at play they have a fire bythem, and thereon a pot of walnut or feafame oil, (they have no oil of olives, ) and they place a little but very fharp hatchet between them; when one of them has won a game, the other lays his hand upon a ſtone,and the winner cuts off the end of the lofer's finger with the hatchet, and the patientdips the injured part into the boiling oil to cauterife the wound, and yet they cannotfhake off this evil habit of gaming; on the contrary, they fometimes perfift in it ſo ob .ftinately and fo long, that before they part, they have all their fingers thus mutilated.Some of them will take a wick, and foaking it in oil , apply it to fome member, fet fireto it, and let it burn, fo that the fcent of the burnt flefh is finelt by thofe who play withthem, while the parties themſelves betray-not the leaft fenfe of pain.There is much debauchery in this country, as well among the women as among themen, for they are laid under no reſtraint. It runs fo high, that fometimes a foreignmerchant, juft arrived from fea, fhall fend for the daughter of a King of the country,and fhe fhall come to him to the fifhing grounds, with her father's confent and privity;wherefore the Mohammedan doctors of Siraf ftrictly warn young people not to gothat way *.60. In the Indies there are heavy rains, which the people of the country call Jafara;they last three whole months during fummer, inceffantly, night and day, and ſcarcedoes the winter ſtop them. The Indians, to the beſt of their abilities, prepare themfelves againſt theſe rains fome time before they fall; and no fooner do they come on,than they fhut themſelves. up in their houſes, made of wood and cane, interwoven , andthatched with leaves; they ftir not out during all this time, and no foul is feen abroad,no, not even the artificers, who now do their work at home; and during this feaſon,they are fubject to feveral forts of ulcers in the foles of their feet, cauſed by the damps.The rains are the life of the Indians; were they to fail, they would be reduced to thenumoft want, for their fields, fown with rice, are watered only by rains, and are rendered fruitful thereby; for if great ſtore of water lie upon the rice-grounds, they needno other help either from induftry or art; but when the rains are plentifully poureddown, the rice flouriſhes abundantly, and even becomes much better in kind. It neverrains in this country in the winter.62. The Indians have devout men, or doctors, known by the name of Bramins. Theyhave poets alfo, who compofe verfes, ftuffed with flattery, in praife of their kings.They have alſo aftrologers, philofophers, foothfayers, and men who obferve the flight

• This is very agreeable to that feverity of manners, for which the Mohammedans were remarkable in

thefe early ages; and it fhews how careful they were to preſerve the morals of the younger fort of people uncorrupted. It was uponthe fame principle that the old Spartans did not admit of any commerce at all,as defiring rather to be known to pofterity by the fame of their virtues than of their wealth; and being more affiduous to tranfmit to their defcendants freedom, and the power of maintaining it, than fine palaces;and that ability of living luxuriouſly, which ends fooner or later in abject poverty.ofTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 219of birds; and others who pretend to the calculation of nativities, particularly at Kanuge,a great city in the kingdom of Gozar * .In the Indies there are certain men called Bicar † , who go all their lifetime naked,and fuffer their hair to grow till it hides their hinder parts, and the reft of their body.They ſuffer alfo their nails to grow fo that they become pointed, and fharp as fwords;nor do they ever cut them, but leave them to break and fall off as it happens; and thisthey obferve as a religious duty each of them has a ftring about his neck, to whichhangs an earthen porringer, and when they are preffed by hunger, they ftop at the dooroffome Indian houſe, and thoſe within immediately, and with much fatisfaction bringout rice to them, believing there is great merit in fo doing, while they eat out of the porringer and withdraw, never returning to make the fame requeſt, if not urged theretoby downright want.62. The Indians have many laws and religious precepts, by which they imagine theypleaſe God; of fuch as theſe it is written in the Koran, " The wicked are mighty inpride. " One part of their devotion confifts in building of Kans, or inns upon the highways, for the accommodation of travellers, where alfo they fet up a fort of pedlars, ofwhom the paſſengers may purchaſe whatever they may happen to want ‡.Theythere alfo fettle public women, fuch as are in the Indies, who expofe themfelvesto travellers; all which the Indians number among their meritorious deeds. But theyhave befides theſe in the Indies public women, called Women of the Idol, the origin ofwhofe inſtitution is this: when a woman has laid herſelf under a vow, that she mayhave children, if it happens that ſhe brings forth a handſome daughter, fhe carries thechild to the Bod (fo they call the idol they worship), and there leaves her. When thegirl has attained a proper age, fhe takes an apartment in this public place, and fpreadsa curtain before the door, and waits the arrival of ſtrangers, as well Indians, or men ofother fects, to whom this debauchery is made lawful; fhe proſtitutes herfelf at acertain rate, and delivers her gains into the hands of the idol's prieft, to be by him difpofed of for, the ufe and fupport of the temple §. We praiſe the almighty and gloThe reader has been fo fully informed of the ſtate of the Brachmans among the ancient Indians, and ofthe communities formed by them for the promoting of fcience, that there is no need of infifting long uponthis ſettlement of the Bramins, which, without doubt, was a remnant of fome ancient univerſity in the fameplace. Some of the Arabian geographers affure us, that this city of the Kanuge lies between two branchesof the river Ganges in the latitude of 27°, and in the longitude of 131 ° . Other eaftern writers inform us,that Kanuge is alſo a royal city, the King of which is ftyled the Kanuge, according to the common cuftom ofthe Indies. It is very difficult to fay when or howthis kingdom and univerfity was ruined; but atprefent it is very clear, that there is no fuch eſtabliſhment as in the text is mentioned.Thefe are no other than the aſſociated Bramins, or Indian pilgrims, or penitents, mentioned by moſttravellers, who relate very extraordinary things with refpect to the aufterity of their manners, and the feverity of their penances, as the reader will fee in the fubfequent part of this work.There are many foundations of this fort in the Indies, as well as in Turky, Perfia, and Moguliſtan;not to mention the many hofpitals in the Indies for fick animals. Thevenot obferves, that the charity ofthe Indians of Cabul confifts in digging of pits, or finking of wells, and in erecting a number of ſmall receptacles on the highways, for the accommodation of travellers.A This infamous practice is of old ſtanding in the east. Herodotus has a ftory of this kind, of womenwho proftituted themfelves in honour of Mylittia, who, by the analogy of the Chaldee, muſt be Venus;and the tents or tabernacles ofthefe women were much like thofe defcribed by our author. In Marco Polowe read, that the people of the province of Cainda did the fame thing, expofing their women in honour oftheir idols. Tavernier fpeaks of a Pagod near Cambaya, whither most of the courtezans of the Indies repair, to make their offerings; and adds, that old women who have fcraped together a fum of money, buyyoung female flaves, whom they train up to wanton fongs and dances, and all the allurements of their infamous calling; and that when the girls have attained their eleventh or twelfth year, their mistress conductsthem to this Pagod, under a notion that it is a happineſs for them to be offered and delivered up to the idol.FF 2 rious220 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSrious God, who hath chofen us to be free of the fins which defile the man involved ininfidelity!Not very far from Almanfin, there is a famous idol called Multan, whither they refortin pilgrimage from the remoteft parts, even from diftances of feveral months journey:fome of the pilgrims bring with them fome ofthe odoriferous wood Hud al Čamruni,fo called from the city of Camrun; where they have an excellent wood-aloes, whichthey offer to this idol, delivering it to the prieſt of the temple, that he may burn it before his god. Some of this wood is worth two hundred dinars the man * , and is commonly marked with a feal to diftinguish it from another fort of the fame wood, but ofleſs value it is ufual for merchants to buy it of the idolatrous prieſts.63. There are likewife among the Indians certain men who make profeffion of piety,and whofe devotion confifts in feeking after unknown iflands, or fuch as are newly difcovered, there to plant cocoa-nut trees, and to fink wells of water for the ufe of fhipsthat fail to thoſe parts. There are people at Oman who croſs over to the iſlands thatproduce cocoa- nuts, carrying with them carpenter's tools, and having felled as muchwood as they want, they let it dry, and then ftrip off the leaves, and with the bark ofthe tree they ſpin a yarn, wherewith they few the planks together, and fo build a fhip;of fame wood they cut and round away a maſt; of the leaves they weave their fails, andthe bark they work into cordage; having thus completed their veffel, they load herwith cocoa-nuts, which they bring and fell at Oman. Thus it is, that from this treealone fo many articles are derived, as fuffice not only to build and rigg out the veſſel, butto load her alfo when the is completed, and in a trim fit to fail f .64. The country of the Zinges or Negroes is of vaſt extent; they there commonlyfow millet, which is the chief food of the negroes. Sugar canes alfo they have, andother forts of trees, but their fugar is very black. Thefe people have a number ofkings,who are always at war with each other. About their kings they have certain men calledMoharamin, becaufe each of them bore their nofe, and wear therein a ring: they havechains alfo faſtened about their necks, and when they are at war and going to fight,they each take one end of his companion's chain, and pafs it through the ring thathangs under his nofe; two men hold this chain, and fo prevent the reft from advancing towards the enemy till deputies have been from fide to fide to negotiate apeace; which, if it is concluded, they take their chains about their necks again, andretire without fighting: but when they once begin to unfheath the fword, not one foulof them quits his poft, but remains there till he is flain.As this kind of money is very often mentioned, both in the former treatife and in this, it may not beamifs to fay fomething of its value: the dinar is of very fine gold, and, according to the proportion whichthat metal bears now to filver, that coin ought to be rekoned at about nine fhillings; from whence weconceive at once the value of the copper money of China, fince a thouſand of theſe copper pieces were equalonly to one dinar; from whence it follows, that nine of theſe pieces of copper money, called by the Arabs Falus, were worth about one penny.ThatThis paffa*ge is very fingular, but the facts contained therein are inconteftably true; the cocoa-treefurniſhes every thing neceffary for building and rigging fuch fhips as are uſed in the Indies, and for a cargoof confiderable value when built. The body of the tree furnishes plank, mafts, anchors, and oars.fubftance like thread, which covers the nut, and which may be drawn out and fpun, makes the most excellent cordage in the world, inafmuch as it never decays in the water. The anchors are not to be boaſted of,but they ferve well enough for fuch veffels. The liquor in the nut when fermented, becomes a kind ofwine; when four, it is an excellent vinegar, and diftilled, it affords a ſoft, pleaſant brandy. It is certain,that the inhabitants of the Maldives, fubfift chiefly on their trade in cocoa-nuts, cocoa plank, and the cordage made from this tree; the manufacture of which they are better ſkilled in than any other people in the Indies.TheyTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 221They have all ofthem a profound veneration for the Arabs, and when they chance tofee any ofthem, they fall down before him, and cry, " This man comes from the kingdom where flouriſhes the date- bearing palm," for they are very fond of dates. Amongtheſe people there are preachers who harangue them in their own tongue, nor may theCatebs or orators of any other nation whatſoever be compared with them. Some ofthefe profefs a religious life, and are covered with the ſkin of a leopard or ape. One oftheſe men with a ſtaff in his hand fhall preſent himſelf before them, and having gathereda multitude of people about him, preach all the day long to them. He fpeaks of God,and recites the actions of their countrymen who are gone before them. From thiscountry they bring the leopard ſkins called Zingiet, fpotted with red and black, verygreat and broad.65. In this fame fea is the iſland of Socotra, whence come the Socotrin aloes. Thisifle lies near the land of Zinges, and near alfo to the country of the Arabs, and moſt ofits inhabitants are Chriſtians, which is thus accounted for: When Alexander fubduedthe kingdom of the Perfians, his preceptor Ariftotle, to whom he had by letters communicated his conquefts, wrote back to him to defire, that by all means he would feek afterthe iſland of Socotra, which afforded aloes, an excellent drug, and without which theycould not make up the famous medicament called Hiera: that the beſt way would be toremove the inhabitants thence, and inſtead of them plant a colony of Greeks, that theymight fend aloes into Syria, Greece, and Egypt. Accordingly Alexander gave theneceffary orders to difpoffefs the inhabitants, and to fettle a colony of Greeks in theirftead. Then he commanded the Kings of the nations who divided his empire after hehad flainthe Great Darius, to execute the orders he had iffued out for the preſervationoftheſe Greeks: they remained then as a garrifon upon this ifland, till God fent JESUSCHRIST into the world. When the Greeks ofthis fame ifle being informed thereof,embraced the Chriſtian faith as the other Greeks had done before them, and in theprofeffion of this faith have they perſevered to this day, as well as all the inhabitants ofthe other ifles .In the former book, no mention is made of the fea which ftretches away to the right,.as fhips part from Oman and the coaft of Arabia, to launch into the great fea; but theauthor defcribes only the fea on the left, and in which is comprehended the feas ofIndiaand China, which he feems to have particularly had in his eye. In this fea, which is asit were on the right of the Indies as you leave Oman, in the country of Sihar or Shihr,where frankincenfe grows, and the other countries poffeffed by the nations of Cedd,Hamyer, Jofham, and Theoteba. The people in this country have the Sonra in Arabicof very antient date, but in many things different from what is in the hands of theArabs, and containing many traditions to us unknown: they have no villages, and theylead a hard and a very miferable life * .The country they inhabit extends almoſt as far as Aden and Judda, upon the coaſt ofYaman, or Arabia the Happy; from Judda it ſtretches up into the continent as far asthe coaſt of Syria, and ends at Kolzum. The feas in this part divide by a flip of land ,which God has fixed as a line of ſeparation between theſe two feas, as it is written in

• The Arabs, befides the Koran, have made traditions relating to the Mohammedan religion, which they

received from the companions of their Prophet and his difciples; from thefe traditions and ftories they formthe body oftheir Sonna, which therefore is very different in different places; fo that not only the Sonnaof the Perfians differs from that of the Arabians, but that of the Africans varies from that of Mecca, andthe Arabians of the Defert: in a word, the Sonna, with refpect to the Mohammedans, is pretty near thefame thing with the Talmud among the Jews; and it is owing to both, that there are fo many different .fects, and ſuch a variety of fabulous notions amongſt the people of both religions.the222 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSthe Koran from Kolzum the fea ftretches along the coaft of the Barbarians to theweft coafts, which is oppofite to Yaman, and then along the coaft of Æthiopia; fromwhence you have the leopard fkins of Barbary, which are the beſt of all , and moſt ſkilfully dreffed; and laftly, along the coaſt of Zeilah , whence you have amber and tortoife-fhell.When the Siraf fhips arrive in this fea, which is to the right of the fea of India, theyput into Judda, where they remain, for their cargo is thence tranfported to Kehira (orCairo) by fhips of Kolzum, who are acquainted with the navigation of the Red Sea,which thofe of Siraf dare not attempt, becauſe of the extreme danger, and becauſe thisfea is full of rocks at the water's edge; becauſe alfo, upon the whole coaft there areno kings, or ſcarce any inhabited place; and, in fine, becauſe fhips are every nightobliged to put into fome place of fafety, for fear of ftriking upon the rocks. Theyfailin the daytime only, and all night ride faſt at anchor. This fea moreover is fubject tovery thick fogs, and to violent gales of wind, and fo has nothing to recommend it eitherwithin or without.66. It is not like the fea of India or of China, whofe bottom is rich with pearls andambergris, whofe mountains ofthe coaft are ftored with gold and precious ſtones, whofegulphs breed creatures that yield ivory, and among the plants of whofe fhores areebony, red-wood, and the wood of Hairzan, aloes, camphire, nutmegs, cloves, fandalwood, and all other fpices and aromatics; where parrots and peaco*cks are birds of theforeft, and mufk and civet are collected upon the lands: in fhort, fo productive arethofe thores of ineftimable things, that it is impoffible to reckon them up *.Ambergris, which is thrown upon the coaft of this fame fea, is wafhed to ſhore bythe fwell it begins to be found in the Indian fea, but whence it comes is unknown.We only know that the beſt of it is thrown upon the Barbary coaft, or upon the confines of the land of Negroes, towards Sihar, and places thereabouts: it is of a bluiſhwhite, in round lumps. The inhabitants of this country have camels trained up to thebuſineſs, which they mount, and go in ſearch of it by moonſhine, and ride for that purpofe along the fhore. The camels are broke to this, and as foon asthey perceive a pieceof ambergris they bend their knees, and their rider picks it up tThere is another fort, which fwim in great lumps upon the furface of the fea, almoſtlike the body of an ox, or a little lefs, and weigh a great deal. When a certain fish ofthe whale kind, called Tal, fees theſe floating lumps, he fwallows the fame, and is killedthereby then they fee the whale floating upon the furface, and inftantly the men who areaccuſtomed tothis kind of fiſhery, and know when theſe whales have ſwallowed amber,go out to him in their boats, and darting him with iron harpoons, they tow him to fhore,where they ſplit him down the back, and take out the amber; what they find aboutThis is at once a very magnificent, and a very juft account of the wealth of the Indies, and it provesvery plainly, that fearce any part of its riches were concealed from the Arabs at this time; fo that whatfome writers report of the defigns formed by the Khaliffs and Sultans of Egypt, for making themſelvesmafters of the coatts of India, and even of its iſlands, hath nothing in it abfurd or incredible.Amber-gris, or as it ought to be wrote, amber grife, is a very rich perfume, and it is certain that thereis more of it, and in greater perfection in the Indian fea, than in any other of the whole world . How it isformed, or from whence it comes, is as great a fecret to us as it was to the Arabs. It is of different colours, viz. dark grey, light grey, black, and red; but the first is the moſt efteemed, as having by far therichelt fcent. What our author reports of its being found in this manner bycamels, is not very improbable; for the beft ambergris in the world is driven on the fhore of the island of Prince Maurice, and theDutch affure us, that their hogs fmell it out at a great diſtance, and run furioufly to the shore in order to devour it.theTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 223the belly of the creature is commonly ſpoiled with the wet, and contracts an unpleafant fcent *.You may buy the bones of this fifh of the druggifts of Bagdat and Baffora. Theamber which has not been infected by the ordure in the belly of the whale, is perfectly good it is a ufual thing to make ftools of the vertebræ of the back- bone of thiswhale, called Tal. They fay, that in a village ten leagues from Siraf, called Tain, thereare old houſes neatly enough built, the lintels of whofe doors are of the rib ofthiswhale. I have heard a perfon ſay, that formerly one was thrown upon the coaft notvery far from Siraf, and that going to view him, he faw people getting upon the backof this creature with ladders, and that the fiſhermen expofed him to the fun, flicedaway his fleſh, and having digged a pit, gathered up the greafe which was melted bytheſun, and that having drained off all the oil, they fold it to the maſters of fhips. This oil mixed up with another kind of ftuff, in ufe with feamen, ferves for caulking of fhips tofecure the feams of the planking, and to ftop up leaks. This whale oil is a valuablecommodity, and produces great fums of money.67. Our author propofing next to ſpeak of pearls, breaks out firſt, according to thecultom of the Arabs, into the following pious foliloquy, which I would not omit, becauſeit is a kind of characteriſtic in their manner of writing, and may enable the reader toaccount for fuch apoftrophes in other pieces of this nature. Let us, before we ſpeak ofpearls, and the manner of their formation, magnify the great God, who in wiſdom hascreated all things out of earth, and fo fafhioned living creatures, as that they producetheir like. Wherefore for theſe things which we know, and for many more which weknow not, all glory be unto the Almighty, and all reverence paid unto his moſt holy and tremendous name.Pearls begin to be formed of a fubftance at firſt ſomewhat like the plant called Anjedana, being in fize the fame, in colour and figure pretty much alike, fmall, thin , andtender, juft like the leaves of this plant; at firft it fwims feebly on the furface and ſticksto the fides of fhips under water, where in time it hardens, grows and gets covered witha fhell. Whentheſe oyfters become heavy, they fall down to the bottom of the ſea,where they fubfift after a manner to us unknown. They appear no other than a pieceof red fleſh, like the tongue towards the root, without bones, finews, or veins.But there are various opinions touching the production of pearls, for fome faywhen it rains the oysters rife up to the furface, and that gaping, the drops of water theycatch turn to pearls. Others hold, they are generated in the oysters themfelves, whichis most likely, and is confirmed by experience; for moft that are found in oysters arefixed, and move not. When they are loofe, the merchants call them feed pearl: Godalone knoweth how this matter is.68. Now this is the moſt wonderful thing we have heard concerning the fubfiftenceof oyfters. A certain Arab came formerly to Baffora, and brought with him a pearlworth a great fum of money; he fhewed it to a druggift of his acquaintance, and, ignorant of the value thereof, aſked him what he thought of it? The merchant telling him itwas a pearl, the Arab aſked him what he thought it might be worth? and he valued itat a hundred pieces of filver. The Arab much aftonished at his words, afked if any

• The Abbé Renaudot, in his notes upon this treatife, fpeaks very flightly of this ftory, and feems to

think it fabulous. There is however no fort of caufe for this fufpicion; fince this fort of whale is veryoften found in the Weft Indian feas, and efpecially on the coaft of Bermudas, and vaft quantities of ambergris are taken out of its guts. It is alfo very certain, that though the beft of this perfume is found in theIndian feas, yet ambergris has been frequently found on the fhöre even of our own iſlands, as well as infome other parts of Europe, and in America it is very common,7 perfon234 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSperfon would be willing to give him what he had faid it was worth upon which themerchant counted him out a hundred drams, and with this money the Arab purchafedcorn to carry back into his own country. The merchant, on the other hand, broughtthe pearl to Bagdad, and fold it at a very high rate, which enabled him afterwards todeal very confiderably. This fame merchant declared that he had examined the Arabtouching the origin of pearls, and that he delivered himfelf to the following effect:" I was going along," faid he, " by Saman in the diftri&t of Bahrein, not very fardiftant from the fea, and upon the fand I faw a dead fox, with fomething at his muzzlethat held him faft. I drew near, and faw a white glittering fhell, in which I found thepearl I took. Hence he gathered, that the oyster was upon the fhore, driven thitherby tempeft, which very often happens. The fox pafling by and leering at the meat ofthe oyfter, as the fhell ftood open, jumped thereon, and thruft in his fout to feize thefifh, which in its defence clofing, locked him faft, as has been faid; for it is a propertyof theirs never to let go their hold of any thing, except forcibly opened by an iron inftument at their edges.'This is the oyfter that breeds pearls, which it as carefully keeps as a mother herchild; when therefore it was fenfible of the fox, it withdrew, as to avoid an enemy,and the fox feeling himſelf fqueezed, beat the ground on each hand, till it was ftifled,and fo died. The Arab found the pearl, and God would have it that he fhould applyhimſelf to the merchant; a very happy thing for him * .69. The Kings of the Indies wear ear-rings of ftones fet in precious gold. Theywear alfo collars of great price, adorned with precious ftones of different colours, butefpecially green and red; yet pearls are what they moſt eſteem, and their value furpaffes that of all other jewels; they at prefent hoard them up in their treaſures withtheir moſt precious things. The grandees oftheir court, the great officers and captainswear the like jewels in their collars; they dreſs in a half veft, and carry an umbrellaof peaco*ck's feathers to fhade them from the fun, and are furrounded by thoſe of their train.There are certain Indians who never eat two out of the fame difh, or upon the fametable, and would efteem it a very great fin if they fhould. When they come to Siraf,and are invited by any of the confiderable merchants who are in that city, they muft ,though they are a hundred in number, each have a feparate difh, and without the leaftcommunication with the reft. The Kings and perfons of high quality have freſh tablesI must confefs this ftory feems to meby far the meaneft paffa*ge in the whole work, and all the remarksupon pearls are very low and trifling: but at the fame time it muſt be allowed, that we know very littlemore about them than either the ancients or the Arabs. What feems most probable is, that pearls are notthe natural produce of any oyfters; by which I mean, that they are an irregular and accidental production ,occafioned byfome infirmity or difeafe in the fish . I am led to this notion from two reafons: the first is,that when animal fubftances begin to corrupt, they commonly fhine, which perhaps may be the effect offome inteftine motion; the other, that pearl oyfters are not eatable, but tough, taftelefs, and very unwhole- fome.+ The princes and chief inhabitants of thefe countries were by this time better acquainted with the nature and value of all forts of precious ftones than formerly they had been, and of theſe they had of all kindsfrom the mines in the ifland of Ceylon . It is remarkable that the Arabs have but one word to fignify coloured ftones, which is Yacut, or Jacut, which, ftrictly fpeaking, fignifies a jacinth; but to vary this, andto render it expreffive of rubies. emeralds, and fapphires, they add the name of the colour to the ftone. Itwill be proper to make two remarks upon this fubject before we leaveit: the firft is, that our author is perfectly in the right in his obfervation , that pearls are more efteemed in India than many other parts oftheworld, and that they are more valued there in proportion than any other kind of jewels. Our ſecond obfervation is, as to the carrying emeralds thither from Egypt, which is a very plain proof of the truth of whatwe have often afferted, viz . that thefe ftones are not ftrictly speaking oriental, though they may, and indeeddo, very often come to us from the eaſt .6 madeTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 225made for them every day, together with little diſhes and plates wove of the cocoa-nutleaf, in which they eat what is prepared for their fubfiftence; and their meal once over,they throw the table, the diſhes and plates into the water, together with the fragmentsthey have left. Thus at every meal they have a newfervice. To the Indies they formerly carried the dinars, called Sindiat, or gold pieces of the Sind and the Dinar, whichthere paffed for three of ours and even more. Thither alfo are carried emeralds fromEgypt, which are fet for rings.70. Theſe two authentic pieces are of very great ufe in filling up this period of Indian hiſtory, of which, till they appeared, we had no memoirs at all. It is plain enoughfrom the account given us by the first author, that voyages from Siraf to China werenot very frequent, till about this time, for otherwife he would not have defcribed thatnavigation fo particularly. But it appears no lefs clearly from the fecond treatife,that thefe long voyages were grown into much greater ufe between the time the firstvoyage was made, and this commentary upon it was drawn up; for otherwife the fecondwriter would have been but indifferently furniſhed with materials, whereas we findthat he ſtood in no fort of want of them, but was able to mention the voyages and travels of four or five different perſons into China and the Indies, exclufive of the author,whofe voyage gave occafion to this difcourfe.The moft remarkable of theſe was Eben Wahab, whofe adventures are equally fingularand inftructive, fince from them it is very evident that the Chineſe Emperor, to whofeprefence he was admitted, had, as we obferved, very perfect intelligence as to the Jewiſh,Chriſtian, and Mohammedan religions, and as to the hiſtory of their founders and propagators. We might indeed fufpect the truth of this, if there were not fome othercircumſtances in this difcourfe which render them not only probable but certain. Imean the deſtruction of the capital of China at that time, which our author calls thecity of Cumdan, and which without doubt was no other than Nankin, and Canfu, orCanton, in which fo many thouſand Jews, Chriftians, and Mohammedans were flain;a clear demonſtration that multitudes of all theſe religions had been long before fettledin that empire, and confequently the Chineſe monarch had it fully in his power to bewell acquainted with all the particulars before mentioned.Neither does this fact ſtand entirely upon the credit of this treatiſe, fince an ancientmonument has been diſcovered in China, which plainly proves that Chriſtians fromSyria were ſettled there in ancient times * , though none were to be found when thefirſt travellers from Europe went thither, which is as ftrong a confirmation of the truthof what our author relates, as in the nature of things can poffibly be expected. Themiffionaries alfo that were firft fent to China found there vifible marks of Chriſtianity,though they found no Chriftians. The Jews have been fettled in that empire for timeimmemorial, and many of them for the fake of riches and preferment have abjured theirown religion, and embraced the opinions of the Chinefe, which is alfo an unquestionableargument ofthe truth of thefe relations.We mayadd to this the conformity between the accounts given by our travellers andthe beſt Chineſe hiftorics, which never could have happened, if the former had not been

• This ancient monument was first mentioned by the famous Jefuit Kircher, who made many miſtakes

about it, and from thence there grew fome queftions as to the matter of fact , which however upon inquiryhas been fince clearly made out, and from thence it is evident, that the Chriflian religion was fettled inChina in A.D. 636, that is, upwards oftwo hundred years before the maffacre at Canton, mentioned bythelaft of our authors. Wehave no certain accounts of the Chriftians in China beyond the tenth century, andwhen the Portugueſe came firit to Canton under Don Fernand Perez d'Andrada, which was A. D. 1517,there was no fort of remembrance of Chriftianity preferved in that empire; fo that it is impoffible to difcover how this religion was exterminated there, otherwiſe than for want of paſtors.VOL. VII. 6 6 in226 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSin every refpect agreeable to truth. All this is not only fupported by our knowledgeofmany of the cuſtoms of theſe people, which remain to this day the fame with thoſereported in thefe relations, but they are still more plainly verified by fuch are now nolonger in ufe, becaufe many Chinefe writers, and Chriftian miffionaries from them, takenotice of fuch obfolete cuftoms, and inform us when they were laid aſide or began togrow into diffe. On the whole, therefore, we may fafely affirm, that theſe treatiſesare free from all juſt grounds of ſuſpicion, and ought to be regarded as the earlieſt andbest accounts we have of this empire and its inhabitants.They are, confidered in this light, of very great uſe in many reſpects, but more eſpecially in correcting thofe errors that have been introduced by authors who dependedmore upon their own conjectures, than on any light they received from experience,endeavouring to impofe upon their readers their notions of things as facts of undoubtedcredit, of which it may not be amifs to give a few inftances. Our author is the oldeft,and indeed almoft the only Arabian writer that mentions the Chinefe drink, fo univerfally uſed in our days all over Europe, and known bythe name of Tea. He fays thatit is an herb or fhrub, more bushy than the pomegranate-tree, and of a more pleaſantfcent, but fomewhat bitter to the tafte. That the Chineſe boil water and pour it infcalding hot upon this leaf, and that this infufion preferves them from all diftempers.This, to be fure, is an imperfect defcription; but it is plain enough to evince, that nothing can be meant but the plant we know by the name of tea; the fame with the TchaCatyai, or Sini of the orientals.The tree which bears this leaf is but fmall, and ought to be reckoned among ſhrubs.It has a pleaſant kind of violet fcent, is bitter to the tafte, and it is common for themwho are fond of it to imagine it doth them good, and preferveth their health. It iscertain then, that Father Trigaut * is miſtaken, when he imagines it is but of late dateamong the Chineſe, becauſe there is not, as he fays, any character in their tongue tofignify this drink; for by the teſtimony of the oldeſt of our authors (who does notfpeak of it as any new thing, but as a herb very much in vogue with them; nay, tothat degree, that the Emperor thought fit to lay a duty upon it ) it appears, that theChineſe have been addicted to it above eight hundred years. Nor is it poffible tobelieve with Pifo † , that it grew a long time wild and uncultivated, or that the Chinefe, or Japonefe, have been but lately acquainted with its virtues and the manner ofpreparing it; which, he fays, he was told by fome Dutch commander, who had beena long time in the country.Father Martini, who has written more accurately of China than almoſt any otherperfon, fays no fuch thing. He affures us, that it grows particularly in the province of Kiangnan, or Nankin, where the beſt of it is. It is, adds he, a ſmall leaf,perfectly like that of the Rhus Coriarius, or Sumac of the curriers. It grows notwild, but is domeftic, and cultivated; nor is it a tree but a fhrub, which fpreads out inlittle branches, with a bloffom very much like that of the Sumac, except that the formerinclines more to a yellow than the latter. It blows firſt in fummer, when it emits nogreat fcent; then it puts out a berry, which is firft green, and afterwards blackifh. Inthe fpring it is when they gather the leaf to make their Tcha, for then it is moſt fucculent and tender. The preparation of theſe leaves confifts in gathering them, drying

• Lib. i. p. 16. It is inconceivable how differently writers have reprefented the fhrub that bears this

herb; for fome fay it is like a rofe, others like a currant-bufh.+ Addit. ad Hift. Medicin. Bont. i. 6. Of like credit, perhaps, is another report current among theDutch, as ifthey fold the fa*ge of Europe to the Japoneſe at as high a price as they gave for their tea, andwhich has been received as an undoubted truth by thevulgar here.13 themTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 227them by a ſmall fire, rolling them upon a cotton mattreſs, and packing them up intin-chefts or boxes, for the fake of preferving them, and the conveniency of tranfporting them. Such is the account given us by this learned and accurate writer, whofework is ftill defervedly efteemed, after fo many later accounts of China * .But as it is natural to fuppofe that every man is the beft judge of what regards his ownprofeffion, I perfuade myſelf that my readers will not be difpleafed at my infertinghere a very curious paffa*ge from the writings of the celebrated Doctor Kampfert,wherein he gives us a very entertaining account of the manner in which the virtues oftea were firft diſcovered; neither is this at all foreign to my fubject, fince it is an additional proof of the varacity of our author, and clearly points out the time when this plantcame firſt into uſe among the Chineſe, and at the fame time, fully refutes the objectionthat had been raiſed from this herb's not having a proper character affigned it bythelearned." This herb, fays he, which the Japoneſe call Tsjaa, has as yet no character affignedit by the Literati, but there are ſeveral in ufe, fome exprefling only the found of theword, and others alluding to its virtues. Among the latter, that is to be accountedwhich gives it the likeneſs of the eye-lids of Darma, a holy man, much famed amongthem. There is fomething very witty in this allufion, and the explanation of it defervesthe greater notice, becauſe it very plainly points out the time when this herb firſt cameinto ufe.. Thus then the ſtory is told." This Darma was the third fon of an Indian king, whofe name was Koojuwo, andwas the head of a religious order inſtituted by a famous Indian faint, called Sjaka,who flouriſhed in the year before Chrift 1028, and to whom this Darma was the twentyeighth fucceffor in a regular order. It fo fell out, that in A. D. 519, he was driveninto China, where he applied himſelf intirely to the teaching of mankind the knowledgeof God, and, as he called it , ofthe only true religion, and the fole means of acquiringhappineſs. He was not content to enlighten the world only by his doctrine, but ſtudiedto do it ſtill more by his example, ftriving by the purity of his life, the afflicting hisbody and bringing all his paffions under perfect ſubjection, to fecure the affiftance ofthe divine grace. He eat nothing but the wild herbs of the field, and, which is eſteemedthe very perfection of holineſs in man, fpent his nights without fleep in the contemplation of the Supreme Being; for he confidered it as the higheſt degree of piety toforego eafe and reft, that his thoughts might be wholly employed in meditating uponGod." It fell out, that after many years watching, he was fo overcome as to fall faftafleep; his vow thus violated, he was fo afflicted when he awaked, that partly to expiate his crime, and partly to fecure himſelf from falling again into what he eſteemedfo great a weakneſs, he cut off his eyelids, as the inftruments of his offence, and threwthem in a fit of holy zeal upon the ground. The next day, coming to the place wherehe had inflicted this puniſhment upon himſelf, he faw, with amazement, a moſt wonderful transformation, for behold each of his eye-lides had taken root, and had fprung

• He refided long in China, was a man of great fidelity and candour, one who did not love to contradict

others, or to impofe his own fenfe of things upon his reader, in a dogmatic ftyle . His Chineſe Atlas is anadmirable performance, in which he has explained Marco Polo, corrected Father Kircher, and informs us ofamultitude of things relating to the hiftory of China, which, till the publication of his book, were utterly unknown.Amanitat. Exotic. p. 608. We fhall have an opportunity of inferting this learned writers's travelsto Japan in another part of this work; but the paffa*ge here cited is from another work of his, whichis excellent in its kind, notwithſtanding what fome French critics have infinuated to the contrary.GG 2 up228 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANSupinto the fhrub called tea, which hitherto the world had never feen, or at leaft mankind were unacquainted with its virtues.By taking the leaves of this herb, but whether the chewing them, or preparedby infusion, I cannot fay, he found a wonderful chearfulneſs of mind, and a difpofitionperfectly fuited to his divine meditations. As he recommended the uſe of this herb tohis difciples, and as the benefits derived therefrom were every-where publiſhed, thecuſtom of drinking tea grew quickly into ufe among all forts of people; and the mighty virtues of this wonderful herb became univerfally known and admired. Henceit is, that as hitherto no certain character has been affigned for expreffing the herbtea, and its virtues, the cuſtom of diftinguiſhing it by the figure of Darma's eye- lids.has grown into practice." So much fays my author for the name of this.plant. The ftory is plainly fabulous and extravagant *; but, like the extravagancesof the caft, full of fire, and of that fort of enthufiaftic eloquence which conveys ideas:with fuch force as prevents their impreffions from ever wearing out of mind.We learn likewiſe from the firſt of our travellers, that at the time he vifited theircountry the Chineſe were perfectly well verfed in the art of pottery, and made a kindof porcelain, as fine, as beautiful, and almoſt as tranfparent as glafs. It is certain thatfor many ages after this we had very dark and confufed accounts of this matter; andthe ſtories we are told in almoſt all the accounts we have of China upon this ſubjecthave apparently the air of fables, and look as if they were impofed upon their authors bythe Chineſe, on purpoſe to conceal from them the truth. It is a point now univerfallyagreed, that the porcelain formerly made in this country was infinitely better than whathas come from thence of late years; but the Chineſe themſelves carry this much farther, and maintain that the old China we ſo much admire is very far inferior to whatwas made in theſe early ages.Doctor Kæmpfert tells us from the Chinefe hiftorians, that this moſt excellent porcelain was made in a certain ifland not far from Formofa, or at leaſt of the earth foundin that iſland, which, for the fame crimes in its inhabitants, has long ago fhared thefate of Sodom, and lies now buried in the fea. Yet it ſeems it is not funk fo deep, butthat their fiſherman and divers frequently bring up veffels of this old porcelain, whichare fold at a moft extravagant price in China and Japan, from a perfuafion that theynot only keep tea better, but even heighten its quality, and reſtore its flavour when loft bylong keeping in other veffels.Father Charlevoix, in his hiftory of Japan, blames Doctor Kæmpfer for inferting this ftory, whichhe calls a ridiculous fable; but I beg leave to fay, that he had not well confidered the intention of the parable,the genius of the eaftern nations, or the eaftern languages; for if he had, he would probably have been of another opinion. There is a wide difference between fables in religion and fables in natural philofophy, eſpecially when they are known to be fuch, and introduced with no other view than to convey ufeful knowledge in an eafy, familiar, and effectual manner, all which were vifibly confulted in the framing of thisftory or parable, which declares the virtues of this herb, by whom difcovered, and when brought into afe.Amanitat. Exotic. p. 621 Ourlearned author tells us, that the Japoneſe name of this fine porcelain is Maats ubo, and that the iſland in which it was made was Mauri ga Sima. He affures us, that theſeveflels are of different fizes, and confequently of different prices; the fmalleft are worth from twenty toone hundred Theils; but the largeſt and fineft, which are generally bought for the uſe of the Emperor ofJapan, coft three, four or five thoufand Theils or Thaels, of which there are about three in a pound fterhing. This is very moderate in compariſon of what we are told by Mandefloe in his travels, p. 156, wherehe fays that the Japonefe have tea-pots that coft them between fix and feven thouſand pounds. Therefeem to be two miſtakes in this; the firft is as to the veffel, which was not a tea-pot, but a tea-canifter,the fecond, as to the fum, which was not pounds, but Thaels..I doTHROUGH INDIA AND CHINA. 229I do not pretend to make myſelf anfwerable for the truth of thefe facts; but I mention them only to fhew, that in the opinion of theſe prople, who are undoubtedly thebeft judges of their own manufactures, the porcelain made at the time our author fpeaks of was really fuperior in quality to any that has been made fince. But if itfhould be demanded, whether any proof can be had of the truth of this fact, exclufiveof what our author delivers, I anſwer, there is. For in a manufcript preferved in theFrench King's library, the credit of which cannot be doubted among the articles of anoble prefent fent Noureddin by Saladin, foon after he became mafter of Egypt, mention is made of a fervice of China-ware, confifting of forty pieces of feveral kinds * .It is very true, that this prefent was not fent till the year of the Hegira 567, which anfwers to the year of our Lord 1171, which is fome ages after the time in which our authorwrote; but then it is to be confidered, that this China-ware had been long before broughtto Egypt; and if it had not been much fuperior in beauty to what was brought from thefame country, even at that time when the trade to Baffora was in a flouriſhing condition ,it would not have been thought worthy the acceptance of fo great a prince; and therefore,when thoroughly confidered, this objection proves, at least in its neceffary confequences,a confirmation of the fact.I have dwelt the longer upon thefe inftances, and have taken the more pains to fupport and confirm the truth of them, becauſe I am perfuaded that an intire credit is dueto the matters of fact afferted by both of our authors, and that confequently we mayabfolutely depend upon what they have delivered us to the ſtate of China and the Indies, within this period of time; that is to fay, from A. D. 833 to 950, or thereabouts. This being clearly eſtabliſhed, let us fee what will follow from it. In thefirst place, it is moſt evident that theſe eaſtern countries were in a very happy andflouriſhing condition, were governed by their own princes, and knew not, generallyfpeaking, what it was to fuffer by fuch fudden and violent revolutions as have fincehappened in thofe parts. It muft, however, be at the fame time obferved, that thoughtheir ſtate was far better than it is now, yet both our authors agree that it was beginning to decline, that the dignity of their princes began to fink, the feverity of theirdifcipline to relax, and the manners of their people to become much more corruptthan they had been.In the next place, it is very evident, that in China, a country fill more remote thanthe Indies, the people were in this period very well acquainted with the condition oftheir neighbours, to whom they muſt alſo have been tolerably well known; and yetwithin the fpace of two hundred years, the face of things was fo entirely changed, thatthe Chineſe loft almoſt all knowledge of us in Europe, and we of them, as fromthe fubfequent part of this chapter will clearly appear.Laftly, we ought to conclude from the confideration of thefe facts, from the ſtate ofthings in China and the Indies, and efpecially from the fuperiority of their manufactures,.that this empire was in every refpect in a much better fituation than in fucceeding times;that is to fay, was better governed, more populous, the induftry of the people betterconducted, and their foreign commerce far more extenfive than in the ages immediatelypreceding the diſcovery of the paffa*ge thither from Europe by the Cape of Good Hope.Thefixing all this firmly in the reader's mind, will contribute to his apprehending rightlyThe title of this Arabian manufcript is Makrizi, which was probably the furname of its author: butas to the particular fubject of the book I can fay nothing, the paffa*ge I have mentioned from it beingrelated by the Abbé Renaudot, in his notes on our authors, p . 200.all230 THE TRAVELS OF TWO MOHAMMEDANS, &C.all that follows, and will prevent his running into the oppofite vice of incredulity, toavoid being thought credulous.He will not be amazed when he hears of potent princes that governed in the Indies, orin China, many hundred years before we knew any thing with certainty of thofe countries; he will not be aftonished at the extent of their territories, or what is reported oftheir prodigious revenues; he will not be at a lofs to account for the different condition of places, when firft vifited by the Europeans, from that reported either by theirown hiftories, or traditions. On the contrary, he will plainly perceive, by comparing the facts laid down in the feveral fections of this work, that all this is not onlyprobable, but certain, and that the notions which fome great critics have advanced tothe contrary, were not fo much founded in greater learning, or fuperior abilities , asin ftrong prejudices in favour of their own countries, and in high conceits of their ownabilities.In things of this nature, all abftracted reafoning ought to be laid afide, and we oughtto draw our conclufious from facts only. If the Indians ftopped the progrefs of theAffyrian, Perfian, Greek and Parthian empires, this is a ftrong, or, to fpeak fairly,an invincible argument to prove, that their government was then in its full vigour.If we fee the Indians now for the most part a broken, difperfed, dejected, and defpifed people, preferving, however, ftill, in their manners and cuftoms, viſible marksof that policy afcribed to them by the Greek and Roman, as well as thefe Arabianwriters, we ought to conclude, that this difference has been owing to mighty revolutionsin thefe parts; after the hiftory of which we muft enquire, and not pretend to take upwith the affurances given us by fanciful men, that theſe people were never in a bettercondition.I do not however pretend by this to eſtabliſh by any means the opinions entertainedbyfome very great men as to the learning of the Chineſe; with regard to which ourtravellers fpeak very freely, and I think there is reafon to believe very truly, affirming, that in regard to the fciences the Chineſe had very little knowledge, that is, incompariſon ofthe Arabs, who at the timethe laft of our authors wrote were very ſkilful inmoft fciences; and though their famous commander Mufa, who conquered Spain, wasthe first that delivered it in the form of a maxim, yet it is very probable that the Arabians had long before this time thofe fentiments of the progrefs of fcience which he fohappily expreffed. Wifdom, faid he, defcending from above, fettled in the heads ofthe Greeks, in the hands ofthe Chineſe, and on the tongues of the Arabs. It plainlyappears from hence, that what they moft admired in China was the induftry of its inhabitants, which was chiefly the effect of their wife government, derived to them, asindeed every thing of confequence they knewfeems to have been, from the Indies *.All therefore that from the authority of our authors I infer is, that the political ſtate ofChina was at leaſt as perfect anciently as it is at preſent in all its branches; and notthat they were better acquainted with fciences than they are now.

• The progrefs of fcience from the Indies to China, and from thence to Japan, is very natural and agreeable to ancient history; but it does not at all follow from thence, that the Indians received their learning from the Egyptians. It is far more probable that they had it from the Chaldeans; for mankind

fpread originally from that country, as Mofes informs us, and as all ancient hiftory plainly provesChaldea to the Indies thefe firft colonies might have eafily proceeded byland; whereas their own writersallow, that the first attempts bythe Egyptians towards the conqueft of India were by fleets fitted out by the Red -fea.

Drawn byW.Alexander ,P.S.A.View from the River Ning -po.Cooke George byEngraved( 231 )THE EMBASSYотPETER DE GOYER AND JACOB DE KEYZERFROMTHE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA IN 1655.By JOHN NIEUHOFF, Steward to the Embaffadors.[Tranflated from the DUTCH. ]INTRODUCTION.ALTHOUGH China was diſcovered over land by Marco Polo the Venetian, to- wards the end of the thirteenth century, yet it was very little known to Europeans, till the Portugueze arrived there by fea towards the end of the fifteenth, and theRomiſh miffioners found admittance into the empire. In 1517, they eſtabliſhed a tradeat Quan-tong, commonly called Kanton: afterwards they fettled a factory alſo at NingPo, called by them Liampo, on the eaſtern part of China, and drove a confiderabletrade along the coaft, between thofe two famous ports, till their unfufferable pride andinfolence brought on their deftruction every where but at Ma-kau, or Makao, an iſlandin the mouth of the river of Kanton, which they ftill hold, though under great reftrictions.The Dutch being arrived in India to the height of power chiefly on the ruins of thePortugueze, endeavoured to get accefs into China to trade with the natives. This theyhad long attempted in vain, having ftill met with oppofition, as was fuppofed, faysNieuhoff, from an old prophecy among them, that a remote nation of whites cloathedall over, fhould one day conquer their country. But upon advice brought from Makaffarby the jefuit Martini, (who had concealed himſelf ten years in China propagating) thatthe Manchew Tartars had conquered that empire, it was concluded by the governmentof Batavia, to renew their attempt. This was performed by fending certain merchantsto try the pulfe of the Chineſe at Kanton, upon whofe report ambafladors were difpatched from Batavia to the court of Pe-king, there to folicit liberty to trade.An account of this embaffy was drawn up by John Nieuhoff, (famous for his voyagesinto feveral parts of the world, ) who was fteward to the ambaffadors, which has beenpubliſhed in different languages and forms. In 1665, there appeared a French relationof this embafly, printed at Leyden, in folio, by Jacob de Meurs. It is called a tranfla- tion, and feems to have been made from Nieuhoff's manufcript, by John de Carpentier. It is divided into two parts, the firft containing a narrative of the embaffy, intwo hundred and ninety pages; the fecond a general defcription of China, in an hundred and thirty- four, befides the preface and dedication to M. Colbert, miniſter offtate to Louis the XIV. of France. But Nieuhoff's relation is only the bafis of thislarge work, which de Carpentier has formed by the addition of almoft all the fecond part, and at least one half of the firft.The232 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.The cuts, which are very numerous, are finely engraved, and, as the editor affirms,from the author's own draughts; confifting of the habits of the Chineſe, proceffionsand ſtate ofthe magiftrates, profpects of the cities and temples, animals, birds, vegetables, &c. Moſt of theſe are ſmall plates printed on the reſpective pages of the book,The large ones are in feparate fheets, and are chiefly the profpects of cities , palaces, orgreat proceffions. In the first part, An-hing or Anking. Viceroy of Kanton's feaft.Batavia. Hoay-gan (Whay-gan). Hu-kew. Kanton. Plan of the fame. Ka yu tfiu.Kan cheu. Kin-nun-gan. Ku-ching. Makow, or Makaw. Nam-hun, or Nan-hung.Nan-chang, or Kyang- fi. Nan-gan. Nan-kang. Nan-king. Pau-lin-fhi. Pe-king.Plan of the imperial palace there. Infide of the palace. The porcelain tower. Singlę. Tyen fyen way. Tong lieu, or Tong lou. Tung chang. Tung ling. V-fu.Van nun gan, or Van gan. Shan tfui. Shaw chew. Yam fe fu. In the fecond partthe infide of a temple. Mufa fruit. Order of the horſe in marching.The year following, M. de Thevenot publiſhed Nieuhoff's relation of the embaflyin his French collection of voyages and travels, taking up fixty folio pages. Thefeare accompanied with thirty-three figures, in fourteen or fifteen half ſheet plates. It isfollowed by a journal of the route of the Dutch from Kanton to Pe-king, an exact defcription of theſe two cities, the way of making china, &c. confifting of twenty-fevenpages; with a large draught of the road, twenty-three inches long, made by theauthor.Thevenot informs us that this tranflation is conformable to two Dutch copies, ofwhich he had the manufcripts, one of them figned Nieuhoff, and that he has neitherchanged nor added any thing from other authors. He judged it wrong to have mixedthe defcription of the provinces with Nieuhoff's remarks, fince it appeared from hisown confeffion , that the Dutch never ſtirred out of their lodgings either at Kanton orPe-king.HeWhether theſe deſcriptions were inferted in Nieuhoff's manuſcripts, as they are inhis printed relation in Dutch, or Thevenot faid this by way of cenfure on Carpentier'swork, we cannot determine; but it is certain, that the manuſcripts were accompaniedwith cuts. Nieuhoff declares, that he made accurate maps and plans of the countriesand towns, befides draughts of the beafts, birds, fifhes, plants, and other rarities.might have added of the inhabitants and the magiftrates, their ftate and proceffions.But Thevenot has omitted thofe of all the cities except Pe-king and Nan-king, becauſehe fays he found they did not tally at all with the defcription he gives of them, andfufpected they were merely the fruits of invention. He alledges another reafon forthis omiffion, that the cities of China being all alike, (according to the Chineſe geographers) when one has feen one, he has feen all. How far this plea would juſtifyfuch a proceeding, were the draughts genuine, we cannot fay; fince, let the uniformity in building and laying out the ſtreets be what it will, there would always be a confiderable variety in the profpects, arifing from the different fituation of the places, anddifpofition of the objects. As for the figures of plants and animals, which Thevenothas likewife left out, moft of them are inferted in his general deſcription of China,taken from Martini.The cuts which he has retained are engraved the fize of the originals, being generally much larger than thofe in Carpentier's edition, and more correct, perhaps, though not fo well finished, or fet out to advantage. The following is a list of them. I. Amap ofthe ambaffador's journey through China. 2. The young Viceroy of Kanton.3 A Tartar horfeman armed. 4. Tartar woman. 5. Garden of pleafure. 6. AMandarin. 7. Chineſe lady. 8. Two religious cloathed in yellow, with each a large 14 pairNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 233pair of beads. 9. Religious dreffed in black, with beads like thofe ufed by papifts.10. Religious mendicant, with a large brimmed hat. 11. A beggar with his headfhaped like a fugar loaf. 12. Sepulchre of a great lord. 13. Beggar carrying fireon his head to extort alms. 14. Another with a lump on his forehead as big as one'sfift, made by beating it againſt a ſtone. 15. Puniſhment of a religious taken in companywith lewd women. 16. A woman of pleaſure riding through the streets on an afs,with a man before her to hire her out. 17. Two beggars knocking their foreheads together to extort alms. 18. City of Nan-king, very finall view. 19. Streets of Nanking in perſpective. 20. Porcelain tower of Nan-king. 21. View of the city of Peking, very fmall. 22. A triumphal arch. 23. Temple of Shan-ti-ou. 24. Floatingvillage on the rivers. 25. A great junk, or veffel with mat fails. 26. Serpent veffel.27. Emperor's court, where the Dutch had audience. 28. A Tartar who with a ſtrapof leather makes as great a noiſe as the report of three piftols fired one after theother. 29. A forcerer, who fells wind to mariners with a bodkin through hischeek. 30. A waggon which carries three people very ſwiftly, though puſhedon by only one man. 31. A Tartar with his wife behind him. 32. A fhip with afort of wheel or low net inſtead of fails. 33. The ordinary dreſs of the Chineſe.In 1670, a Dutch relation of the fame embaffy was publiſhed at Amſterdam in folio,under the name of Nieuhoff, embelliſhed with a great number of cuts, and augmentedwith a deſcription of the provinces in the manner of Carpentier's edition, but not fwelled fo much with foreign matter.Soon after Ogilby publiſhed an account of the fame embaffy in Engliſh. The titleagrees more with the Leyden than the Amfterdam edition; nor is it mentioned whether the tranſlation was made from the Dutch or the French: however, as it appearsfrom the manner of introducing and relating things (not to mention its being free froma great number of fuperfluities with which the latter abounds) that it was not donefrom thence, we conclude that it is a verfion from the Dutch copy. The cuts whichare of the fame kind with thoſe in the French edition, but not near fo well engraved,are, doubtless, the cuts of the Amfterdam impreffion, taken from the original plates;for the explanations are given both in Dutch and Engliſh.Oftheſe ſeveral editions of this work, we think that of Thevenot to be both themoft exact and genuine. For which reafon we have uſed it as a check upon the Engliſh tranſlation, and have often fupplied it from thence; which additions, for diftinction's fake, are placed between hooks.SECT. I.—Attempts of the Dutch to fettle in China previous to the Embaffy. -Schedelfailsto Kanton.-Lands there: fent for by the Vice Roy: is well received: oppofed by thePortugueze.-Free Trade granted him, and revoked. -Waggenaar's attempt. -Portugueze arts.-The Defign mifcarries afecond Time.MARARTINI the jefuit having reported, among other things, that the Tartars hadproclaimed a free trade in the city of Kanton to all foreigners, the governmentof Batavia refolved to knowthe truth of this report, by fending a fhip thither from Taywan in Formofa.Accordingly, (the twentieth of January, 1653) Frederick Schedel, a merchant, fetfail in a frigate called the Brown-fiſh, richly freighted, to the value of forty-fix thoufand feven hundred and twenty feven crowns, ) and in nine days landed at Hey-ta-menin Kanton river.VOL. VII. H HThere234 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.There the Hayto-nu, or admiral of the fea, came aboard to falute him in behalf ofthe magiftrates of Kanton. Schedel treated him handfomely, and then accompaniedhim afhore: but coming near the city, he landed in great ftate, without ſpeaking aword to Schedel, who was put into another veffel in a very flighty manner, and carried to the farther end of the city. There he was fearched and treated with ill language by Emanuel de Lucifierro, a Portugueze, and others.Towards night feveral Tartars came to vifit him, who after awhile carried him toan idol temple, where the priests had ſpent all the night at their devotions to foretelthe fuccefs which thefe ftrangers were to have. In his abfence fome mandorins, by order of the two viceroys, who rule in Kanton, with equal power, came and opened hischefts, where the prefents lay. After taking an account of them , they flung themfcornfully about. They were likewife carrying off the general of Batavia's letter to theviceroys, but meeting Schedel, flung it in his face, reproaching him as if the Hollanders came only to betray their country.Schedel finding himſelf thus unhandfomely dealt with by the Kantonians, began toconfider which way to pacify and undeceive them. Having bethought himſelf of fomebottles of rare wine among the prefents, he called for one, and defired the mandorinsto tafte of it. The liquor pleafing their palates, they toffed off their cups freely; andat length became fo well reconciled to the Dutch merchant, that they begged his pardon for what had paffed: acknowledging that the Portugueze had infufed thofe notionsinto their heads; but that now they were convinced they were falfe, and he might depend on civil ufa*ge for the future.genNext day, by fun rife, Schedel was fent for by the old viceroy Pig-na-mong. Hewas followed by crowds of mob, giving him ill language. Some cried, Howfinely ironfetters would become his legs; others pointed at him with their fingers, and fome blewlice upon his followers; at length two mandorins brought him to the court. The viceroy was feated on his throne, which ſtood in the midst of the palace on an high, fquareplatform , and was covered with rich filk. Round him ſtood about two hundredtlemen, with the admiral, all cloathed in the Tartar faſhion. The viceroy having received the letter and prefents from Schedel, as well as heard what he had to ſay againſtthe calumnies laid to the charge of the Dutch, he was fo well fatisfied, that he caufedhim to fit down next his throne among his chief grandees, and invited him to a ſplendid dinner prepared on purpoſe. The table appointed for Schedel and his companywas covered with thirty-two filver diſhes, heaped with dainties; and drink was ſervedin gold cups.During the entertainment, the viceroy fent to afk feveral queftions concerning thecondition and government of Holland: after which he was difmiffed with great reſpect,and conducted by the Hay-to-nu, with the letter and prefents, to the young viceroySig- na-mong, who received him likewife very politely, and invited him to dinner, butfeemed rather to fide with the Portugueze. His mother, but newly arrived from Tartary, being defirous to fee the Dutch, fent for Schedel and his followers; who brokeoff abruptly in the middle of his fpeech, and went. He found her with her attendantswaiting for him in an open hall, and was courteoufly received. During his ftay, heordered his trumpets to found, which much delighted and obliged the ladies. Afterthis he returned to the viceroy, and finiſhed his difcourfe. From thence he was conducted in great ſtate by the Hay-to-nu to the great mandorin, Tu-tang, who was thethird perfon in the government (of the province): but this officer was content to takea view of Schedel through a window, and fuffered him to depart without offering himtheNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 235the leaft civility in his houſe, ſo that he was forced to provide another lodging for himfelf and his company.The governor and council of Ma-kaw, to ftifle this negotiation in its birth, not onlyendeavoured to corrupt and prejudice the Hay-to-nu, but fent a formal embaffy toKanton, in order to repreſent the Dutch as a faithleſs people, and kind of pirates; who,having no proper refidence on land, had made themſelves formidable by fea, had takenHay-tay mon, at the mouth of Kanton river, made peace with the Chineſe pirate Koxinga, plundered their merchants, and were now come to force their way into China.The Pori, or philofophers, alfo at Kanton joined in reprefenting them as fraudulentdealers.But the viceroys, by the advice of the Hay-to-nu, whom Schedel had engaged, returned for anfwer, thad notwithſtanding reports, they had a good opinion ofthe Dutch,and judged that China would receive much benefit from a commerce with them.Hereupon they publiſhed in writing their confent to a free trade; and gave Schedelleave to erect a factory. Matters were at this pafs, when a commiffioner, newly arrived from Pe-king, diffuaded the viceroy againſt what he had done; alledging, that although he might grant a port for trade to foreigners, he ought not to allow them aconftant refidence in the country without the Emperor's confent. This remonftrancefo much perplexed the viceroy, that he adviſed Schedel forthwith to depart for thattime; left, as he faid, the King of Batavia (meaning the general) might think theywere kept prifoners at Kanton. Schedel accordingly, two days after, fet fail, withtwo letters from the viceroys to Nicholas Verburgh, commander at Tay- wan; wherein they offered the general their friendſhips, and adviſed him, in cafe he defired a freetrade in China, to fend an ambaſſador with rich prefents to the Great Khan.The government of Batavia hereupon wrote to their principals in Holland for directions; and in the mean time, to keep the bufinefs on foot, fent Zacharias Waggenaarto China with two loaden veffels, the Shellfish and Brownfish. (To him Schedel wasjoined as an affiiftant. ) Being arrived at Wang-fu, within three miles of Kanton, theyremained three days without fending any afhore; but finding none came aboard, theyfent one ofthe company ( Schedel) to land, who applied himſelf to the Hay-to-nu. Thisofficer referred him to the Tu-tang, whofe fecretary acquainted him, that the Portuguefe had obtained a letter from Pe-king to the magiftrates of Kanton, adviſing themto have a watchful eye over the Dutch, eſpecially if they came without an ambaffador,for that they were a treacherous lying people; and that for fear of being known inChina, durft not appear at Pe-king.At the fame time there came an officer from Ma-kaw with a requeſt, that an embargo might be laid on the Dutch fhips there, under pretence that they had formerly, in apiratical way, taken feveral of their fhips. The Portugueſe likewife, to prevent theHollanders from obtaining a liberty of trade, paid an arrear of four years tax. In fhortWaggenaar deſpaired of fuccefs, although the men in power flattered him with hopes:meantime nobody was fuffered to pafs to or from him, by two or three of the viceroy's veffels. At laſt the meſſenger came back with the Tou-tang's fecretary, andtwo mandorin's; with orders for the fhips to come within half-a-mile of the city, andlie there till the Portugueſe officer, (who was to know nothing of the arrival of theDutch) was gone. On this occafion, Waggenaar was prefented with feveral rarities,to fhewthat they were received as friends; but none of his company were fuffered togo afhore.But just Afterwards the Hay-to-nu came aboard to conduct Waggenaar to court.as he was taking horfe, there came two mandorins to know his buſineſs, and if he hadbrought HH 2236 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.brought any letters for the Great Khan, or the Tou-tang. They added that thePortugueſe were the cauſe of this miſunderſtanding; and that if the Dutch wouldappear before the viceroy, they must be very liberal to all about him. Waggenaarmade anfwer, that he was willing to bribe the viceroy or his courtiers to take theletters and prefents which he brought; but yet he would give a good fun of moneythe perfon who fhould procure them a free trade for that year at Kanton. Duringthis conference, the Hay- to-nu, returned with word, that the viceroy could not fee him,but that he would read his letter. Waggenaar fent it, and the viceroy's interpretercame foon after to inform him; that the reafon why he could not be admitted to thefpeech of his mafter, was, becauſe the Dutch had not brought with them any letters orprefents for the Emperor, as had been earneftly recommended by him.When Waggenaar faw that he could effect nothing at Kanton, he returned to Batavia. Thoſe people were not afhamed to demand ten thoufand tael of filver only torender the letter and prefents acceptable to the viceroy; before any conference couldbe had about carrying on a trade.SECT. II.-The Embaſſy of Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyzer to Peking. -The Ambaffador fet out from Batavia.-City of Ma-kaw. Hey-ta- mon Port.-Arrive atKanton. -Vifited by a Mandorin. -Are obliged to return on Board. -The Viceroy'sFeaft.-Order of it.-A favourable Anfwer from the Emperor. -The old Viceroy'sEntertainment. Theypreparefor their Journey to Pe-king by Water.-ACCORDING to the propofal of the general John Maatzuiker, and the councilof India, the governors of the Eaft India company at Amfterdam ordered an embaffyto be fent from Batavia to the Great Khan; whereupon Peter de Goyer and Jacob deKeyzer, merchants, were chofen for that purpoſe. Their train confifted of fourteenperfons, viz. two merchants, fix waiters, a fteward, a furgeon, two interpreters, atrumpeter, and a drummer. They took with them alfo two merchants more to takecare of the traffic at Kanton during their journey to Pe-king. Their prefents confiftedof feveral rich pieces of woolen cloath, fine linen, feveral forts of fpices, coral, littleboxes of wax, perſpective and looking glaffes, fwords, guns, feathers, armour, &c.The purport of their commiffion was to eſtabliſh a firm league with the Emperor, andobtain a free trade for the Dutch throughout his dominions. The fourteenth of June,1655, they ſet fail in two yatchts, which were to carry them to Kanton and thence toPe-king; and on the fame day, in July following paffed by Ma-kaw.This city is built on a very high rock, furrounded by the fea on all fides, exceptthe northern, where it joins the iſland of Ma-kaw, by a narrow neck of land. Thereis no port for large fhips, the fea there not being very deep. It is famous for cannon ,which are made of Chineſe and Japan copper. The town is walled, and towards theland defended by two caftles, erected on little hills. The name is compounded ofAma, an idol formerly there, and Gaw, a fafe harbour, in Chineſe. The Portuguezehaving been allowed this waſte ſpot to build a town upon, it foon became a flouriſhingcity, and the greateſt mart in Afia. They have the priviledge of trading twice a yearat Kanton. It is entered in their cuſtom books, that when commerce flouriſhed there,they exported from Kanton above three hundred chefts of filk, an hundred and fiftypieces in each: two thouſand five hundred ingots of gold, each weighing thirteenounces; eight hundred weight of muſk, befides great quantities of gold thread, linen,raw filk, precious ftones, pearls, &c.TheEngraved byGeorge Coake . Drawn byWAlexander ,F.S.A.Excavation onthe cast side ofCanton Rivertaken Jan 10,794. )(ر

NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 237The eighteenth, they caft anchor in the port of Hey-ta-mon, an exceeding pleaſantplace, and commodious for trade. Prefently a bark full of foldiers came on board inthe governor's name to know the occafion of their coming. The ambaffadors fenttheir fecretary, Henry Baron, to inform him by word of mouth. He was conductedto the governor's bed- chamber, who received him courteously; but aſked him, whythe Dutch returned thither, and whether they were not forbidden to come toKanton?Six days after, there came two mandorins from that city to infpect the ambaſſador'scredentials, for whom they fent to the governor's houfe near the village of Lam-me, alittle higher in the river. The governor fat between the two mandorins, guarded by foldiers. They were received very courteouſly, and having fhewed their credentials at adiſtance, chairs were fet for them to fit down.On the twenty-ninth, a new Hay-tow and a vice-admiral came to conduct them toKanton. The ambaffadors at their requeſt went again afhore, and were led to an idoltemple, where being received after the ufual manner, they ſpread their credentials onthe table. Then the Hay-tow afked them feveral queftions concerning their voyage,the ſhips, their letter and prefents. He wondered that there was no letter for the Towtang of Kanton, and that the Emperor's was put up fo meanly; giving them to underftand, that it ought to have been wrapped in a gold purfe or box. At parting, thecommiffioners promiſed to come on board the next day to receive the preſents.Accordingly they came with a numerous attendance in veffels decked with ſtreamers;and carried the ambaffadors with their fecretary and four others in one of their veffelsto Kanton: where being arrived, the Hay-tow and vice-admiral went into the citywithout ſpeaking a word to them. After waiting about two hours at the gate, theywere fent for by the viceroy, and conducted to the lodging which Schedel formerlyhad, where they were attended by the city-marſhal.The thirty- first, they were vifited by the Pu-tfyen-fin, the Emperor's treaſurer, whowas the fourth man in the city. Here they underwent a new examination; as, Howlong they had been married? Their names and employments? If the Emperor's letterwas not written on better paper than the viceroy's? How their prince and king wascalled, and the like? They feemed to be difpleafed at the flight faſhion of the credentials, and afked whether the prince and government of Holland had no ftamp or fealfor their letters. To the requeſt of the ambaffadors, that they might have audience ofthe viceroy's, and leave to go to Pe-king, it was anfwered, that they could have noaudience of any one in Kanton till an anſwer to the letter came from court: however,the viceroys promiſed to vifit them.Auguft the fecond, the ambaffador's retinue in the yatcht were conducted up theriver by four great war fhips ofthe viceroy's. The fhires were full of populous villages and fruitful fields. Arriving the fourth before the ambaſſador's lodgings at Kanton, they were obliged to return on board: under pretence that no ambaffadors to theEmperor were to refide there without exprefs order, and that the governors could notanſwer it to his Majefty in cafe any accident fhould happen to them afhore. Twomandorins alfo brought the credentials opened, faying, the viceroys durft not receivethem till they had received advice from Pe- king.The ambaffadors, after three weeks ftay on board, had leave to land with their followers, and poffefs their former lodgings, but were not permitted by their guards towalk the streets.Two days after, there came a mandorin from the viceroy to inform, that to obtaintheir fuit, they could not give the Emperor's council at Pe-king leſs than three hundredI tael238 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.tael of filver. The ambaffadors anfwered, that if their bufinefs could not be donewithout bribes, it would be better for them to depart; and finding; after they had offered an hundred and thirty-five tael, that the fame demand was daily repeated, theybegan to fend their goods on board in order to be gone. The viceroys feeing this,fent word, that they must not ftir till farther advice from Pe-king, and accepted a notefor an hundred and thirty-fix tael: after which, on the nineteenth of September, they invited the ambaffadors to a fplendid feaft in an open plain near their lodgings, whereten ſtately tents were pitched for that purpofe. That of the viceroys was erected inthe middle, on the left of which flood the ambaffadors, and on the right the tent forthe mufic. The ambaffadors were led from their tent in great pomp by two ofthechief mandorins in the prefence ofthe viceroys; and after fome compliments conductedback again.Meantime the old viceroy's fteward, dreffed in fky-coloured filk, embroidered withgold and filver dragons, and a coral chain about his neck, (which is the habit ofthemandorins) advancing through the dividing crowd, ordered two of his attendants toferve up the dinner. There was a table fpread with rich carpets for the viceroys,another for the Teu-tang, and a third for the ambaffadors; each covered with fortylittle diſhes, or plates, heaped with delicious victuals and fweet meats. After the viceroys had drank to their healths in tea, the fteward defired them to fall to. Theywere very merry, drank to the ambaffadors, made apologies for the entertainment, andafked feveral queftions relating to Holland. About the middle of the treat the ambaffadors drank their healths in a glaſs of Spaniſh wine, which pleaſed them fo well, thatfor it they quitted their Sam zou, which is made of rice, and not much inferior to anyEuropean wines. During the feaft they were diverted with both vocal and inftrumentalmufic. Every thing paffed with as much filence and order as in a private family. Theviceroy's children difcovered the moft polite education. A little before dinner wasover, they rofe from table, and as they paffed by their father's tent, fell on their kneesand bowed three times, with their faces towards the ground.After four or five month's delay, came the Emperor's anfwers to the Tu-tang's twoletters. Bythe first, the ambaffadors, with a few followers only, and four interpreterswere permitted to repair to court to treat about commerce; butbythe fecond, his Majefty was pleafed to grant a free trade to the Dutch, and expected the ambaffadors tocome and give him thanks for that favour.The fecond of November, the Tu-tang of Heriju came with ſeveral veffels in greatftate purely to viſit the ambaffadors in a moft courteous manner. December the thirtieth, the young viceroy departed by water with a great army to quell a rebellion inthe province of Quang-fi. Before he fet out, he confulted his forcerers, who declaredthat his undertaking would prove unfortunate; but falling out quite otherwiſe, at hisreturn he demolished their temples and images inftead of themſelves, who were fled.Thefe viceroys were not relations but friends, bred in Pe-king; where their fathers having been put to death by the laſt Chineſe Emperor, they fled to Quantong, at that time.invaded by Great Khan, to whom they applied for redrefs, and were promoted to thedignities they then enjoyed.The ambaffadors having taken their leave ofthe old viceroy, and obtained his paſs, onthe twenty-feventh of February he invited them to dinner at his palace; the galleries,courts and halls of which were richly furnished with pictures, filk hangings, and carpets. During the entertainment, which was fplendid, he fported with his children, ofwhom the interpreter faid he had fifty-fix. Next day they were treated at the youngviceroy's court, though abfent. The feaft was accompanied with a farce, confifting of5 perfonsNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.239perfons dancing in the fhapes of lions, tygers, and other wild beafts. This prince'smother often appeared at a window in the apartment to view the company. She wasrichly dreffed after the Tartar fafhion, middle fized, flender, of a brown complexionand taking countenance. At their entrance they found a very rich painted chair ap--pointed for her Majefty, to which, in honour to her, they paid their refpects .The ambaffadors being to perform their journey to Pe-king by water, hired a largeveffel to themſelves: there were befides fifty more procured at the Emperor's chargeto carry their attendants and goods. The command of this fleet was given by theTu-tang to Pinxenton, with whom were joined two other mandorins. Befides themariners and rowers, there was ftore of foldiers on board, under the command of twoconfiderable perfons. As foon as the ambaffadors embarked, they cauſed PrinceWilliam of Naffau's flag to be hung out; and poft boys were diſpatched to themagiſtrates of the next towns in the way, with notice of their approach, and orders for their reception.SECT. III. -The Ambaſſadors Journey from Kanton to-Nan-gan-fu, in the Province ofKyang-fi. -They leave Kanton.-San-fhevi-byen. -Chineſe mifery under the Tartars-San-ivin, or ywen. -Dreadful Mountains .-In-ta-byen. -Mong-ley City. -Thawchew-few -Lu-zu, a Chineſe Saint. - Five-Horfe-heads Hills.-Nan-byongfu- . - Goodsnot fearched here.-The Governor feasts the Ambaſſadors. -Mountain Mulin.-Arrive at Nan-gan-fu in Kyang-fi.LEAVING Kanton the feventeenth of March, they were rowed up the fpaciousriver of Tay, cloſe to the city, which made a moft delightful proſpect . The ſmalltowns, which are very numerous between Pe-king and Kanton, welcomed them bytheir cannon as they paffed by. After fome time, they ftruck into the Zin called byforeigners the European ftream. Towards evening they came to the village Sa-bu,about fix miles from Kanton: the foil is very fruitful, and the place, though inhabitedmoftly by peaſants and filk weavers, has many good buildings.The nineteenth, they got to Shan-fhevi, the eleventh fmall city depending on Kanton, and about twenty miles diftant.It ftands (about a league from the river on the right fide) in a very pleafantvale: it is not very large, but was formerly exceedingly populous, and full of trade.The magiftrates caufed the fide of the river to be lined with foot foldiers to receivethe ambaffadors, and fent them a few prefents for their table: but underſtanding thatit was not the tenth part of what the Emperor allowed for that purpoſe, they thoughtfit to refuſe their civilities both here and in other places. Here they refreſhed in a tentby the river fide, before which the Tartars exercifed their arms with much dexterity.One ofthem fhot an arrow thrice together through the mark, but four inches broad,at the diſtance of thirty-five paces; for which he was rewarded with a fmall piece ofmoney.The viceroy's fecretary, who had conducted them thus far, took leave, and returnedto Kanton, having been nobly treated the night before. They went forward veryflowly, being towed againſt the narrow ſtream with vaft fatigue by the poor Chineſe,whom the Tartars compel to hawl their boats. They often flip into narrow paths,and are drowned; and if any grow faint and weary, there is one who follows andnever leaves beating them till they go on or die: however they are relieved fromtime to time,The240 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHina.The twenty-firft, about midnight, they came to San-ivin, about forty miles fromShan-fhivi. The magiftrates of this city met them on the way. It is not large now,though ftrongly fituated and populous, till the Tartars deſtroyed it.Here the river becomes rapid from the torrents that defcend from the mountainSang-wan-hab, the higheft and most uncouth in all China. Its many tops are wrappedin clouds, which make the paffa*ge at the bottom dark and gloomy.On the fide next the river ftands a curious idol temple, richly adorned, to whichthey afcend by ſteps to make their offerings. They were three days getting clear ofthefe difmal mountains, where they faw but one folitary village, called Quam-ton- low.In fome places between the hills lie pleaſant corn fields. Thevenot's copy adds, thatSang-wim-thap fignifies the flying mountain, on account of a temple now ruined, whichwas conveyed thither in one night's time from fome place to the north.The twenty-fourth, they came to In-ta. This fmall city lies very pleafantly on anangle of the river on the right (or weft) fide, over againſt the mountain Sang-wan- hab:its walls are high and indifferently ſtrong, the houſes and temples ftately. It was formerly very rich and populous; it has a fafe harbour for veffels againſt the impetuouscurrent of the river, at the entrance whereof, on the right, appears a very curious highThe ambaffadors veffel was hereabouts in great danger, having been driven,by the violence of the ftream, againſt a funk rock.Next day, they came in fight of the wonderful temple of Konianfiam, held in asgreat veneration as that of Sang-won-hab: it ftands on the river fide, in a folitary,mountainous country: the way to it is firft by ſtone ſteps, and then through darkpaffa*ges. After the Chineſe had performed their devotions, the ambaffadors vifited it.The twenty-feventh, they reached Mong-ley, which makes a moſt pleaſant profpectat a diftance. You afcend from the water fide by ftately ftone-ſteps to the gate of thecity the walls are high and fortified with tall bulwarks and watch-towers.The twenty-eighth, in the night, there happened a moft dreadful tempeft, with thunder and lightning. Many fhips were fhattered: fome loft their mafts with all theirtackle and rigging; others, driven afhore, were beaten in pieces, and all their mendrowned.On the twenty-ninth, they came with the remainder of the fleet before Shaw-chew,the fecond city in the province. It lies about thirty miles from In-ta, upon an anglenear the weft fide of the river; its fituation and fafe harbour rendering it a place of avery great trade.This city on the weft fide is inclofed with high and delightful hills, and on the otherfide, beyond the river, has a very populous, rich, and well built fuburb. In the middle of the water ftands a curious tower upon a finall rock; there is a pretty good wallabout it, but within nothing but ruins; which, however, witnefs its former fplendour.Toward the fouth this river is called Si-an, and fometimes Si-ho. It is formed bythe rivers Chin and Vau, which meet not far from this city, and make an impetuousftream over funk rocks, often fatal to veffels, in fpite of the idol temple built by thewater fide for their protection.Upon the Maw- wha, near a delightful valley, ftands a monaftery with a ſpacioustemple. It was built by Lu-zu, a reputed faint, who fpent all his time to grindand fift rice for the monks, and wore iron chains day and night on his nakedbody. Thefe made holes in his flefh, which, for want of drefling, putrified andbred nefts of worms: yet Lu- zu would not fuffer them to be removed, but whenany one dropped off, he would take it up again and fay, Have you not fufficient to feaftyourfelves left? Whythen forfake you my body, where you are welcome to feed? TheambaffadorsEngraved byGeorge co*ke . Drawn byW.Alazando ,F.S.A. View atSon tihoon -fouProvince ofKiang China -nanTaken (21793. Nov )

wwEngraved byGeorge Cooke-The City ofShau -Chow fir .

Cooke Gerge byEngravedHeadsorse the Five The Mountain ofthnear Chen Thu PaNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 241ambaffadors pitched their tents near the walls, where the magiftrates and governorbrought feveral preſents for their table, which, not being upon the Emperor's account,were accepted, and themſelves nobly treated.Next morning, early, they drew near a mountain, which the Tartars, for its ſtrangefhape, call the Five-horfes- heads. Upon the tops of thefe hills, which are coveredwith clouds, and feemed inacceffible, ftood feveral odd ftructures, fome entire, othersruinous. Juft beyond this mountain they were in great danger among other rocks andfteep affents, called the Five ugly Devils, the river being full of fplit fhips lying underwater. At length they got to Suyt-jeen, whofe hills, intermixed with charming vales,ftand along the river in as much order as if placed by art. The tops of them afford afurpriſing profpect.The fourth of April, they came to Nam-hung, the third chief city of Quang-tong,and frontier onthis fide. It lies about forty miles from Thau-chew, is very large andwell fituated, fortified with walls and bulwarks: it is divided by the river, covered witha bridge: it is full of idol temples, and noble ſtructures. There is alſo a cuſtomhoufe, where they receive the Emperor's dues for all goods exported or imported:but there is notumbling ofthe commodities, or fees to fearchers, the bills of lading being taken on the merchant's word.There is no better mould in all China for making earthen ware. Not far fromhence is a river, called Me-kyang, or Ink-water, from its blackneſs, whofe fiſh, whichare commonly very white, are much eſteemed.The ambaffadors on their arrival going immediately on fhore, the governor and magiftrates fent a letter of compliment, and not long after came themſelves in perfon, andwere nobly treated. Next day the governor gave the Dutch a ſplendid dinner. Heand the magiftrates fat all at one fide of the table, that the diſhes might be removedwithout any diſturbance to the company. They were not ferved up all at once, (according to the cuſtom of the Chinefe, ) but only two at a time to each perfon, in fixteencourfes. When dinner was over, every gueſt laid a piece of money at the governor'sfeet, to be divided among the muficians and waiters. The ambaffadors prefented themwith fix tael of filver, and fome filks, which the governor at firſt refuſed, but at laſtaccepted it.At Nan-hyong they quitted their veffels to go to Nan-gan, the next city on theroad, by land; but the high hills and rugged afcents make travelling very troublefome. The mountain called Mu-glin, that was more difficult than all the reft, one ofthe governors levelled at his own charge, fo that it is now very paffable; for whichthe inhabitants erected to his honour a ftately temple. They were carried over themountains in horfe litters, and to protect them againſt robbers that infeſted the road,had a guard appointed of an hundred and fifty foldiers; which, with thoſe who carried the goods, made a regiment of at leaſt fix hundred men.The ambaffadors lodged the first night upon the mountains, in the vilage Su-fan,about half way over, whofe inhabitants had fled for fear of them.Next day, about noon, they came to a narrow mountain, which ſeparates the provinces of Quang- tong and Kyang-fi. It was adorned with feveral fair idol temples;and though no better than a wilderneſs, yet is rendered very delightful by its woodsand vallies. At night they came to Nan-gan, the thirteenth firft rank city ofKyang-fi.VOL. VII. I ISECT.242 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.---SECT. IV. ―Their Journey by Water from Nan-gan-fu to the Borders of the Province ofKyang-nan, or Nan-king. The Ambaſſador's Reception at Nan-gan-fu. -Great Tradethere. -AWhirlpool in the River.-Nan-kang-hyen.- Kan-chew -fu. -Agreat Tutang.The City defcribed. -Famous Temple. -Van-nan-gan City. -Lin-ge-iven. -Pek-kinfe. -Tay-ko-byen.-Kin-un-gan -fu. -Dangerous Rocks. -Kye-fhevi-byen. Kya-kyang.byen. Mountain Mung -Fung- ching-byen. -Nan-chang-fu. -The Tu-tang's Civility.-City defcribed.-Famous Temple.-The Philofopher's Elixir. -V-fyen-byen. - ChinaWare. -Nan-kang-fu. -Temples and Monafteries. -Hu-kew-byen. - Peng-fe-byen.-Chinese Superftition.THE ambaffador's being arrived at Nan-gan, the governor fent to receive them atthe city gate, and with fome perfons of quality vifited them at their lodgings: he fentthem likewife a handfome collection at the charge of the town, whoſe principal inhabitants often came to fee them.The commiflioner appointed to furniſh them with boats here, not being able to getthem ready fo foon as he defired, Pinxenton rated him with fuch bitter expreffions,that taking it to heart, he drew his knife and would have ftabbed himſelf, had he notbeen prevented by one of that mandorin's fervants.The country about this city is very pleaſant and fruitful, furrounded with hills, oneof which, for its delightfulneſs, being called Si-hoa, that is, a place of pleaſure.This city is divided equally by an arm of the river Chang, which renders it a placeof great trade; all merchandizes defigned for Quang-tong and other neighbouring.parts being unladen here.The fouth part of this city is well built and populous, but it falls fhort of Nang-hungfor bignefs and ftrength; although the Tartars were more favourable to it, forbearing to destroy fuch fabricks as were of any note. On the north fide is anidol temple, furprizingly rich and well contrived. The ambaffadors ftaid here fourdays.The river Kan runs here as ſwift as an arrow from the bow, and is full of banks,fanks, and fhoals; fo that, though they went down the ftream, their fhips were oftenin danger. In this paffa*ge the bark, in which was one of the ambaffadors, with theprefents to the Great Khân, fell into a whirlpool, and being whirled about by the eddjes, at laft ran aground, and could not be gotten off till they had unladen her: themandorins commanded the waterman and mafter to be feverely lafhed with a thick leather whip for their neglect; but the amballadors interceded for the latter.The fourteenth, they paffed by the fmall city Nan-kang, on the left fide of the riverChang it is fquare, inclofed with a ftrong wall twenty-five foot high: it has fourgates near a mile afunder. It was totally ruined in the Tartar war, and its trade deftroyed. They landed here at their return. On the river fide ftands an high tower,ftrong and well built. In the ftreet leading from the fouth gate, is the governor'spalace, and at the end of it a noble triumphal arch, which the Tartars fpared.The fifteenth, they came to Kan-chew, the twelfth city ofthe first rank in Kiang-fi,and were vifited aboard by fome great mandorins in the name of the magiftrates. Theambaffadors in return vifited the great Tu-tang of this city, who received them withextraordinary courteſy, and conducted them into his private apartment, where he placedthem on his right hand. This officer had the command over the provinces of Kyang7fi,

.Cooke George byEngraved Drawn byAlexander ,F.S.A.1815Chinese ATemplenHang -tho fouNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. $243fi, Fo-kyen, Hu-quang, and Quan-tung, and confequently was not much inferior toa viceroy.The ambaffadors offered him fome prefents, but he refufed them politely, faying,that he did not refuſe them out of a Chineſe diffimulation, but only to obferve thecuftom of their country; which was not to receive prefents from any foreigners, tillthey had made their appearance at the imperial court.try.Kan-chew ftands clofe to the river Kan (on the eaft fide) , in a moſt delighful counThe city is fquare, and furrounded with an high ftone wall, about two miles incompafs, in which are four gates. It is a place of great trade; the ſtreets are handfomely paved, and well built. At the east end ftands an high well built tower.This town abounds with temples, richly adorned with pictures and images, one ofwhich, called Kiul-kye-fti-myau, or the church of Kuil-kye-fti, may be reckonedamongst the moſt eminent in all China.Round the walls of this temple were feveral bedsteads for travellers and priefts tolodge in; for thefe places generally ferve for inns. In the porch on each fide ſtoodtwo giants of plaifter, one fighting with a dragon, the other had a dwarf lying underhis feet, with a drawn fword in his hand. Beyond the river, upon an high hill, ftandsa temple, with a fmall but curious chapel near it, where paffengers make offerings toeſcape the rocks and fhoals. Ifthey mifcarry, they impute the cauſe to the meanneſsof the gift, or fome other fault in themſelves.At the place where the two rivers Chang and Kan meet, the ftream is croffed by along bridge of boats, covered with planks, at the end of which ſtands a toll houfe."The eighteenth, they paffed by the ruinous city of Vannungam, which lies cloſe tothe river Kan, on the eaft fide. The Tartars left nothing ſtanding that was any waysremarkable: it appears to have been a wondrous delightful place, very regularly built,and full of inhabitants. The adjacent country produces two crops a-year; and not faroff lies an hill with a filver mine, but the law forbids the digging for filver.On the eaſt fide of this city is a mountain, called Chau, whofe top reaches to theclouds; yet it is covered with trees and plants from bottom to top.About half a mile from this place they faw lying the fixth fmall city, called Lingeiven, which has a fmall inlet of the river Kan running up to it; but the whole layin ruins, the Tartars having left nothing ſtanding but one triumphal arch.They came next to an eminent village called Pekkinfa, moſt pleaſantly fituated,where is a good trade for all naval materials. A great way on this fide you feefeveral cliffs cut in a furpriſing manner, but ruined by the Tartars. The authorfound one of them to be forty foot high. The like artificial rocks are to be ſeenin the Emperor's palace.Late in the evening they came to the fmall city Tay-ko, on the weft fide of the Kan,towards which it hath high and ftrong walls. It ftands in a charming country. Theftreets are well enough paved, but very ſmall and narrow. All the ſtately edificeswere deftroyed by the Tartars, except an high tower and ſome idol temples.The twenty-ninth of April, they arrived at Kin-un-gam, called by fome Kyegan,the ninth prime city of Kyang-fi: it ſtands in an hilly country, about forty miles fromTay-ko, or the weſtern fide of the Kan. It is defended with tall battlements: butwithin all its noble ſtructures are deftroyed by the Tartars, whom it refifted; excepta few idol temples, one of which of modern building ftands in an ifland oppofite to thecity. There are faid to be gold and filver mines in its neighbourhood.The river near this city is very dangerous, from the rocks and fhoals, called by thenatives, Ze-pa-tan, which require expert pilots.II 2 At244 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.At night they got beyond Kye-fhwi, (a city of the third rank), on the river Chang,along which is a ſtrong wall fifteen feet high. It is a mile and a half in compaſs, andfurrounded with hills.Next day they paffed by Kya-kyang, (another city of the third rank. ) It ftands onthe north fide of the Kan, about thirty miles from Kye-ſhevi, at the foot of a mountain.Agood part of its wall is built on the hills, and enclofe ploughed grounds. Moſt ofthe houſes were demoliſhed by the Tartars. Here is an ancient idol temple, famousfor two gates, each being of one entire ftone. Not far off ftands the mountain Mung,whoſe top reaches the clouds, and fides are cloathed with woods and paſtures.Towards evening they got to Sin-kin, (a third rank city, ) about twenty miles fromKya-kyang, which it reſembles in fize and ruins. In the middle of the wall towardsthe Kan, is a very high and well built gate.The twenty-fecond, fetting fail early, they arrived at noon before Fung-ching, (athird rate city. ) It stands in a flat foil, is built ſquare, and ſurrounded with an highwall above a mile in compaſs. On the north fide is a populous well built fuburb.Two great and high triumphal arches are much defaced, among other fine ſtructures,by the late wars. From the mountain Pe-chang, not far diftant, falls a mighty torrentof water with a moſt hideous noiſe.The twenty-third of April, they came to Nan chang, the chief city of Kyang-fi, bywhich name alſo it is called by fome. The magiftrates immediately fent four verycommodious boats to fetch them afhore, by reafon of the fands. Not long after theycame themſelves to welcome them, and caufed the mandorin Pinxenton to reſtore tothe ambaffadors one of the two boats which he had taken for his own uſe.Next day the ambaffador de Goyer (for de Keyzer was out of order) with all thetrain went to vifit the Tu-tang, or governor. He fhewed his diſpleaſure at his interpreter for bringing the ambaffador afoot, faying, that fuch perfons as came from foremote parts, to congratulate his imperial majefty upon his victories and profperities,ought to be received in great ſtate: he was alfo very much offended at the Kanton mandorins, calling them affes. After the ambaſſador had taken his leave, one of the govenor's gentlemen brought him a fine horſe, and his fecretary another, on which theyrode to the water fide. When the ambaffadors fet fail, they were faluted with thegreat guns from the walls of the city; nor would the Tu-tang receive the preſents theyoffered him for the reafon given by the great Tu tang of Kan-chew.Nan-chang ftands about five miles from Fung-ching, near the great lake Po-yang,and is encloſed with a ſtream like an ifland: it is fquare, with high walls and fevengates, four of them very handfome. This city boafts four ftately temples, which arevery richly adorned, and full of images. The most famous of them, called Thi-fikong, is covered with glittering pantiles. At the entrance ftands three buildings together; in the first is an idol, called Kou-ya, he fits amongſt a great many others on arich feat, cloathed after the manner of the old Romans, with a crimſon mantle hanging over his fhoulders: on each fide upon an high pole are two terrible dragons, withtheir necks extended, hiffing. Round the ſecond ſtructure is a broad gallery full ofidols.On the right hand, as you enter the firſt of theſe edifices, there is a fquare wellfull to the brim, twelve paces diameter, and curiouſly adorned with white ſtone.The Chineſe believe ftrange things of this idol Kou-ya and the well: they ſay, thatformerly he dwelt here, and was very charitable to the poor; that his treaſure wasnever exhauſted, becauſe, being a great alchymift, he was poffeffed of the elixir, whichconverts all metals into gold: that by order of their gods, he once, like a fecond St.George,NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 245George, overcame a moſt hideous dragon, which threatened deftruction to the city;and having bound him to an iron pillar, flung him into the well. That at laſt he withall his family were taken up into heaven; and that in return for his fervices, the inhabitants erected this temple to him. Many other ftories were told us of this their deity.Moſt of the other rare buildings were deftroyed by the Tartars. In the laſt war, theprovince having revolted from thofe conquerors, under the governor Kuins, born inLyau-tong, after feveral battles, he was befieged in this city. After four months,being preffed by famine, he forced his way with his followers through the Tartararmy; which, entering the city, they deftroyed it with all the inhabitants.The twenty-fifth, they came to the village V-fyen-yen, famous for fhipping. Therewas then a great refort from all parts of the empire to lade with China ware. It liesnear to the lake Po-yang, on the fide of the river Kan, and is above a mile long: it isfull of trade, and very handfomely built. On the fide of a mountain near this placeſtands a well built idol temple, with a great many black lamps burning day and night.Here thoſe who croſs the lake facrifice a co*ck or hog, if able, to the hideous idol fora fafe and ſpeedy paffa*ge, fprinkling the blood on his body and claws. They offer uplikewife the feet of the dead fwine, and the fpurs and comb of the co*ck. The reſtthey feaſt on themſelves in honour of the idol. The author faw this facrifice.The inhabitants told them, that the china was made in the village of Sinkteſuno, anhundred miles eastward near the city Fu-lyang, fubject to Yan-chew; and that theearth was brought from the city Whey- chew, in the province of Nan-king, but thatthe inhabitants there could not make it, becauſe they knew not how to temper theearth with the water.The twenty-fixth, they came to the chief city Nan-kang, fifty miles from Kan-chang.It lies on the weft fide of the lake, which is very broad and long, on an hilly ground.The walls are both high and ſtrong, fortified with bulwarks, and a well built tower inthe city. The ſtreets are very crooked, the firſt on the left hand as you enter has feveral fine triumphal arches, but the houſes are mean.In view of the city ftand feveral ftately temples: the chief of them are built uponthe mountains Quang-lyu and Yven-fhyu, where dwell a great company of priests andfriars, each in a little hut or cell, where they daily difçipline themſelves with lafhing;which the people believe to be very meritorious in another world, for they hold thetranfmigration of fouls. They told the Dutch, that on Quan-lyu, there were asmanycloyfters as days in the year. The country abounds with hemp, whereof the nativesmake cloathes for fummer.The twenty-ninth, they got to the city Hu-kew, forty miles from Nan-kang, uponthe narrow of the lake Po-yang, and right fide of the river Kyang. To the north ofthe city appears an antique rock, which hangs fomewhat over the river, and makes amoft delightful profpect, being covered with trees. At the bottom of this mountainftands a large and beautiful idol temple. The walls of this city are very thick and high.It drives an handſome trade, is full of people, well built, and abounds with provifions.Near this city is the hill She-chung, that is, Stone-bell, fo called from the noifewhich the waters of the lake make in ſtormy weather, beating againſt the hill.At their arrival both old and young came running to view them with great admiration; but on founding their trumpets, thinking to delight them, they were fo affrighted, that they ran roaring back again.From hence they failed eaſtward down the Kyang, which divides China from weſt toeaft, to Peng-fe. This place lies behind an iſland on the eaſt ſide of the river, and attheIL246 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.the back of it are very high hills. It is well built, but far lefs than Hu-kew, which isthirty miles diftant.Near this city lies a mountain called Siau-ku, fo fteep and high, that it is inacceffible.It is furrounded with water, and has on the fouth fide a ſafe road for fhips. On thefouth fide of the Kyang lies alfo a hill called Ma-kong, talked off with terror throughall China for the abundance of fhipwrecks which happen near it.The Chineſe pilots feeing the cook going to make a fire to drefs dinner, came andfell on their knees before the ambaffadors, and earneftly entreated them to forbid anyfuch thing to be done, for that there was a certain fpirit in this lake in the fhape of adragon, or great fith, who had the command over this country, and could not endurethe ſmell of roafted poultry, boiled bacon or the like; for as foon fo he was fenfible ofany fuch thing, he immediately raifed a ftorm, which did infallibly cait away the veffel.The ambaffadors to pleaſe them fent word to the cook, that they fhould be contentwith a cold dinner for that day.About noon, they paffed by two pillars which stood in the middle of the river, anddivide the province of Kyang-fi from that of Nan-king.SECT. V. The Ambaffador's Journey continued from the Entrance of Kyang-nan toNan-king. -Tong-lyew-byen. -Gan-king-fu. Chi-chew fu- .-Ton-ling- byen. - V-fubyen.-Tay-ping-fu. -Arrive at Nan-king. -The City defcribed. -Houfes and Shops.-Money in Ufe there.-Number of Inhabitants.-The Imperial Palace. -Huge Bell.-Annual Prefents to the Emperor. -Pau-lin fhi - Temple. -Famous Porcelain Tower.-Character of the Inhabitants.HAVING entered the province of Nan-king, or rather Kyang-nan, on the twentyninth of April they came to Tong- lou, or Ton- lyew; a fmall city fubject to Chi-chewfu, on the fouth bank of the Kyang, in a very delightful foil, encompaffed with finehills. It is encloſed with a pretty ſtrong wall , fortified with bulwarks: but exceptone ſtreet and the governor's houſe, all the reſt is deſtroyed by the Tartars. Its tradeconfifts wholly in timber. Not far from the city, by the river, rifes the Kyew-wha,or nine headed mountain, much like the fun flower hanging down his head.Two miles beyond, they came to an ifland called Song-lo, and faw in their paffa*gethe first rank city Gan-king, eminent for wealth and trade, all fhips ſtopping here intheir way to Nan- king.The thirtieth, they paffed by Anhing, called by fome Chi-chew, another capitalcity on the fouth fide of the river, where lies a fine fuburb: the walls two miles incompaſs, and above twenty-five foot high, are fenced with watch towers and redoubtson an hill. Near the river ftands a temple, with a ſtately ſteeple ſeven ſtories high.Towards evening they came to Tong-ling, fubject to Chi-chew, delightfully furrounded with woods, hills, and dales. This city, though but little, is well built, andencompaffed with walls. It has a land locked harbour, guarded by a ſtrong caſtle,which very much enriches the place. Near it is a hill, remarkable for its echo; likewife the mountain Hing, fo named from the plenty of apricots which growthere.Departing hence the first of May, they came on the third to the caftle V- pun. Itftands near the river, is ſquare, and begirt with a ſtrong ſtone wall. In the middle isa well built temple, with a high roof, adorned with curious pictures.They caft anchor a little beyond, under the walls of U-fu, fituate in an island, onwhofe

&Cooke sc9NankinNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 247whofe corners ftrong block houfes are erected; but they have neither men nor guns todefend them. This city is cried up through all China for arms and lamps.On the fourth, they paffed by Tey-tong, which fome call Tay-ping, lying in anifland. The adjacent country, though full of hills and rocks, is yet exceedingly fertile, being watered by canals cut from the lake Tang-yang, which lies not far off tothe fouth east, as well as from the river. At a diſtance they faw a high mountaincalled Tyen-mewen, that is, Heaven's gate; becauſe the Kyang runs here between twofmall hills belonging to it, as through a gate. Over againſt the city lies another iſland ,all of one entire rock, called Hyau, from the night birds which breed in the cavitiesthereof.They were told, that this had been a ſtately city, and full of trade, which appeared bythree gallant towers upon the river fide; but it was totally ruined by the Tartars.The fame day, they caft anchor before the Su-fi-mon, or water gate of Nan king.Next day, the ambaffadors went in palankins, or fedans, and their followers on horfeback, to visit the three governors of this city: the two chief were Chineſe, born in Lyautong. They were conducted in great ſtate by the agent of the young viceroy of Kanton,who refided here and by two mandorins ofthe fame place, Penxenton ftaying behind.The chiefgovernor fhewed the ambaffadors his withdrawing room, and made themfit down next to him: the fecond was no lefs courteous; but neither would receive prefents, for reaſons already given.The third, who dwelt in the old imperial palace, fent for the ambaffadors into hischamber; which was fquare, with benches round it covered with filk, and a ſtove forwinter. This governor was a Tartar, a young, well fet man; but not underſtandingthe Chineſe language, his fons were interpreters. His wife, a comely lady, who wasprefent, fpoke more than her huſband, and feemed very inquifitive about Holland: farfrom being difmayed at their arms, fhe drew out their fwords, and difcharged theirpiftols, which much delighted her. The room was prefently filled with Tartar gentlewomen, who waited on her, and brought a great filver kettle full of tea, mingled withmilk and falt, which they placed in the middle of the chamber, and ferved about withwooden ladles. This fort of tea is always drank out of wooden veffels .Vifiting over, the agent conducted the ambaffadors to his own houfe, and treatedthem with a fumptuous dinner. At night they returned aboard their veffels, inwhich they lay all their voyage, both to and from Peking, except at Kanton, Nangan, and Pe-king.This ftately city, which is by far the beſt in all China, lies about thirty-five milesfrom Tay-hing, on the caft fide of the Kyang, and in thirty-two degrees of lati- .tude. Her fituation is moft pleafant, and the foil luxurious. The river runs quitethrough this city, whereof fome ftreams, covered with bridges, are navigable for great"veffels. This had been long the imperial court, till removed to Pe-king (by Hong- vu,about 1368) the better to prevent the invafions of the Tartar; and at prefent the governor of the fouthern provinces refides here.From the river, you paſs up to the town by a broad and deep canal, about half amile long; and then pafs over, on a bridge of boats, into the city, which is round,clofe, and well built. The wall is fix Dutch miles in compafs, excluding the fuburbs,which runs out much farther. It is built of ftone, above thirty foot high, with breaſtworks and watch towers. It hath thirteen gates, whofe doors, plated with iron andguarded continually with horfe and foot, are built on four or five arches. So great anumber of people paffed continually through the gate they lay before, that there was nogetting in or out without much crowding. There is, without this wall; another ftronginclofure248 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.incloſure for defence of the city, two days journey in compafs, if you will believe theChineſe.The chiefſtreets of this city are twenty-eight paces broad, very neatly paved, andftraight. There is, in no other part of the world, fuch good order obferved for preventing housebreaking, or other diſturbances, in the night.The common houfes are but mean, built without any convenience, and ftand withthe croſs ridges next the ſtreet. They are but one ſtory high, have but one door to goin and out at, and but one room to eat and fleep in. Next the ſtreet appears only afquare hole for a window; which is commonly covered with reeds, inftead of glaís, toprevent people from looking in. They are covered with white pantiles, and the outfides white waſhed.Thoſe who dwell in fuch houſes, have a very poor trade; but the fhops of the better fort are filled with all manner of rich commodities of the empire, as cottons, ſilks,china ware, pearls, diamonds, and the like. Before each fhop ftands a board, withthe name of the mafter, in gold letters, and what goods he fells. On one fide of theboard there is a high pole, which reaches above the houſe, upon which they hang pennons and flags, or fomething elfe, by way of a fign.Inftead of coined money, they ufe here (as indeed all over China) fmall pieces offilver, of different fizes. To avoid being cheated, you muſt carry ſcales aboutyou, and watch the Chineſe, who have two forts of weights, and are very dexterousat changing them.Although there are above a million of inhabitants in Nan-king, befides a garriſon offorty thouſand Tartars, yet provifions of all forts are exceedingly cheap all the yearround. Amongſt other fruits there are moft delicious cherries.

As no city eſcaped better in the late wars than this, it excels all others in China forſtately idol temples, towers, triumphal arches, and other buildings, of which the Emperor's palace, fituate on the fouth fide, was the chief. This was the only part whichthe Tartars deſtroyed. It was a fquare, furrounded with a (high brick) wall, now muchdecayed, which inclofes the greater part of the city, each fide being three miles and ahalf long; fo that it was as big as Haerlem in Holland. Within the firft gate lay a largecourt, which led to the four fquares and was paved with fine fmooth ſtone.The Tartars feated themſelves in huts, near an idol temple called Pau-lin-ſhi, leavingthe city to the Chineſe. The buildings are all of a hard fort of ſtone, curiouſly painted with yellow; fo that whenthe fun fhines, they glitter like gold.Over the gate of the fecond court of this palace hangs a great bell, about tenor eleven foot in height, three fathoms and an half in circumference, and near aquarter of a yard thick. The Chineſe boafted much of its loud found; but theDutch found it very dull, and the metal not fo good as that of European bells.Every three months five fhips are fent from hence to Pe-king, laden with all mannerof filks and woollen cloths, as prefents to the Emperor; for which reaſon they arecalled Long-i- chwen, that is, fhips with dragon cloths. The author never faw anything like them. They were moft curioufly contrived and adorned with images;and fo thickly gilded and painted on the outfides, that it made his eyes dazzle tolook on them.Among other prefents are certain fifh, taken here, in the river Kyang, in Mayand June, called by the Chineſe, Si-yu, but by the Portugueze, Savel. Thefe beingfent in boats, drawn by men day and night, are conveyed often twice a week freſhand good, to Pe-king, more than two hundred Dutch miles, in eight or ten days.The ambaffadors often went to take the air and view the city: one day they rode tofeeCooke Gerge byEngravedThe Porcloin Tower ,atNankin .

NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 249fee the famous temple before mentioned, and plain of Pau-lin-fhi, which contains feveral curious ftructures. In one, exceeding the reft for art, beauty, and coft, they ſawat leaſt ten thouſand images, all made of plaifter (fome fix foot high but moſt of themonly one) placed round the galleries and walls, in handfome order. The prieſts received the ambaffadors with great reſpect, and fet open all the doors of their temples.In the middle of the plain ftands a high fteeple, or tower, made of porcelain, whichfar exceeds all other workmanship of the Chineſe in coft and ſkill. It has nine ftories,and an hundred and eighty-four ſteps to the top each ſtory is adorned with a galleryfull of images and pictures, with very handfome lights. The outfide is all glazed over,and painted with green, red, and yellow. The parts or materials of which this fabricis compofed are fo artfully joined, that the work feems to be all one entire piece.Round the corners of the galleries hang little bells, which make a very pretty noiſewhen the wind jingles them. On the top ofthe tower was a pine apple, as they fay,of maffy gold. From the upper gallery, you have profpects over the whole city andadjacent country, to the other fide of the Kyang. This wonderful pile the Chineſebuilt by command, and in honour of the Tartar, who conquered their country ſevenhundred years ago.This plain is furrounded with woods of pine, where formerly ſtood the fepulchresof the emperors, now totally demolished by the Tartars.The Dutch found the inhabitants of Nan-king to exceed all the reſt ofthe nation infincerity, civility, knowledge, and understanding. The Tartars allow them verygreat privileges, that being the best method, in their opinion, to prevent rebellions.Ihey found here one Manual of Liſbon, a Jeſuit, who often viſited them, and profeffed great kindneſs.The ambaffadors were very defirous to have written from hence to Japan, but wereinformed, that the paffa*ge thither had been forbidden three years before; on complaintof the unfhaven Chineſe, that fome of Koxinga the pirates men in that iſland, had injured them. Theſe unfhaven Chineſe are fuch as will not fubmit to the governmentof the Great Khan, nor cut their hair after the Tartar fashion, as the conqueror hadcommanded, leaving only one lock behind. Rather than comply with this law, many thouſands chofe to fuffer death.SECT. VI.-Continuation ofthe Journeyfrom Nan-king to the Province of Shan- tong..They leave Nan-king. -A Sacrifice. -Je-Jeu-byen. - Sturdy Beggars.-The PirateKoxinga's Attempt,-Quan-chew . -Famous Temples. -Jang-fe-fu. -Handfome Women.-The City defcribed. -Feast ofthe New Year.-Oddfhaped, butfumptuous Barks.-Ka-yu-tfya, or Kau-yew-chew, defcribed.-Pau-ing-byen.-Whay-ngan-fu.- Sluices.-Rivers and Lakes. -Vifit from a Jefuit.-Siang-pu Village. -The Whang-ho, orYellow River.-Tau-ben-byen. -Tfi-fang--Floating Villages defcribed. -They enterthe Province of Shang-tong.THE ambaffadors, who had hitherto made ufe of ordinary barks and boats, werenow accommodated with two of the Emperor's veffels; which were very large and commodious, all gilded and painted with dragons, having a place for mufic at one end.Theywere accompanied by feveral perfons from Nan-king, befides the Kanton foldiers,whom they lodged in the mufic room.Pinxenton and the two other mandorins had alfo two veffels. They all fet fail fromNan-king the eighteenth of May, and paffed by the fhip-bridge of fourteen arches.Being VOL. VII. KK250 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.Beiog come to the farthest point of the city walls, about two miles from the Su-fi-mon,or water-gate, Pinxenton, with the whole fleet, ftopped to make an offering to a famous idol in a temple which stood there, in order to obtain a profperous voyage. Thefacrifice, which confifted of fwine, goats, and co*cks, was performed after this manner:the fwine and goats, after being killed and cleanfed, were laid upon the altar, behindwhich ſtood the chief image, and on the fide feveral little ones; theſe were ſprinkledwith the blood of the co*cks, and afterwards wiped clean. During the ceremony, thepriefts, upon their knees, made feveral grimaces and mutterings to themſelves, as ifthey and the God had been in fome earneft difpute, great tapers burning all the while,From hence, failing eastward down the river Kyang with great fpeed, they came inthe evening to a famous village, called Wangfien. They proceeded next morning, andon the twentieth of June reached Je-jen-jeen, which fome call Ho-ho, on the north fideof the Kyang, about fixty miles from Nan-king. This city, though but ſmall, is verypleaſant and of great trade. It is built mighty clofe, and adorned with temples. Thewalls are ftrong, but not very high; and without is a populous well built fuburb.Here feveral beggars came aboard to fhew their tricks. Amongſt the reſt, therewere two, who knocked their heads with great force one against the other till thecompany beſtowed their charity on them; otherwife they would continue tolting themtill one or both had been killed, as hath often happened. The author faw likewife in thiscity another beggar, who kneeling down, and after muttering to himſelf, ftruck hisforehead againſt a round ſtone with fo much violence, that he made the earth fhakeunder him. I hefe and feveral other arts they practife to fqueeze alms from ftrangers.They were told here, that the famous pirate Koxinga had landed fome force, thinking to furprize this city, but was obliged by the inhabitants to retreat to his ſhips withthe lofs of a great number of men; however, he burnt feveral of their veffels, and carried away a confiderable number: likewife, that he had feized five great and fruitfulislands in the river, about twenty miles from Je-jen-jeen, to harbour his fhips in ftormy weather.Next morning, fetting forward, they found upon the north fide of the Kyang, nearto the caftle of Quam-chew, a large ftone fluice, through which they paffed into a canal made for a communication with the Yellow river. This artificial channel being cutat the Emperor's charge, is called the royal water. There is nothing more pleaſant tobe feen in the world: the banks on each fide are ſmooth and large, planted with ſtatelyand fhady trees,. the adjacent country embellished with rich paftures and delightfulwoods, (the like not to be feen in all Afia, ) interfperfed with abundance of wealthytowns and villages, pleaſant feats, and ftately dwellings.Towards the entrance of this canal ſtood a famous temple of the idol Kin-kang; andfarther on they faw at a distance another great temple, called Quang-gua myau, adorned with a very fine tower of fix ftories. The Chineſe and 1 artars who accompaniedthe Dutch would fain have ſtayed to offer up co*cks, hogs, and goats, for a profperousvoyage, but the ambaffadors could not be prevailed with to lofe fo much time; onlythey gave leave to fome to go fee the place, which is fet round with images, and thealtar with lamps that burn day and night.The twenty-fourth, they came to Jang-fe-fu, called by fome Yang- chew-fu, the feventh capital city of this province. It lies about twenty miles from Je-jen-jeen, is builtſquare, at leaſt five miles in compafs, and furrounded with walls and ftrong bulwarks;exceeding moft cities in China for wealth and trade, which confifts chiefly in falt tranfported hence into moſt ofthe other provinces. They faw on the eaſt ſide of the city, agreat many pans, wherein they boil the fea water day and night.7ThisNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 251This city is famous throughout China for comely and good humoured women.They have very fmall feet, and handfome legs; fo that it paffes for a proverb, that ifa man would have a wife with a flender ſhape, brown hair, and a handfome leg andfoot, he must come to Jang-fe-fu; yet they no where bear fo low a price, for parentsmay fell both their fervants and daughters for proflitutes .The emperor hath here a cuftom-houfe to receive the duties on all goods that pafs.The city is well built and full of canals, covered with ftone bridges. On the weft fideare very large fuburbs, moſt of which were deftroyed in the laſt Tartar war, but theyare rebuilding them faft. Near this city is a very high mountain called Heng.The twenty-fifth, departing, they faw on the bank of the canal twelve ftone ovens;and not far from thence, on the left, lies the burial city of a great Soltan, much reverenced by the Chineſe. About noon they came to a village called Saw-pû, wherethe inhabitants were celebrating the feaft of the new year, it being then full moon,with great acclamations and figns of joy, making bonfires, and lighting up candles.They ran likewife up and down the streets as if distracted, with tapers in their handstwiſted together in the form of dragons. The mandorin Pinxenton and his lady aſſiſted at this folemnity.They found here a great variety of ſtrange built veffels. Among the reſt were twobarks or floops, called Long-fchon, that is, ferpent boats. They were curiouſly painted with all manner of colours, and feemed much to exceed thofe boats which carry thefifh from Nan-king to Pe-king for the Emperor's ufe. They were fhaped like a waterfnake, and had three mafts. The ftern was full of ferpents, faftened with ribbons offeveral colours, and decked with ftandards, ſet off with taffels of hair, filk flags andlong feathers. At it hung two nimble boys, who played tricks to divert the ſpectators,Upon the top of each maſt ſtood an idol, adorned with filk flags and pennants; and onthe poop another, dreffed with ducks and drakes, whom a Chineſe was continuallytorturing with a fork. The edges of the bark were hung round with gold and filverfringe. Under a lofty pavilion, thick fet with flags and ſtandards, fat twelve lufty feamen cloathed in filk, with gilt crowns upon their heads, and their arms naked: theycame aboard the ambaffadors to make their compliments, and were requited with fomepreſents.The twenty-fixth of May, they came to Ka-yu-tfya, called by fome Kau-yew, a cityof the ſecond rank or order, near a great lake, named Pye-fhe, which fupplies theroyal canal with water. Formerly, when the paffa*ge was through the lake itſelf, barksufed to lie weather-bound at this city, not daring to venture out in bad weather: forthis reafon a canal was made on the eaſtern fide of it fixty furlongs in length, withwhite ftone.Kau-yew is very populous, and has ſtately fuburbs, built very clofe and full of largehouſes. The bands round it produce great ſtore of rice, and is fo thick fet with dwellings, that it looks like one continued village. The country to the weft lies much under water. As no trees will thrive hereabout, their only firing is reeds, which growon the fides of the lake. The chief produce of the foil is rice, which must be lookedafter very narrowly, left it periſh by much moiſture or drought: hence wind-mills withmat fails are fo numerous in this country, being ufed to draw out the water in a moiſtſeaſon, and in a hot one to let it in. By this means the inhabitants have two plenti- ful harvefts in a year.The twenty-feventh, leaving Kaw-yew, they came to Pau-ing, (by fome called Paufyen) a city of the third order, twenty miles diftant, and on the caft fide of the royalcanal. It is ſurrounded with ſtrong walls, and of a circular form, being about a mileK K 2and252 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.and an half round. On the caft it has the lake She-yang, and on the ſouth weſt thatof Pvc-fhe.This city, which was quite deftroyed by the Tartars, appears, by the ruins of thewall and great edifices, to have been very ftately, rich, and populous. Amongst thebuildings yet ftanding is a famous temple without the wall, on the north fide of thecity.The twenty-eighth , they arrived at Whay-ngan, the eighth capital city of Kyangnan it lies onthe eaft fide ofthe royal river, about thirty Engliſh miles from Pau-in,in a flat and marfhy foil. It is furrounded with a wall, and divided by another into twoparts; that to the fouth called Whay-ngan, the other to north eaſt Yen-ching.The former ofthefe has ftately fuburbs.This viceroy keeps his court here in great fplendour, commanding over the fevenfoutherly provinces immediately under the Emperor. His office is to infpect the grandKhân's revenue, confifting chiefly in provifions of rice, &c.To prevent the river Whay from overflowing the adjacent country, they have madetwo great fluices, with firong and high banks, which confine his ftream when fwelledby the torrents that are on the north fide of the city.There are two cuftom houfes in the fuburbs of Whay-ngan, one to receive theduties on goods, the other thofe on the barks paffing this way.The city is well built, and full of wealthy inhabitants. Not far from hence, on avery high mountain, called Yo-chew, ftands a ftately temple, with cloifters to lodgedevotees.The country is full of rivers and lakes, particularly that great one called She-ho,another to the eaſt called Hung, producing reeds, which ferve for firing, wood beingvery ſcarce throughout this province.It being very foul weather when the ambaffadors arrived, the viceroy and magiſtratesexcufed them from making the vifit intended. The mandorin Pixnento, according tohis custom, gave them a very noble dinner, and in the evening, one Gafcomez, a Jefuit, came to falute the ambaffadors aboard their veffel. He feemed to be a very openhearted perfon, profeffed great affection for the Dutch; and hinted, that they wouldmeet with great oppofition from the Portugueſe, which proved true enough.They departed next morning, paffing through luxurious fields, and in the eveningfhot a very great fluice, at the entrance of a famous village called Siampu, which is of avery great length, and handfomely adorned with temples and houfes on both fides ofthe canal. It has a cuftom houfe for the Emperor, one of whofe officers fearched allthe barks, but thoſe which carried the ambaffadors.The next night they came to another village called Ney-ne-myau, into which theywere let by two great fluices. They faw the ruins of a great caftle, which defendedthe Yellow river and the canal, but the Tartars deſtroyed it.The day following they fet fail, and came into the great Yellow river, called byfomethe Saffron river; which is fo thick and muddy, that it is fcarce paffable, and at adiftance it ſeems to be a marfhy plafh: yet the current is fo violent, that no veffels areable to fail againſt the ftream, but muſt be towed by a great number of bargemen. In fome places it is half a mile broad, and in fome more. The Chineſe make this watervery clear by flinging alum into it.On the first of June, they came to the little city of Tau-yen-hyen, which is fituateon the (weft) fide of the Yellow river, and fenced with a broad and ftrong mud wall,It is repleniſhed with handſome buildings, and full of rich inhabitants, who drive avery great trade.TheCooke .byGeorge Engraved Drawn byW.Alexander F.AS.Chinese Burying Place ,HAthe near.River Yellow

NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 253'The country is very fruitful in pears, apples, prunes, cherries, and the like; andabounds likewife in quails, pheaſants, and other forts of fowl.From hence, they failed three days, before they came to any confiderable place; atlaft, on the fourth, they arrived at the fmall town of Tfi-fang, fituate in a very delightful foil, at the foot of an high hill. Though it has no walls, or any remarkable buildings, except a ftrong caftle, yet its trade is great, and inhabitants are rich. At the entrance into the town ſtands a ſtately temple upon a ſteep eminence.They faw on this Yellow river, which is continually plowed with great and ſmallveffels, feveral floating iſlands, very artfully contrived, of Bambû canes, twiſted ſo cloſetogether, that no moiffure can penetrate. Upon thefe foundations the Chineſe fet uphuts, or little houfes of boards, and other light materials, in which they live with theirwives, children, and cattle. Some of thefe floating towns are large enough to containtwo hundred families, which fubfift, for the moſt part, by traffic up and down the river.Wherefoever they come, they ſtay for fome months before they remove, faſtening theirifland with poles fixed in the ground.After fome hours failing, they paffed into another royal canal, called Inn- yun, cutfrom the Yellow river weftward through the whole province of Shang-tong, into whichthey now entered.-SECT. VII. -The Journey continued from the Entrance into Shan-tong to Tyen- tfing-wey, inthe Province ofPe-chi-li, or Pe-king. -Royal Canal of Yun. -Kya-kya, fine Village.-Sining-chew City.-Fihing with Birds, Manner of it.-Strange Phanomenon. -Shantfui-byen. Fine Country and Temple. -Tong- changfu- . -Fruitful Soil. -Sort of Bezoarfound in Cows. -Lin- tfin-chew: the City defcribed. -Famous Temple: its beautiful Structure.-Vu-ching-byen. -Ku-ching-byen. Ta-chew . -Ton-quan-byen. - Sanglo.-The Governor's Lady -Sing-ki- tfyen. -Sing-ko- tfyen. -Elegant Temple. -Singye.-Swarms of Locusts..

THE province of Shan-tong, into which they entered, is much enriched by thisgreat artificial channel Yun; which beginning in Kyang- nan, at the city So-fyen, onthe Yellow river, paffes thence into Shan-tong to the city Si-ning- chew, and on forwards to Lin-fing, where it enters the river Guey. This canal hath at leaſt fixty ſtonefluices, without which it would not be navigable, the water in fome places runningvery low. Each fluice is attended by eight men to help through with the veffels.Ón the fixth of June, they came to a famous village called Kya- Kya, which isrich, and well built, containing feveral handfome edifices. It is encompaffed with pleafant and fruitful fields, full of roſemary; fo that their venifon taftes of it, as theyfound by the flesh offeveral ftags and deer which they ran down. They faw likewifeabundance of all forts of fowl, eſpecially pheasants, and delighted the Tartars withfhooting them flying.veryThey were three days on the canal without feeing any confiderable place; but onthe eleventh, arrived at another noted village called Jack-fhin-no, in and about whichftands thirty-fix ftately towers. They fet forward, paffing for two days through acountry full of corn fields, with high hills to the eaſt .The thirteenth, they came to Si-ning- chew, a fecond rank city under Yeng- chewfû, fituate about the middle of the royal canal Yun, and encompaffed with flat andmarſhy lands, full of pools and rivers, abounding with fifh. Here cuftom is paid bothfor fhip and goods. It exceeds even the chief city for trade, number of inhabitants andpeople254 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.people of figure. Among other ſtately edifices, there are two famous temples beautified with pictures. On each fide ofthe royal canal there is large fuburbs, and a greatfluice to keep off the out water, which fometimes rifes fix foot higher than the waterwithin.Here they fawthem catch fish with a bird, called Lou-wa, fomewhat lefs than agcofe, and not much unlike a raven. It has a long neck, and a bill like an eagle.They go out in fmall boats, made of Bambû canes, placing the bird on the outſide,which on fight of a fifh fhoots down and fwims after it under water. As foon as fhehas caught her prey fhe rifes, and the fiſhermen having taken it from her, fends her out to feek more.To prevent the bird from fwallowing the prey, they put an iron ring about herneck. Ifthe fish is too big for her to bring up, the makes a noife in the water for themafterto come to her help. When they have caught enough for their owners, thering is taken off, and they are left to fifh for themfelves. In cafe they are averfe todive, they are brought to it by beating. The fishermen, pay a yearly tribute to theEmperor for the ufe of thefe birds, which are much valued by the Chineſe. One ofthofe, which are well taught, is often fold for fifty tael of filver, which is about anhundred and fifty guilders. The Dutch would have bought a couple of an old fifherman, ofwhom they had fome carp, but he refufed to fell them, becauſe they ſerved tomaintain his family. He could not inform them either whence thofe birds came, orhow they were inſtructed; only he ſaid they were left him by his anceſtors, and bredvery feldom.All the public inns and victualling houfes have their fidlers and comedians torecreate their guefts at meals. Provifions are very cheap in thofe parts: theDutch paid but two fhillings a piece for their dinner, which confifted of ſeveral difhes.Next day they left Si-ning, and after a few hours failing, paffed by the village Namwaig, where the royal canal joins the river Luen. The Tartars and Chineſe told theDutch ſtrange ſtories of this river: amongst the reft, that if you fling in nine fticks,fix would drive to the fouth, and three toward the north; which the Dutch, upontrial, found to be true, but none could account for it.The nineteenth, they came to Shan-tfui, a ſmall city about thirty miles from Si-ning,and fubject to Yen-chew. It is divided into two parts by the royal canal, and guardedat each end with a strong caftle. It is fquare, well built, and encompaffed with highwalls, fortified with ſtrong bulwarks. Here they faw the ruins of feveral great buildings, defaced by the Tartars. The adjacent country is often overflowed by the Yellow river, which ſometimes drowns and carries away whole towns and villages.Next morning they proceeded, paffing by many fair villages and corn fields, as wellas through feveral ſtrong fluices.Not far from Shan-tfui ftands one of the moft famed temples in all China, calledTey-wan-myau. It is built very high and ſtrong, with grey tone, and nobly adorned.The top is covered with yellow glazed tiles, and the walls are painted with the famecolour; fo that when the fun fhines, it glitters all over like gold.The twentieth of June, they came to Tong-chang, the third capital city of Shantong. Its form is ſquare, and walls defended with bulwarks: the ftreets are large andwell built. In the middle of the city ftands an high and curious fabric, with fournoble arches: it is fenced with ftrong walls and towers, in which are feveral grates.The city is encompaffed with a broad water, covered on the north fide by a bridge anhundred and thirty-feven foot long. Onthe fouth fide are ftately fuburbs, which, fornumberNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 255number of inhabitants, fine buildings, and greatneſs of trade, may pafs for another city.Toward the eaſt they were fhewed a very large iron tomb, erected above feven hundred years before in honour of fome great lord, who loft his life in the wars for defence of his country.The land round Tong- chang is very low and flat, but wondrous fruitful. No partof China produces fo much filk as this, the inhabitants thereof living chiefly by thismanufacture.Here is fometimes found, in the maw of the cows, a ſtone called Nyew-whang, thatis, the yellow of the cows, from its colour. It is about the bignefs of a goofe egg, ofa foft, chalky fubftance, and by fome thought to be the bezoar ftone. It is eſteemedfovereign in fainting fits.Next morning, fetting fail, they paffed over the lake Nan-yang, which abounds withfish, and that night came to the city of Lin-fing, about thirty miles from Tong-chang,and fituated on both ſides of the royal canal , which, at the end thereof, enters theriver Guey, feparating the province of Shan-tong, from that of Pe-king.They were no fooner arrived at this city, but the governor appeared upon the wallto welcome and receive the ambaſſadors; intimating, that he could not entertain themat his court, becauſe they had not yet appeared before the Emperor, and for the famereafon refuſed their prefents.Lin-fing exceeds all the other eighteen cities depending on Tong-chang, in numberof people, fplendour of buildings, plenty of all things, and greatnefs of commerce;neither gives the place to any inferior city in the whole empire. Near the city ſtandtwo ſtrong and large caftles, one on each fide of the royal canal, and oppofite to theother, fo that no veffel can pafs without paying the duties. Between Shan-tfui andthis city there are fifty-eight fluices. There are two ftrong ones juft before the city,made to force back the upper water which runs from the river Guey, and is fometimes two or three foot higher than the water of the canal. On the north fide of thecity lies a wooden bridge of nine arches, with a drawbridge in the middle to letthrough the barks.Ling-ſing ſtands in a flat, fandy foil , is very large, and furrounded with a mud wall,coped with ſtone. It abounds with all manner of fruit, and amongſt the reſt well relifhed pears..Without the wall, on the north fide, ftands an eminent temple, with an high tower,built after an exceeding curious manner. It is afcended by a pair of winding ſtairs,which are not built in the middle of the tower, but in the wall, which is double. Thetower itſelf is an octagon of eight ſtories, each thirteen foot and an half high, whencethe height of the whole is an hundred and twenty foot, and proportionably thick.The outward wall is of the fame mould as the China difhes, and full of fretwork: thewalls within are of poliſhed marble of feveral colours, as fmooth as a looking glaſs.The galleries which are nine, are of marble, cut in figures or images, with fine copperbells at the corners, according to the Chineſe fafhion . The windows belonging tothefe galleries are full of gilded bars. Upon the top of the tower ſtands the ftatue ofthe goddeſs to whom the temple is dedicated, made of plaiſter work: it is thirty foothigh, and inlaid with gold and filver. The images ftanding round this tower are focuriouſly wrought that they may be reckoned amongst the greatest curiofities inChina.Pinxenton left his wife and children in this city; and a Dutch trumpeter, who diedthere, was buried in the idol temple with the confent of the magistrates.Leaving256NIEUHOFF'STRAVELSIN CHINA.Leaving Lin-fing, they quitted the royal canal, and entered the river Guey, failingeaftward down the ftream; and arrived on the twenty-fifth at the city of Vu- chin,thirty miles from Ling-fing. It is delightfully fituated on the fouth fide of the river,in the borders of Shang-tong, and encompaffed with a fquare wall. On the northfide are large fuburbs, clofe built with ftately houfes; but the great edifices wereall ruined by the Tartars, and the inhabitants feverely treated .The twenty-fixth of June, they got to Ku-ching, the first place they came atin the province of Pe-king, a city of the third rank, dependent on Ho-kyen-fû.It lies about twenty-three miles from Vu-ching, on the (north) fide of the Guey,in a delightful flat country. The walls are high and well built, the fuburbs verymagnificent, and the whole full of people and commerce. They made no ftayhere, but proceeding, faw by the way, on both fides of the river, whole fields fullof cotton trees, which occafions a mighty trade in the neighbouring parts.The twenty-eighth, they came to Ta-chew, which fome call U-kyau, about eighteenmiles from Kû-ching. It is fituated on the (eaſt ) fide of the river, and furroundedwith a wall thirty foot high, ftrengthened with bulwarks and watch-towers. It depends on Ho-kyen-fû, is well built, and adorned with feveral temples, having alfoa large fuburb, which extends far on both fides of the river.This city is the great mart for the Zam-zou, which is made of rice, and drank inftead of wine. It is exported hence to all parts of China.The Chineſe told them, that about ten miles off, near to the city Hyen, there was apool called Vo, whofe water, if a ſtick be thrown into it, turns as red as blood, andthat if any leaves fall from the trees which grow about the fides, they are inftantlychanged into fwallows.The twenty-eighth of June, they failed by Tong-guan, which lies in a flat- countrythat extends to the ocean, about a mufket fhot from the Guey ( on the eaſt fide), ſubject to Ho-kyen. This place alone enjoys the privilege of having a guard only ofChinefe: it is a fquare, furrounded with a ſtrong wall, and a ditch both broad anddeep. The fields near the town are curiously planted with all manner of fruittrees.At the motion of Pinxenton, the author and fome others were fent, with twelveTartar foldiers, into the city, to fee a lion made of iron that flood in the marketplace, which they reported to be extraordinarily large and terrible: but the Chineſe,when they faw them coming, fhut the gates for fear of the Dutch.On the fecond of July, they caft anchor before the city of Sang-lo, about fifty-fivemiles from Tong-quan, (on the right fide of the Guey. ) It is a little diftant fromthe river, is walled and has on both banks of it very fine fuburbs, which are wellbuilt, like the city, and full of people and trade. The Tartars who dwell hereare more numerous, and of better quality than they had found in any other place.Theſe immediately came aboard in great ftate to bid them welcome; and theDutch going afhore paffed through five old triumphal arches on the eaſt fide of thecity.The governor's lady fent a foldier to the author, and fome others of the retinue, defiring them to come to her. They were conducted into a very largeparlour, where fhe, attended by feveral Tartar ladies richly dreffed, expected them.She made Nieuhoff fit down, and afked him feveral queftions concerning Holland.Afterwards they were treated with a noble banquet. Her husband was in great favour with the Emperor, and then at Pe-king.6 TheNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 257The fame day they left Sang- lo, and came in the evening to the village of Ton-nau,fituated over againſt a ſtrong caftle, with a large garrifon of Tartars. The houſes areof mud, and fit only for dog-kennels, or the uncivil inhabitants, who live by plundering thoſe who pafs without a guard.On the third they came to Sing-ki-tfyen, which, for brevity, fome call Sing, a thirdrank city under Ho-kyen. It lies on the (right hand of the) river Guey, in a flat andpleafant foil, about ten miles from Sang-lo. This town, though not very large, is populous, and has a great trade, like moſt of the cities on this river. Several nobleſtructures yet ſtanding in and about it fhew, that this was formerly a moft magnificentplace.The adjacent country, (which is ftored with cattle, and the rivers with fifh) is allflat, only there is one hill not far off, called Si, whofe top is a pleaſant and fruitfulplain.Next day they failed by Sing- ko-tfyen, another third rate city under Ho-kyen, abouteight miles from Sing-ki-tfyen. It is neither large, populous, nor of much trade, butvery ſtrong, having feveral watch towers and bulwarks for its defence; and thoughadorned with fome fine buildings, moft ofthe houſes are very mean and little.Its greateſt ornaments are the temples; but one, which ſtands without the walls,in an open field, exceeds all the reft, and fhews the wonderous architecture of theChineſe in former ages. It confifts of three ſtages, raiſed on a ftone pedeftal, intowhich you afcend by ſteps. The firſt is adorned with great gates, and each corner ofthe roof fupported by fumptuous columns: the fecond and third rounds have ftatelywindows and large pillars like the firſt. The whole outfide is embelliſhed with fretwork, and at each corner hang little bells: but the infide of this fane is not equallybeautiful.The idolaters here feemed nothing fo devout as thoſe in other parts; for in fomeplaces their images were left quite naked, in others only covered with mats, and havingftraw hats on to keep off the weather.The fame day they paffed by Sing-ye, a third rank city under Ho-kyen, on the leftof the river, twenty miles from Sing-ko, enriched with noble fuburbs. Onthe weſtfide of the place ftands a great and high temple, fenced in with a wall, having alfo avery curious garden. It being a cloyfter for nuns, the Dutch could not be permittedto fee it, for no men have that liberty. On the eaſt fide there is another ſtately fane,beſides three curious obelifks, or pyramids, erected by the city, in honour of a greatcommander, who lay interred there for his faithful fervices done to his country.Towards night the people were gathered in troops to defend their country againſtthe grafshoppers, who vifit them annually about this time; being brought by an eafterly wind in fuch mighty fwarms; that in a few hours they devour all before them,if once they alight: to prevent which, the inhabitants march to and again through thefields with their colours flying, fhouting and hallooing all the while; never leavingthem till they are driven into the fea, or fome river, where they fall down and aredrowned. It happened, that one of thefe hunted fquadrons fell down on the veffelswhich carried the ambaſſadors, and quite covered them; but they cleared them, byflinging their unwelcome gueſts into the river.The fame day they arrived at the ſea-port of Tyen-tfing-wey.VOL. VII.LL SECT.258 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.SECT. VII. - The Ambaſſadors' Arrival at Pe-king, and Reception at Court.—Tyenthing-wey.-The Ambaſſadors treated. -Jo-fi-wo. -Fo-chew. -San-tfyan- wey. -Journeyby Land. -Tong-chew. -Arrive at Pe-king.-Vifited by Grandees. -Sufpected for Rovers.-Strictly examined, by the Emperor's orders. -Sentfor to Court.-A Jefuit Mandorin.-The Prefents viewed.-The Jefuit's Knavery.-The Dutch feafted.-Ambaffadorfrom Ruffia.-The Prefents liked by the Emperor.-Great Mogol s Ambaſſador.Emperor's Mandate, in favour of the Dutch -Deceitful Minifters.-IntriguingJefuits.-Cheating Viceroys. -Equitable Monarch. -Custom offaluting the ImperialThrone.-Emperor's Brother dies. -Ruffian Ambaſſador's departure.TYEN-TSING-WEY is reckoned the greateſt trading town of all China, and oneof its three chief ports, the other two being Kanton, in the province of Quan-tong,and Je-jan-jeen in that of Nan-king. Tyen-tfing-wey is fituated in the utmoſt bordereastward of the province of Pe-king, near an arm of the fea called Kang, where threerivers meet, defended by a ſtrong fortrefs built on the point of confluence. This citylies about thirty miles from Sang-lo, in a very low and marfhy foil, furrounded withſtrong walls twenty-five foot high, thick fet with watch towers and bulwarks. It isvery populous, and full of teriples. As all veffels bound from any other part of Chinamuft touch here, and it is a free port where no duties are paid for goods either imported or exported, the refort of fhipping is very great.The governor and magiftrates came aboard to welcome the ambaffadors, but Pinxenton fubtilely contrived to get the firſt viſit from them: afterwards the Dutch were invited to an entertainment, prepared in a fplendid idol temple. The defign of thismeeting was to confult in what manner the Emperor was to be applied to, and thegrandees gained over to their intereſt. Theſe matters being fettled, the old viceroy ofKanton's mandorin was fent before to Pe-king to give notice of their approach, theyfollowing with all expedition.On the eleventh, got to Jo-fi-wo, a third rate city under Pe-king, about forty milesfrom Tyen-tfin, (and on the left hand of the river. ) This place is fmall, but wellbuilt, hath a wealthy fuburb, and drives a great trade. The revenue arifing fromthecuſtom paid by veffels is very confiderable. The ambaffadors were entertained by thegovernor at his houfe in much ftate; and though he would not receive the prefentsoffered him for the reafon before mentioned, yet he made no fcruple to aſk fome glaffesof rofe water, which were fent him.Next they paffed by Fo-chew, called by fome Que, a third rank city under Pe-king,on the (left) fide of the river, about fifteen miles from Jo-fi- wo, in a very pleaſant foil.This place is not very large, but is well built, and full of handſome edifices; amongthe rest are ſeveral triumphal arches. On the eaſt fide, without the walls, which arehigh and lengthened with watch towers and bulwarks, ftands a very fine temple, witha curious tower of nine ftories.On the fixteenth, they came to San- tfyan-wey, or San-ho, about twelve miles fromFo-chew, and four from Peking, to which it is fubject. It is a third rate city on the(left) fide of the river: it is very populous and well fortified, having a ſtrong caſtle. Inthe middle of the town ftands a curious triumphal arch, of grey ftone, and on thefouth fide a broad ftone bridge of five arches, forty-two paces long, with houfes oneach fide.Here the ambaffadors went afhore to perform the remainder of the journey by land:and

30002Cooke byGeorge EngavedPekin .NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 259and commonly all goods defigned for Pe-king are unladed here, or at the next citycalled Tong- chew, and fo carried by land either in waggons, or on mules or affes;which are always kept in readineſs by the owners, this being the only fubfiftence ofmany poor people.The fame day the mandorin, whom the ambaffadors had fent before to Pe-king, returned; and next day there arrived twenty-four horfes, with feveral waggons and carts,which the council fent to fetch up their baggage and the preſents. All things beingready, they began their journey in this order: two trumpeters rid at a diſtance before,then followed the ſtandard bearer, with the Prince of Orange's flag; next to him theambaffadors, accompanied by feveral Tartar lords and gentlemen well mounted; theofficers and foldiers, who had thus far conducted them, and were about fifty in number,came after in good order with the prefents and goods. The road to Pe-king was exceeding bad, being very deep and uneven, fo that the horſes were up to the belly almoſtevery ftep: yet it was fo full of people, horfes, and waggons, as if an army had beenupon the march.The feventeenth, they rode through Tong- chew, fituated in a very low and deepfoil. It is very large, and fenced with ftrong walls: it is likewife divided into twoparts by a wall. The ftreets are not paved, but have many fine buildings: the country is very pleaſant and fruitful. The ambaffadors having refreſhed themſelves in atemple near the road, proceeded, and in the afternoon came to the fuburbs of Pe-king,diftant from Kanton one thouſand five hundred and thirty miles.They paffed through two magnificent gates into the city, and lighted at a magnificent temple, into which they were invited to repoſe awhile, and wait for their carriages.They were no fooner entered, than faluted by the Emperor's kappado, who carried afalcon on his hand, by the agents of the Kanton viceroys who refide here, and byfeveral grandees of the court. After they had refreſhed themſelves with victuals, andfeveral forts of fruit, and their carriages had been vifited by the kappado, who told allthe waggons, they were conducted in great ftate to their lodgings, provided for themby the Emperor. This houſe was not far from the palace, and had an high wall aboutit, with three ftately gates, between which were very large courts.At night came two Tartar officers with twelve foldiers to guard the gates, and takecare that the ambaffadors fhould be fupplied with all things convenient.Next morning they were vifited by fome lords of the imperial council, attended withthe chief ſecretary Tong-lau-ya, a Chineſe, and two other mandorins, Quan-lau-ya,and Hû-lau-ya: this laft fecretary to the council, though a ftranger to the Chineſelanguage. Theſe came to ' welcome the ambaffadors in the name of the Emperor andhis council, to enquire after their healths, the number of their followers, and qualityof their prefents, as well as the perfon who fent them, and place they came from.They likewife enquired their ufes, and having highly extolled them, fell to aſk otherqueftions concerning their voyage, country, and government, fuch as were put to them at Kanton.As they could not be perfuaded to believe that the Dutch had any fettlement onthecontinent, but dwelt upon the fea, or in iſlands, they defired to fee a map of theircountry, which the ambaffadors having produced, they took it with them to fhewtheEmperor. In regard likewife that thefe commiffioners could not well underſtand thenature of a commonwealth, becauſe the Tartars and Chineſe know no other fort ofgovernment than the monarchical, they were forced to make ufe of the name of thePrince of Orange, as if they had been fent by His Highnefs: upon this they aſked feveral queftions concerning him, and whether the amballadors were allied to their prince;L L 2 for360 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.for no foreign ambaffadors are fuffered to bow their heads before the Emperor's throne,unless they were a-kin to the prince who fent them, like thofe of Korea and the Liqucfe iflands, who came to Pe-king the year before) having a notion that the majeftyof the Emperor would be much leffened by giving audiences to perfons of inferiorquality.The ambaffadors replied, that they were not in the leaft allied to their prince; andthat it was not the cuftom in their country to fend his relations abroad in fuch employments. Then they aſked them, what pofts they held at court, what their titles werein Dutch, how many men they had under their cominand, and by what means theyfubfifted. Mention happening to be made of the governor-general of Batavia, theywere inquifitive to know the quality of both. The ambaffadors told them, that thegovernor-general, in regard of his commands, might be compared with the viceroys ofKanton, his jurifdiction extending over all the Dutch dominions in India; and thatBatavia, the place of his refidence, was the chief city of the whole.The mandorins then prefented each of the ambaffadors with fifty tael of filver, andtook their leave, but foon returned again one after another to afk more queftions. Thefirst came by order of His Imperial Majefty and his council to fetch the credentials,which were carried to him in great ſtate, being put into a large filver difh, coveredwith three pieces of fcarlet. Another came to fee their arms, and know how theywere made: the third aſked, what fort of weapons the Dutch uſed in war, what nations they had been at war with, and whether they were at peace with the Portugueze?they went and came again, fix or feven times on the fame errand: at laſt , they aſkedpardon for the trouble they had given them, faying, that what they did was by theEmperor's order, who was always very inquifitive in things of this nature.On the report of the commiffioners, to the grand mafter, or rather chancellor ofthe empire, he fent next day two gentlemen, with orders, for the ambaffadors to appear with the prefents before the Emperor's council. It proving a very rainy day,they would fain have put off going till another time, left the prefents ſhould be ſpoiledwith the rain; but no excufe would be allowed of. At laft they went to court without the prefents; but were not admitted till fuch times as they had brought them: forthe Emperor was refolved to fee them that day. As foon as the prefents came, theywere admitted, and ordered to fit down, without fhewing any manner of reſpect tothat great affembly.The chief commander fate at the upper end of the hall, upon a broad low bench,with his legs acrofs, like the taylors: on his right hand fate two Tartar lords, and onhis left, Adam Scaliger, a Jefuit, and native of Cologn in Germany, who had lived ingreat honour at the court of Peking near thirty years. He was a very comely old man,with a long beard, and went fhaved and cloathed after the Tartar faſhion. All thegreat men who were at this council, fate one among another, without any regard toorder, ſtate, or gravity; the chancellor himſelf being with his legs naked, and a littleflight mantle about his body. As foon as this lord had made a fhort fpeech to the amballadors, and ordered them to fit, the Jefuit came to falute them; which he performed with great civility in his own language, and aſked after feveral of his religion inAmfterdam.While this was doing, the Kanton mandorins, and even Pinxenton, (who had carried it fo high upon the voyage, ) were as bufy as porters, to help in bringing the cheſtsin which the Emperor's prefents lay. The chancellor himſelf took them out, andafked feveral queſtions about them, which the ambaffadors refolved; Scaliger, whoacted as interpreter, affirming their anfwers to be true, and when any that was very8 curiousNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.261curious appeared, he fetched a deep figh. The chancellor commended feveral of theprefents, and faid they would be very acceptable to the Emperor.Meantime came an order to the council, from His Imperial Majefty, that Scaligerfhould ask the ambaffadors feveral queftions, fuch as have been mentioned before, concerning the Dutch and the form of their government, and fet their anfwers down inwriting.The Jefuit did fo; but deceitfully added, of his own accord, that the country which the Dutch then poffeffed was formerly under the dominion of the Spaniards,and did of right ftill belong to them: but the chancellor caufed him to blot out thofewords, which he fuppofed might give offence to the Emperor; telling him, it wasenough to know, that thefe people were poffeffed of a country, and had a form ofvernment among them.goWhilſt the clerks were making ſeveral copies of this writing, the chancellor foundhimſelf hungry, and fent for a piece of pork; which, though half-raw, he eat moſtheartily, and in fo flovenly a manner, that he looked more like a butcher than a prince.As foon as he had done, he ordered the fon of the old Kanton viceroy, who refided atcourt, to provide an entertainment for the ambaffadors. When dinner was broughtup, the chancellor and the reft of the Tartar lords fell on again, as greedily as if theyhad eaten nothing all that day; but neither the ambaffadors nor Scaliger could tafteof their cookery, moft of the meat being raw. This His Excellency perceiving, caufedthe dishes to be removed, and a banquet of fruit and fweetmeats fet upon the tables,urging the ambaffadors to fend home what was left; which they civilly refuſed.Scaliger informed them, that about four months before, there came an ambaſſadorfrom Muscovy, with a train of an hundred men, to defire leave to come once a year totrade in China; but that the Great Khân feemed very unwilling to grant their fuite.Night coming on, the ambaffadors took leave of the affembly, and returned to theirlodgings, conducted in great ftate by the Jefuit; who was carried by four men in apalankin, or fedan, attended by ſeveral confiderable perſons on horſeback.Next day, at the request of the chancellor, the ambaffadors fet down in writing forwhom the ſeveral prefents were defigned, and fent Baron, their fecretary, to anſwerfome farther queſtions: which having done, Tang- lau-ya and the two other mandorinsreturned to acquaint the ambaffadors, that the prefents were very acceptable to HisMajefty, his mother and the Emprefs; and that His Majefty would be glad to have fiftypieces more of the white linen, to prefent to the wives of the Kanton viceroy's fons:but they could mufter only thirty-fix pieces.. On the third of Auguft, they understood, that an ambaffador from the Great Mogol was arrived at Pe-king, with a numerous train; in order to accommodate fome differences lately ariſen between the two nations, and procure liberty for their prieſts topreach, which had for fome time been forbidden under fevere penalties. The prefentswhich he brought confifted of three hundred and thirty-fix very fine horſes, two oftriches, a diamond of an extraordinary bignefs, and feveral other precious ftones.Thefe, being no lefs acceptable to His Majefty than thofe of the Dutch, procured hima quick difpatch in his buſineſs. The ambaſſadors were frequently vifited by lords of theteazed them with questions on the fame fubjects over again.firft of July, the Emperor fent the following mandatoryCouncil.GREAT AND WORTHY Li-pû,court and mandorins, whoAtAt length length,, on the thirtyletter to the lords of hisTHE ambaffadors of Holland are come hither with their prefents, to congratulatethe Emperor and pay their obedience to him, a thing which never happened before:and262 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.and becauſe this is the first time, I think fit to accept of them as ambaffadors, and grantthem leave to appear before me, and do homage, when I fhall be feated on the thronein my new palace; to the end that they may obtain a favourable anfwer and a quickdifpatch, in order to their return. Moreover, after the happineſs of having feen mehas caufed them to forget the fatigues of their long travels both by fea and land, andthey are able, without fhutting their eyes, to behold the brightnefs of the fun in theheavens, how can we be unkind to them, or deny them their requeſts?On the peruſal of a new tranflation of the ambaſſador's credentials, by Scaliger, theEmperor fent a ſecond letter, of the fame nature, to the council. The chancellor hereupon defired to know of the ambaffadors, whether the Dutch could not fend annuallyto Pe-king, or at leaſt every ſecond or third year, to do homage to the Emperor?they anſwered, that every fifth year would be more convenient for them; but defired ,that they might be allowed to trade annually with four fhips to Kanton . Afterwardsthe chancellor fummoning the Tartar and Chineſe councils together, to confider of thepropoſals of the Hollanders, alledged, that it would be fufficient for them to comeevery fifth year to falute the Emperor.Moſt of the Tartars were of this opinion: but the Chineſe, pretending to fhew themmuch more favour, would have had the time enlarged to nine years; imagining thatthe Dutch were not to be permitted to trade at Kanton in the mean time. They likewife fuggefted, that under the name of Hollanders, the English might find accefs,who, about thirty years before, came with four fhips into the harbour of Heytamon;where they took away four veffels laden with falt, made the mandorin prifoner, andfhot down a fort: for which outrages they had been declared enemies of the empire.They added, that befides it being contrary to the cuſtom of the country to let themhave a free trade in any part of the empire, it did not appear by the ambaffadors credentials, that any fuch thing was defired; fo that they concluded they had exceededtheir orders.The ambaffadors were not a little furpriſed at theſe proceedings; for they took itfor granted, that the Emperor had already, by his letters to the viceroy of Kanton,fully agreed to allow the Dutch a free trade in that port; and that they were come toPe-king only to return His Majefty their thanks for that favour. They were well informed of the practiſes of Scaliger, and fome other Jefuits, who had been bribed bythe Portugueze to oppofe the defigns of the Dutch. Thefe miffioners, to compafstheir end, endeavoured to prejudice the Tartars by fuch falfe reports as were ſpread atKanton, and infinuating , that Ma-kaw would be quite impoverished by granting thema trade.What moſt ſurpriſed the ambaffadors, was to find themſelves defrauded of the money paid to the Kanton viceroys, in order to gain the chancellor, and fome other ofthe Emperor's council over to their intereft. In thefe ftraits they tried feveral expedients: one was, to propofe to the council, to admit them to live and trade in Chinaon the footing of fubjects; on which condition they promiſed to pay the ufual duties,like thofe of Liegiow, Amiam, and Siam, and to falute the Emperor, with prefentsevery third year.But the ambaſſadors, after all their endeavours, were not able to effect any thing forwant of money; and being unwilling to take up any at eight or ten per cent. a month,they refolved to apply to the Emperor himſelf. Meantime, His Majefty, having fent toknow how far the council had proceeded in the bufinefs, and understanding, that theambaffadors offered to come every five years to falute him, he was pleaſed to infert thenumber eight in place of it; alledging, that five years was time little enough to go I I andNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 263and come, if they travelled only by day; and that they ought to be allowed two orthree years to reft at home: befides, why fhould we ſtraiten them, faid he, in ſuch apoint, who neither ſtand in need of me, nor fear me, but came, out of mere reſpect andaffection, to falute me, and offer me their goods and prefents?This favourable anfwer ofthe Emperor gave the ambaffadors great hopes: but thechancellor's chief ſecretary did all he could to diffuade them from making any fartherrequest, faying they ought to be content, for the first time, with being admitted asfriends; and that for them, who were never there before, to demand a free trade,would unhinge all. However, the ambaffadors did not think fit to follow his advice,becauſe the time drew near that the Emperor was to make his entrance into his newpalace: but before they could have an audience, they were firſt to perform obediencein the old palace, where His Majeſty's treaſure and feal are kept; otherwiſe they wouldbe difmiffed without one, as it happened to the Mufcovy ambaffador; who, thinkingit derogated from the dignity of his maſter, would not perform that ceremony.the grandees of the kingdom must pay their reſpects to this throne before they appearbefore His Majefty; nay, the Emperor himſelf, before he is inftalled , is obliged tocome and bow to it. The reaſon they give for this is, that it is older than the Emperor and deferves that refpect. This cuftom is ufually performed by ambaſſadorsthree days before their audience.AllOn the twenty-ſecond of Auguft, the agents of the Kanton viceroys, with the mandorin Pinxenton and others, came early in the morning to the lodgings of the Dutch;and not long after alſo appeared three Chineſe doctors, and ſome of the court, in veryrich habits. Thefe perfons conducted the ambaffadors and their followers, in greatſtate, into a room of the old palace, much like a library; for they faw none there butſcholars and gownmen, with books in their hands. From hence, after fome ſhortftay, they were led into an open court, within a high wall, were they were commanded, by a herald, to kneel three times and bow their heads to the ground. After afhort pauſe, the herald ſpoke aloud, in Chineſe, the following words: Ka ſhan; thatis, God hath fent the Emperor: Quee; fall upon your knees: Kan to; bow thehead three times: Ke e; ftand up (this he repeated three times:) laftly, Koe; thatis, range yourſelves on one fide. Thefe ceremonies were performed in preſence of atleaft a hundred Chineſe doctors: after which the Dutch returned to their lodgings.On the twenty-fifth of Auguft, the day appointed for their audience, they were prevented by the fudden death of the Emperor's youngeſt brother, about fixteen years ofa*ge, not without fufpicion of poifon by fome of the council; who, it feems, did notthink him worthy to live, becauſe he had provoked His Majefty by fome ill languagebefore their arrival at Pe-king: but others afcribed his death, to drinking a glaſs ofice water, when very hot, which carried him off in a few hours. The Emperor feemedmuch to lament his death; for he would not be feen by any perfon in three days.This young prince was kept unburied a whole month, which gave fo much delay tothe audience.On the fourteenth of September, they understood, that the ambaſſador of Ruffiawent from thence without audience, for the reafon before mentioned; and about noonone of his retinue came and took leave in the name of all the reſt: he defired the favour of a letter to fhew in Ruffia that he had met with the Dutch at Pe-kin, whichwas readily granted. They were informed afterwards, that this ainbaffador was notfuffered to depart, till fuch time as the Emperor had given him a paſs.SECT.264 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.SECT. IX. -The Ambaſſadors' audience of the Emperor, and other Tranfactions.Theyare conducted to the Palace.-The Kalmuck Ambaffador.-Great Mogol's Ambafjador.-The Lama Ambafador.-Incredible Concourfe of People. -Hall of the Throne.-Splendid Appearance. All reverence the Throne in appointed Stations.-Stage of theThrone.-The Emperor's State and Perfon.-His curiofity.-The Ambaffadors feafted.-Tartar Cookery and Slovenlinefs.--Regaled with Sam-fou.-Jefuitical Fictions.The Second Feaft.--The Third Banquet.-Emperor's Prefents to the General; to theAmbafadors, their Secretary and Followers; to the Kanton Mandorins, Officers andSoldiers.-Form of delivering his Letters.-Emperor's Letter to the Dutch General.-Allowance of the Ambaſſadors, and their Retinue. —They leave Pe-king. —Arrive atKanton.-How treated by the Viceroys.-Sailfrom thence. -Return to Batavia.THE prince's funeral being over, the Emperor fent word to the chancellor, that heſhould conduct the Dutch ambaffadors two days after, as alfo thoſe of the Great Mogol before his throne: of this the minifter gave notice, by proclamation, to all thegrandees in Pe-king, who were likewiſe to be preſent.Accordingly, on the firſt of October, about two in the afternoon, the Kanton mandorins, and others of the court, came, in very rich habits, with lanthorns, to condu&tthe ambaffadors, and fix of their attendants, who were felected from the reſt, the author being one. When they came to the palace, they paffed into the fecond court.They were ſcarce feated, before the ambaffador of the Great Mogol accompanied withfive perfons of honour, and about twenty fervants, came and placed himſelf next theDutch ambaffadors: thofe of the Lammas and Su-ta-tfe did the fame: next to themfat feveral lords of the empire. Here they were obliged to fit all night on the bareftones and in the open air, in expectation of His Majeſty's appearance, early in themorning, on his throne.Of all the foreign ambaſſadors, thofe of the Su-ta-tfe, who may be called South Tartars, were in moſt eſteem at the court of Pe-king. All Nieuhoff could learn of his bufinefs, was, that he was fent with preſents to the Great Khân, according to the cuſtomof the bordering nations. This ambaffador had on a coat made of fheepskins, dyedcrimson, which came down to his knees, but was without fleeves; his arms being nakedup to the fhoulders: his cap, turned up with fables, fat cloſe to his head, and had onthe crown a tuft of an horfe's tail, coloured red alfo: his breeches made of a flightftuff, hung half way down his legs in a clouterly manner: the boots he wore were foheavy and large, that he could hardly walk in them: on his right thigh hung a broadheavy fword. All his attendants were cloathed after the fame manner, each with abow and arrows at his back.The Mogol ambaffador had a very coftly blue coat on, fo richly embroidered, that itlooked like beaten gold: it reached almoſt to his knees, and was girt about his waiſtwith a filk girdle, which had great taffels at both ends. He wore neat bufkins ofTurkey leather, and a large turban of feveral colours.The ambaffador ofthe Lammas was cloathed in yellow; his hat much like a cardinal's;with broad brims. At his fide hung a pair of beads, on which they fay their prayerslike the Romaniſts. Thefe Lammas are a fort of religious (or priefts) who enjoyed atoleration for a long time in China: but having been banifhed by the laft ChineſeEmperor, went and fettled in Tartary; from whence they ſent this ambaſſador to cravelibertyNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 265liberty to return. What fuccefs he met with, Nieuhoff could not learn, but fays, hisreception at court was very friendly.At the court gate, where they fat expecting the dawn, ſtood three black elephants ascentinels, with curious towers carved and gilded, on their backs. The concourfe ofpeople here was incredible, and the number of guards all in very rich habits ſurpriſinglygreat.At day break the grandees, who had been there likewiſe all night, came gazing atthem with great admiration, but in a very decent manner. About an hour after, on afign given, all ſtarted up. At the fame time two Tartar lords, who uſually were fentto the ambaffadors, came and conducted them through another gate into a fecond court,lined round with Tartar foldiers and courtiers; and from thence to a third court,where ſtood the hall ofthe imperial throne, together with the apartments ofthe GreatKhan, his wife and children. This court, containing four hundred paces in compaſs,was lined likewife with a strong guard, all of them in rich coats of crimfon colouredfatin.On each fide of the throne ftood an hundred and twelve foldiers, every one holdinga different flag, and in cloaths of a colour fuitable thereto; only they had all black hatswith yellow feathers. Next to the throne ftood twenty-two gentlemen with rich yellow fkreens in their hands reſembling the fun; and next to thefe ten perfons holdinggilt circles in the fame form; then fix others with circles imitating the moon at full;after theſe ſtood fixteen with half pikes or poles in their hands, hung full of filk taffelsoffeveral colours; and near them thirty-fix more, each bearing a ftandard adornedwith dragons, and fuch other monſters. In this manner were both fides of the throneguarded, not to mention an infinite number of courtiers all in very rich habits, of thefame colour and fort of filk, as if a livery; which added greatly to the ſplendour ofthe place. Before the ſteps, leading to the throne, ftood on each fide fix fnow-whitehorfes, with rich embroidered trappings and bridles befet with pearls, rubies, andother precious ſtones.Whilſt they were admiring the pomp and ſplendour of this court, they heard a larumbell, or chimes, which ceafing, the old Tu-tang, with thirty more of the moſt eminentperfons of the empire, ſtepped forth; and at the motion of a herald paid their obedience to the throne, by falling on their knees and bowing their heads nine times totheground, whilſt delightful mufic, both vocal and inftrumental, filled up the vacancies ofthe ceremony. Theſe were fucceeded by another fet of lords. The next who performed the ceremony were the ambaffadors of the Su-ta-tfe and Lammas, conducted inextraordinary ſtate by the first and fecond chancellors.Then the chancellor coming up to the Dutch ambaffadors, aſked them what rank ordegree in dignity they poffeffed; and being anſwered that of viceroys, he went to theMogol ambaffador, who returning the fame anſwer, the under Tu-tang informed them,that their ſtation was the tenth ſtone of the twentieth, which are ſet for that purpoſe inthe pavement oppofite to the middle gate of the hall where the throne ftands. Theſeftones are inlaid with plates of braſs, on which are engraved in Chineſe characters thequality of the perfons who are to ftand or kneel upon them. Then the herald calledto them aloud, go ftand before the throne: this done, he faid, ſtep into your place,which accordingly they did. His next command was, bow your heads three times tothe ground; then rife up; and, laſt of all, return to your place. All which the Dutchperformed.They were afterwards along with the Mogol ambaffador, conducted to a ſtage curiouſly built, which propped the feats of the throne, about twenty feet in height, andVOL. VII. M M adorned266 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA,adorned with feveral galleries of alabaſter: here having kneeled and bowed their headsonce more, they were ordered to fit down, and then treated with Tartar tea, mingledwith milk, in wooden difhes and cups. Soon after, the bells tinkling again , all the peoplefell on their knees, while the Emperor afcended the throne. The ambaffadors beingobliged to keep their ſtations, could fee very little of his Majefty; but their attendants,who ftaid below, could not get the leaft glimpſe of him for the crowd of courtiers thatwas about him.He fat about thirty paces from the ambaffadors. His throne fo glittered with goldand precious ſtones, that it dazzled the eyes of all the beholders. Next, on both fidesof him, fat the viceroys, princes of the blood, and other great officers of the court,ferved with tea in wooden difhes.. Thefe grandees wore all blue fatin coats, curiouflyinterwoven with golden dragons and ferpents. Their caps embroidered with gold weredecked with diamonds and other precious ftones, which denoted their degrees andqualities. On each fide of the throne ftood forty of his Majefty's life guards, armedwith bows and arrows.This mighty prince having fat thus in magnificent ftate about a quarter of an hour,rofe up with all his attendants; and as the abaffadors were withdrawing, de Keyzerobferved the Emperor to look back after them. For what that gentleman could difcernof him, he was young, of fair complexion , middle ftature, and well proportioned, beingcloathed in cloth of gold. They much admired that His Majeſty ſuffered the ambaſſadors to depart without once fpeaking to them; but this is a custom generally prevailingamong the Afiatic princes. The courtiers, foldiers and life guards, marched off in muchdiforder. Though the Dutch had a fufficient guard to clear the way,' they had muchado to paſs the ſtreets for the multitude.They were fcarce gotten into their lodgings, when two of the chief of the councilarrived in his Majeſty's name, to requeſt ( the fight of) a fuit of cloaths in the Dutchfaſhion. The ambaffadors delivered to them a black velvet fuit and cloak, a pair ofboots and ſpurs, a pair of filk ſtockings, boot-hofe tops, drawers, a band, fhirt , fwordbelt, and beaver hat: all which feemed fo very rich to the Emperor, that he ſaid, ifthe ambaffadors wear fuch habits, how muft their kings go cloathed? In the eveninghis Majefty fent back all the cloaths by one ofhis council, who very much admired the ftuff of the hat.It is the cuftom in China to treat ambaffadors on the tenth, twentieth, and thirtiethdays after their audience, in token that their affairs are difpatched; but the Dutchbeing in hafte to return prevailed to have their feats on three fucceffive days, and thefirft was given them on the day of their audience.At two o'clock, in the afternoon, the ambaffadors were conducted with all the Kanton mandorins, officers and foldiers, to the Li-pu, or firſt minifter's houfe, where theentertainment was given. To the fame were invited the ambaffadors of the GreatMogol, the Su-ta-tfe, and Lainmas. Thefe two laft , with their followers, fat on onefide of the table, the two former with theirs on the other fide. - Phe first courfe wasof fruits and dried fweetmeats; the fecond of boiled and roaſted mutton, beef, andother meat. The diſhes were brought to table by perfons of quality, dreffed in clothof gold. For each of the ambaffadors, and two of their attendants, a particular tablewas covered, with thirty filver dithes full of rare fruits and fweetmeats. The Emperor's fteward fat alone upon an high bench, and next him two other great lords, allcrofs legged, who took care to fee the ambaffadors well entertained.Before the ambaffadors fat down, they were obliged to turn themſelves towards thenorth, and bow three times, as if the Emperor had been prefent. The meat was7 broughtNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 267brought to table in three diſhes, but fo ill dreſſed, that the Dutch hardly durft ventureto taſte ofthe cookery ofthe Tartars.Dinner being almoſt ended, the Emperor's ſteward called his fervants, and gavethem all the diſhes which ſtood before him, excepting one. This was a roaſted rib ofa camel, whereofhe eat fo heartily, as if he had been fafting all day.As it is the custom for ambaffadors to carry home what is left, it was pleaſant to feehow thofe greafy Tartars ftuffed their pockets and leather drawers of their breecheswith fat meat, that the liquor dropped from them as they went along the ſtreets.After dinner the waiters brought up feveral gold and filver pots full of Sam-fou,and ſerved it to the company in wooden difhes, or cups. This drink, which, as a favour, came from the Emperor's cellar, was diftilled from new milk; and though almoſtas ftrong as brandy, yet the ambaffadors were forced to pledge the fteward ſeveraltimes, and take home what was left: but they gave it to the foldiers at the gate. Forthe finiſhing ſtroke, they returned to the palace to perform their obedience before thethrone, and then retired to their lodgings..Next day being appointed for the fecond treat, the under Tu-tang, or vice- chancellor, came to vifit the ambaffadors; among other queſtions, he aſked, whether it wastrue, that the Dutch could live under water for three days and nights together? for fothe Portugueze jefuits had given out. The ambaffadors affured him it was falfe; andon acquainting his highnefs, that as yet they had done very little in their buſineſs, heanfwered, that at prefent it could be no otherwife; but affured them, that if they wouldcome once more and falute the Emperor, a free trade ſhould be granted them at theexpences of only a few prefents.At noon, they went to the ſecond banquet, at which affifted ſome of the prime perfons of the empire; with the Mogol ambaffador, who fat oppofite to them. Obferving, that the under Tu-tang was more open-hearted to him, the Moors, and othergueſts, than to them, they afked the interpreter the caufe, and found that this greatlord had received no prefents from them; although Pinxenton and the other Kantonmandorins had goods delivered to them at Nan-king fufficient for diftributing to allthe grandees. Upon this they defired to know how their goods had been diſpoſed of,but the truſtees refuſed to give them an account; alledging, that they durft not namethoſe perfons to whom they were prefented, left it fhould come to the Emperor's.knowledge for this reafon, and becauſe their buſineſs was not yet diſpatched as itought, the laſt banquet was deferred till the fourteenth of October.The under Tu-tang in the interim having had his prefents, the ambaſſadors were received by him on that day, feemingly with the greateſt reſpect and affection . After theyhad fat about an hour at the table, and drank once or twice about, the prefents weredelivered to them in the name of the Emperor. They were fpread in great order ontwo long tables that ſtood on one fide of the hall. First, the prefent for the GeneralMaatzuiker was delivered, which the ambaffadors received kneeling, with both theirhands: then the names of themfelves and their followers being called over, their reſpective preſents were delivered to them likewife upon their knees. Laftly, whenthey were ready to depart, they performed their obedience to the imperial throne, bythrice kneeling and bowing their heads.The prefents were as follows: -To the General John Maatzuiker, three hundredtael of filver, four pieces of damaſk, four pieces of black, and four of blue fatins; fourpieces of cloth of gold, two embroidered with dragons; four pieces of Thuys, twelvepieces of Pe-lings, ten pieces of Ho-kyen, four pieces of blue flowered damask, threepieces of Ga-fen, four pieces of Foras, and four pieces of black velvet.M M 2 Το268 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.To each of the ambaffadors, one hundred tael of filver, four pieces of Pe- lings,four pieces of Ga-fen, four pieces of Ho-kyens, three pieces of blue fatins, threepieces of black, and three of blue damafk, and one piece of black velvet.To the fecretary Baron, fifty tael of filver, two pieces of Pe-lings, two pieces ofGa-fen, one piece of damafk, one piece of cloth of gold, and one piece of velvet.To each of their followers, fifteen tael of filver, and two pieces of Ho-kyens. Tothe interpreter Carpentier, thirty tael of filver. To the interpreter Paul Durette, adamaſk gown.The mandorin Pinxenton had given him, a mandorin's gown, embroidered withgolden dragons, which he was to wear immediately. Each of the other two mandorin's received one horſe without a faddle. Each of the two captains, who had thecommand over the foldiers, who conducted them from Kanton to Peking, a gown ofblue filk damaſk. Laftly, each foldier, to the number of twenty, received a coat ofblack and blue filk damaſk.On the fixteenth, the Tartar lords, who had been often fent to the ambaſſadors,caufed fifteen waggons to be brought to carry their goods; after which Pinxenton fentthem notice to repair to the court of Li-pû, to receive the Emperor's letter to the governor-general at Batavia. They rode thither about one o'clock, and were conductedinto an anti-chamber, where one of the council took the letter off the table, whichwas covered with a yellow carpet, and opening the fame, declared to them the contents. It was written both in the Chineſe and Tartar tongues, gilded on the edges, andpainted on both fides with golden dragons: then making it up again, he wrapped itin a filk ſcarf, and putting it into a box, delivered it to the ambaffadors, who receivedit kneeling. Afterwards he took the letter again from them, and bound it to the backof one of the interpreters; who went along with it before the ambaffadors through themiddle gate of the court; which was fet wide open for the purpoſe. This ceremonywas performed in great filence; neither was the leaſt mention made at any of their entertainments of the Dutch negotiations.The Emperor's letter runs thus:The King fends this Letter to John Maatzuiker, the Dutch Governor-General at Batavia.OUR territories being as far afunder as the eaſt from the weft, it is with great difficulty that we can approach each other; and fromthe beginning till this preſent theHollanders never came to vifit us: but thofe who fent Peter de Goyer and Jacob deKeyzer to me, are a brave and wife people, who in your name have appeared beforeme, and brought me ſeveral prefents. Your country is ten thouſand miles diſtant frommine, but you fhew your noble mind in remembering me; for this reaſon my heart doth very much incline to you, therefore I fend to you . (Here the prefents are mentioned. ) You have afked leave to come and trade in my country, by importing andexporting commodities, which will redound very much to the advantage of my fubjects: but in regard your country is fo far diftant, and the winds on theſe coafts foboisterous, as to endanger your fhips, the lofs of which would very much trouble me;therefore, if do think fit to fend hither, I defire it may be but once every eightyears, and no more than an hundred men in a company, twenty of whom may comeup to the place where I keep my court; and then you may bring your merchandizesafhore into your lodge, without bartering them at fea before Kanton. This I haveyouthoughtNIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 269thought good to propofe for your intereſt and ſafety, and I hope it will be well likedof by you and thus much I thought fit to make known unto you.In the thirteenth year, eight month, and twenty-ninth day of the reign ofSong-te.Underneath ſtoodHong-tî Tfo-pe.The ambaffadors, on their return to their lodgings, were urged bythe commiffionersto depart; alledging, that by the ufa*ge of the empire, they could not continue twohours in the city after having received their diſpatch, if they would avoid falling intofome inconvenience: ſo that they were neceffitated to quit the place at noon, after taking leave of the grandees. By this means they had no time to take a view of anythingelfe that was worth notice; for during their ſtay, they were ſhut up in their lodgingswithout ever once ftirring abroad to take their pleaſure, although they were providedwith a plentiful allowance. The ambaſſadors received daily, for themfelves only, fixkatti of freſh meat, one goofe, two pullets, four cups of fam-fou, two tael of falt, twotael of tea, one tael, and one meaſure of oil , fix tael of miſon, one meaſure of pepper,fix katti of herbs, four katti of meal, two freſh fiſhes, and two tael of futtati.Their ſecretaries daily allowance was, one katti of freſh meat, five meaſures of tea,one katti of meal, one meaſure of taufoe, five coudrine of pepper, four tael of futtati,four meaſures of oil, four tael of mifon, one katti of herbs, and one cup of arrac.Each of their followers received one katti of freſh meat, one cup of arrac, two tael ofherbs, and one katti of rice.Wood and fruit of all forts were fent in daily in great abundance, befides Chinadiſhes but the ambaſſadors ſent and bought ſeveral other things for their table, andhad them ſerved up in a ſtately manner, to let the Chineſe ſee what way they lived inHolland. After they had been before the Emperor, they received a double allowance,which was a favour feldom done to foreigners.Leaving Pe-king, they travelled by land to San-tfian-wey, where the imperial veffels,that brought them from Nan-king, lay expecting them. However, certain large junks,by his Majeſty's orders, were provided to carry them: but theſe being flow, heavyfailers, the ambaffadors hired lighter veffels for more expedition; left, arriving late atKanton, they ſhould be obliged to winter there. In theſe they embarked with theTartarian lords fent to attend them, and the Kanton mandorins returned by the waythey went.The thirty-firſt of October, they got to Lin-tfing, where they were treated nobly fortwo or three days by Pinxenton. Departing, with the wind at north, it blew fo veryhard and cold, that they were hardly able to endure it. The twenty-firſt of Novemberthey arrived at Nan-king, where they ſtaid till the tenth of December; but the weather was ſo very bad and cold, that they could not ſtir abroad all the while they werethere.January the fifth, 1657, they got to the city Van-nun-gan, whofe governor prefented the ambaffadors with fome refreſhments and candles; which were made of athick oily juice, iffuing from trees, and burnt very clear as well as fweet. Theeleventh was extremely cold. The fifteenth they arrived at Nan-gan, from whencethey croffed the mountains in chairs carried by thirty foldiers, and got, in one day, toNan-hyong, where they again took water. The twenty-feventh, they came to Fa-fan,a delightful village, (which in going they paffed in the night), and next day arrived atKanton.In270 NIEUHOFF'S TRAVELS IN CHINA.In the way to their lodgings the Emperor's letter to the general was carried by Baronthe fecretary upon both his hands, having a ſcreen before him: next followed the ambaffadors. The cannons aboard the fhips were difcharged twice. The walls and ftreetsof the city were crowded with people to fee them pafs. Next day the ambaffadorswent in ftate to falute the viceroys, the young king's mother, and the Tu-tang. Theviceroys received them very friendly with a dith of tea, and had fome difcourfe concerning their bufinefs. The Tu-tang, after fuffering them to wait two hours at his fecretary's houfe, fent them word, that he would give them audience when Pinxentonwas come.The firſt of February, they were treated nobly by the old viceroy; the fecond bytheyoung one; and on the third, by Pinxenton. The ambaffadors wanting money topurchaſe a new year's gift for the viceroys, at laft obtained a fum by the intereft ofLantfman, which he had made during his abode at Kanton in their abfence: but whenthe prefents were brought to the viceroys, they feemed diffatisfied with them, and demanded not only intereft for one thoufand five hundred tael of filver, which they haddifburfed for the ufe of their fervants upon their departure to Pe- king; but likewife infifted, that the ambaffadors fhould immediately pay the three thoufand five hundredtael of filver which they had promifed to the viceroys for a free trade at Kanton. Thisbuſineſs occafioned much trouble, and at laſt the ambaffadors were neceffitated to comply with their demands, to prevent further mifchief: for they found that the commonpeople had been dealt withal, to affront them as they went along the ftreets; and notlong after, Paul Duretti, one of their beft interpreters, was barbaroufly murdered inhis own houſe.Hereupon the ambaffadors went immediately to take leave of the viceroys: but theyrefufed to give them audience, and only fent out word, that they were not to exportany Tartar arms. That night they went aboard, and ſet fail early in the morning: butin a few hours, the wind changing, they were forced to come to an anchor again notfar from Kanton. The twenty-third, the ftewards of the viceroys, and the captains ofthe guards, with the mandorins who had accompanied the ambaffadors in their journey,came and treated them in the name of their mafters with their Sam-fou, in their king'sown diſhes, wiſhing them a fafe voyage, and ſpeedy return. As foon as their vifitantswere gone, they hoifted fail and came upon the twenty- eighth, about fun fet, into theharbour of Hey-ta-mon. The fecond of March, pafling in fight ofthe famous villageof Lantam, they fhot beyond Ma- kau. The eighth, they came to Pulo- Timon: herethey met with fhoals of flying fifh. The twenty-firft, they faw the iſland Linga, on thecoaſt of Sumatra; and through the ftraits of Banka, between Sumatra and Java, arrived on the thirty-first at Batavia, having ſpent twenty months and fix days in this tedious and expenfive voyage. The value of the prefents amounted to five thousand fivehundred and fifty-five pounds one fhilling and feven-pence fterling: the expences ofthe voyage, four thoufand three hundred and twenty-feven pounds and ten- pence. Inall, nine thoufand eight hundred and eighty-two pounds two fhillings and five-pence.Nieuhoff was of opinion , that as the Emperor was at war with Koxinga, the Dutchmight obtain a free trade by propofing to affift his Majefty with their fhips to fubduethat arch pirate; which expedient they fome years after went upon.( 271 )TRAVELSFROMST. PETERSBURG IN RUSSIA, TO VARIOUS PARTS OF ASIA,In 1716, 1719, 1722, &c.By JOHN BELL, of Antermony.Τοthe Governor, Court of Affiftants, and Freemen of the RUSSIA COMPANY, andto the BRITISH FACTORIES in Ruffia, the following Relation of Travels, &c. isrefpectfully infcribed, as a Teftimony of Gratitude for the Favours received frommany ofthem,Antermony, Oct. 1 , 1762.By their most obedient, and very humble Servant,THE AUTHOR.THE PREFACE..IN my youth I had a ſtrong defire of ſeeing foreign parts; to fatisfy which inclination, after having obtained, from fome perfons of worth, recommendatory letters toDr. Arefkine, chief phyſician and privy- counſellor to the Czar Peter the Firſt, I embarked at London, in the month of July 1714, on board the Profperity of Ramsgate,Capt. Emerfon, for St. Petersburg. On my arrival there, I was received by Dr. Arefkine in a very friendly manner; to whom I communicated my intentions of f*cking anopportunity of vifiting fome parts of Afia, at leaſt thofe parts which border on Ruffia.Such an opportunity foon prefented itſelf, on occafion of an embaffy then preparingfrom His Czarish Majefty to the Sophy of Perfia.Artemy Petrovich Valeníky, a gentleman of a family of diftinction, and a captain ofthe guards, was appointed anbaffador by His Majefty. Upon his nomination, he applied to Dr. Areſkine to recommend a perſon who had fome knowledge in phyſic and.furgery, to go in his fuit in the embaffy. As I had employed fome part of mytime inthofe ftudies, the Doctor recommended me; which he did in fo cordial a manner asproduced to me, from the ambaffador, many marks of friendſhip and regard, whichfubfifted not only during the journey, but alfo continued from that time to the end ofhis days. The Doctor, at the fame time, recommended me to the College of Foreign.Affairs at St. Petersburg, by whom I was engaged in the fervice of Peter the Firſt.Having acquainted the reader with the manner of my entering on the travels, whichare the principal fubject of the following fheets, I fhall take the liberty to fay, that I.have, through the whole, given the obfervations which then appeared to me worth remarking, without attempting to embelliſh them, by taking any of the liberties of exaggeration or invention frequently imputed to travellers.I took notes of the fubject of the following treatife, by way of diary, from time to timeduring the courfe of my travels, intending nothing further at that time than to keep.them as helps to my memory, that I might, as occafion offered, communicate, in converfation with my friends, what I had obferved worth remarking; and that I might becapable of giving information to others who might be defirous of it, on their being tomakethe fame journies.About four years ago, fpending fome days at the houſe of a Right Honourable andmoft honoured friend, the fubject of my travels took up a great part of our converfa tion;272 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.tion; during which, upon his enquiring occafionally, whether I had taken any notes ofthe places, &c. through which I had paffed in my feveral journies? and, upon my anfwering in the affirmative, he was pleafed to take fome pains to engage me to promifethat I would collect my notes and obſervations, and form them into journals, as completeas the time elapfed would admit, and communicate them to the world.It was not without reluctance that I fet about this work, which, had I thought it worththe public's acceptance and perufal, I would have done long ago. Such as it is, I nowoffer it to them; and flatter myſelf, (with hopes at leaſt, ) that the plainneſs of the ſtylein which it is written will be of no prejudice to it with candid readers, who may find init fome things new, and of which they would chooſe to be informed.In regard to the tranflation ofMr. De Lange's Journal, I have given it for two reafons: -Firſt, becauſe it continues the negociation begun by Mr. De Ifmayloff, in thecourfe of which Mr. De Lange furniſhes the reader with a diftinct detail of the mannerof tranfacting affairs with the minifters of ſtate, of their chicaneries, &c. at the court ofPekin. Secondly, becauſe I do not apprehend it hath ever appeared in the Engliſhlanguage; at leaſt, have made what inquiries I could, to find if it had been tranflated,which have been all fruitlefs.As I well knew the worthinefs and integrity of Mr. De Lange, and I am fully perfuaded that his Journal was genuine, though perhaps obtained furreptitiously by theeditor, I have clofed the tranflation with the end of Mr. De Lange's Journal, on hisarrival at Selinginfky on the frontiers of Siberia; having omitted an addition to it, madeby the editor, of the trade and monies of China; concerning which, the editor, whenhe enters upon it, acquaints the reader that he had notthe means neceffary for fufficientinformation. For the reſt, the tranſlation is juft, as may be feen by comparing it withthe original.Antermony, Oct. 1, 1762.JOHN BELL.Names ofthe principal Perfons who compofed the Train of the Ambaſſador Artemii Petrovich Valenky, viz.Secretary,Gregory Chriſtopher Venigerkind.Captain Engineer,Jaques de Vilette.Gentlemen ofthe Embaffy,Matphe Parfilich Kartzoff,Adrian Ivanovich Lopuchin,The Author of this Journal.Prieft,Hylarion, a Monk.Interpreters,Vaffile Kurdeffsky,Alexie Tulkatzoff,Demetry Petritz.Clerks or Writers,Vaffile Shadayoff,Alexie Buchtaryoff.With many others, viz. a band of mufic, confifting of trumpets, kettle-drums, violins,hautboys, &c. carpenters, fmiths, tailors, valets, and footmen, amounting in all toabove one hundred perfons; befides a troop of twenty-five dragoons for our eſcort,from Aftrachan to Ifpahan.A JOUR-BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 273A JOURNEY FROM ST. PETERSBURG IN RUSSIA TO ISPAHAN IN PERSIA, WITHAN EMBASSY FROM HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY PETER THE FIRST TO THE SOPHY OF PERSIA SHACH HUSSEIN, IN THE YEAR 1715 * .CHAP. I.-From St. Petersburg to Cafan.N the 15th of July 1715, I fet out from St. Peterſburg, in company with Meffrs.Venigerkind, De Villette, and Kurdeffsky. That city, which has fince grown foconfiderable, was then in its infancy, having been founded ten or eleven years beforeby that truly great man Peter the Firſt, to whom no undertaking ſeemed difficult.St. Peterſburg is fituated in fixty degrees north latitude, partly on the continent of Ingria and Carelia, and partly on different iſlands formed bythe river Neva, which diſchargesitſelf by four channels into the Gulf of Finland, a little below the city. It is defendedby a ſtrong caſtle, built with ſtone and brick, inacceffible to fhips of force, there beingbut eight feet water on the bar. As the Czar had determined to form a city all at once,and not to truſt to time for the growth of a place which he had chofen for the feat ofgovernment, he affembled inhabitants from every province of his empire, and alluredftrangers from moft parts of Europe; fo that the place was even well peopled, and hadnot the appearance of a city fo lately founded.The adjacent country is generally covered with woods, confifting of various kinds ofpines, birch, alder, afpine, and other trees natural to the northern climates.To the fouthward, eſpecially along the fhore towards Peterhoff, the country in fummeris very pleaſant with country feats, corn-fields, and meadows interſperſed.The river Neva falls out of the Ladoga lake at Sluffelburgh, a ſtrong caſtle about fixtyverſt above St. Peterſburg. It is a noble ſtream of clear wholefome water, with thispeculiar quality, that it is feldom- muddy. It contains a great variety of excellent fish,which ſupply the market all the year, and is navigable to the Ladoga by flat- bottomed veffels.Thewoods on each fide are ftored with game; fuch as hares, which are white asfnow in winter, and turn brown in fummer; wild- deer, bears, and wolves; the laſt arefo bold that I have known them in the night-time carry off a dog from a man's foot incroffing the river on the ice. There are alfo elks about the Lake of Ladoga. As forwild-fowl, few places can boaſt of greater variety. The chief are thefe: the urhaan,called in French coq limoge; this bird is black, with beautiful red ſtreaks about itshead and eyes. The co*ck is about the ſize of a turkey; the hen is leſs, and of a browncolour. The heath-co*ck, in French coq de bruiere, of the fame colour and marks as theformer, but not fo large. The partridge, which the French call gilinot. Theſe threekinds perch on trees, and in winter feed on fir-tops, and on crane- berries, which theyfcrape from under the fnow. There is alfo found here the common Engliſh partridge;it is however but rare. The tarmachan, a bird well known in the northern parts ofEngland and Scotland, are here in plenty.As foon as the ice goes off in the ſpring, vaft flocks of water-fowl come hither fromthe Cafpian Sea, and other fouthern regions, to hatch. Theſe confift of ſwans, geeſe, avariety of wild-ducks, teal, &c.Snipes and wood- co*cks breed here; many of which are catched by the Ruffians,who are excellent fiſhers and ſportſmen.

• Some fmall portions of theſe valuable travels do not relate to China, but it was thought adviſeable to

preſent them in one continued narration, as publiſhed by the author.VOL. VII. N N From274 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.From St. Peterſburg we directed our courfe along the weſtern bank of the Neva, tillwe came to the brick-works. The weather being very hot we halted here a few hours,and in the evening purfued our journey to a final river which falls into the Neva,about thirty verſt above St. Petersburg. At this place we let our horfes go to grafs,and lay in our waggons till the morning; but were much molefted by the gnats and mufkitos.Next morning, we continued our journey, and paffed a village' called Ifhora, wherethe inhabitants fpeak a language, and wear a drefs different from the Ruffian, thoughthey profefs the fame Greek religion. It is probable they are the defcendants of a colony formerly brought hither from fome ofthe provinces of Livonia.Next day we came to the Volchova, a great river iffuing from a lake called Ilmen,not far diftant from the city of Novogorod, which difcharges itſelf into the Ladoga. Here we left our horfes, and, putting our waggons and carriages on boardbarks, went up the river, ufing oars or fails by turns as neceffity obliged us. Thebanks of the Volchova are covered with many villages and fruitful corn-fields, intermixed with natural woods. We found, as we went along, plenty of fifh and countryprovifions.The 19th, we arrived at Novogorod Velikoi, or the Great Novogorod, fo called todiftinguish it from many leffer towns ofthe fame name. This city ftands about twohundred verft fouth- eaft from Petersburg. The Volchova runs through the middle ofit, over which there is a wooden bridge defended by a fortrefs. There are many wellbuilt churches in the town, and a great number of monafteries in the neighbourhood,pleaſantly fituated, which form a very agreeable profpect. It was formerly a placeof great note, but is now much decayed. Here is an archbiſhop who enjoys a veryconfiderable revenue.

July 22d, having put our carriages on board another bark, we failed up the river tothe Lake Ilmen; and, leaving it on our right hand, entered a ſmall river called Mfta,and at night came to Brunitz, a large village, thirty verft from Novogorod. Here wedifcharged our boats; and, having procured horfes, we proceeded next morningthirty verft to the village of Zaytzoff, from thence to Krafnyftanky, and then to Kreftitíky , where we changed horfes, with which we travelled to Yafhilbitza. Here beginthe Valday hills, which run to a great diſtance from eaſt to weft, but are only abouttwenty or thirty verft broad. They are moſtly covered with wood. We came next tothe town ofValday. This place is pleafantly fituated at the foot of the hills, adjoiningto a large lake of the fame name, in the middle of which is an iſland, whereon flands amonaftery. The country in the neighbourhood is hilly, but not mountainous, exhibiting a beautiful variety of plain and rifing grounds.The next stage is Zimogory, and after that Vifhnoyvolotzke. Here is a canal ofconfiderable extent, cut by Peter the First, which opens a communication by waterfrom St. Peterſburg to all the places on the Volga, and many other parts of Ruffia, andproves a great encouragement to trade, and very advantageous to the merchant, in fuchextenfive tracts of land.Next day we came to Torfhoak, a fmall town.The 29th, we arrived at Tweer, a populous and trading town, defended by a caftle;it is the capital of a province, and a bishop's feat. It derives its name from a rivuletin the neighbourhood, called Tweertza, and ſtands on the banks of the famous riverVolga.The Volga, known formerly by the name of Rha, has its fource not far to the weſtward of Tweer. At a fmall diftance from the fource of the Volga, two other nobleΙΟ riversBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 275rivers take their rife; the Dnieper, or Boryfthenes, which runs into the Black Sea atOtzakof, and the Duina, which falls into the Baltic at Riga.The Volga, after vifiting in its courfe to the fouth-eaft many fruitful countries, difcharges itſelf into the Cafpian Sea, about fixty verft below Aftrachan; and, in allthis long courſe, there is not a fingle cataract to interrupt the navigation. As tofish, no river in the world can afford greater variety, better of their kind, nor in largerquantities.Here we tafted the fterlett, a fifh much and generally efteemed; it is of the fturgeonkind, but ſeldom grows above thirty inches long. It is found in other rivers of Ruffia;but the Volga produces the beſt and in greateſt plenty. The caviare, or fpawn, is verygood to eat raw, after being cleaned and dreffed. I never could find a fiſherman whohad feen their fry.The fame day, having changed horfes, we proceeded on our journey to Gorodna, alarge village, on the weft bank of the Volga. From this place is feen a charming landſcape, containing a full view of the windings of that river.From hence, after paffing many villages, we came to Kleen, a pretty large town, andthe laſt ſtage to Mofco. The country between Kleen and Mofco is pleafant, havingmany tufts of wood, of unequal bignefs, ſcattered among the corn-fields, that contributeto beautify that country, which had no great appearance offertility.About feven verft from Mofco, we paffed through a large village, called Ffefwatzky,inhabited by Chriftians of the Eaftern church, named Georginians; their ancientcountry was Gurgiſtan, now one of the northerly provinces of Perfia; they were drivenfrom their native country bythe perfecution of the Perfians; and, flying into Ruffia,they there found an hofpitable reception , many of them being employed in the ferviceof the Emperor.From this place there is a view of the city of Mofco, and, at this diſtance, few citiesin the world make a finer appearance: for it ſtands on a rifing ground, and containsmany ſtately churches and monafteries, whoſe ſteeples and cupolas are generally coveredeither with copper gilt or tin plates, which fhine like gold and filver in the fun.Auguſt 2d, we arrived at the city of Mofco. I have omitted the names and diſtancesofmany inconfiderable places through which we paſſed; let it fuffice, that the diſtancebetween St. Peterſburg and Mofco is about feven hundred and thirty verft; and, althoughthe hot weather detained us long on the road, in winter the journey is eafily performedwith fledges in three days.On the 10th Auguft, my friends Meffrs. Lange and Girvan, arrived here in theirway to China, on a meffa*ge from the Czar to the Emperor of China: the firft was aSwede, and the other a phyfician, from the county of Air in Scotland.Weſtaid in Mofco about three weeks, having many things to prepare for fo long ajourney. This city, ftanding on an eminence, as was already obferved, commands anextenfive proſpect of a fine plain country, adorned with woods and clumps of trees,monaſteries, and gentlemen's feats: the river Mofco runs almoft through it, which emptying itſelf into the Volga, preferves a communication with all the ſouthern parts ofRuffia, and even with Perfia. From theſe advantages in fituation, this place is veryconvenient for trade, which flouriſhes here to a confiderable degree.The city is fortified with a ſtrong brick wall, called Beligorod, having embrafures anda ditch. Within this is another wall , called Kitaygorod; this laft includes what is calledthe Crimlin, in which is the old imperial palace, compounded of a number of buildings,added to one another at different times. Some of the apartments are very fpacious,particularly that called Granavitapallata, where audience was given to foreign ambaffaNN 2dors;276 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.dors; adjoining to the palace are many edifices, where were held the courts ofjuſtice;here alfo ftands a lofty tower, wherein is hung the largeſt bell in the world, called IvanVeleke, weighing about ten thoufand poods; which, reckoning. each pood at nearthirty-fix pounds Engliſh, will amount to about an hundred and fixty ton weight. Befides thefe, there is a cathedral church, and an arfenal, well furnished with brafs cannon, mortars, and other warlike ſtores. Beyond the brick walls already mentioned,there is an earthen one, of great circumference, round the whole; and without this thefuburbs alfo are very extenfive.The great plenty of provifions in this place furpriſed me not a little; I found herefruits of different kinds, which I did not expect, particularly excellent melons, and arboozes, or water-melons.Auguft the 21ft, we fhipped our baggage on board fix finall barks, adapted by theirconftruction, either for fails or oars, as fhould be moft convenient, and fell down theriver. The ambaffador only remained at Mofco, waiting for fome difpatches fromcourt. In the evening we paffed Koluminfka, a village pleafantly fituated on the fouthfide of the Mofco river, near which is a large country-houſe with gardens and orchards,belonging to the court.October 3d, we came to Kolumna, a fortified town. Next day, the wind beingfavourable, we hoifted fail; and, after going about three verft, entered the river Oka,into which the Mofco falls, and lofes its name. The Oka rifes in the Ukrain, andruns to the fouth-eaft , it contains a great quantity of water, and is navigable very farup the country.The 9th, we arrived at Pereflave-refanſky, a large town to the left, fituated about averft from the river Oka. It is the feat of an archbishop, and the country around isvery fruitful in corn.The 16th, we came to Kaffimova, formerly the refidence of a Tartar Prince; butthefamily is now converted to Chriſtianity, and retains only the old name of KaffimofskyCzarevitz. The place is at preſent inconfiderable. There are ſtill here a few Mahometan Tartars, who are allowed the free exercife of their religion, and have a ſmalloratory. I accompanied our interpreter to vifit one of them, an old acquaintance ofhis he was a very decent man. Wefawa horſe newly killed, which they intended toeat. They prefer this kind of food to beef, and invited us to ſhare their repaft; whichwe declined, pretending we had not time.The 17th, we left Kaffimova; and the 21ft arrived at Murum, a pretty large town,and a bishop's fee. The country produces plenty of corn. About this place there area few idolatrous Tartars, who live in little dirty cottages, thinly fcattered; they are avery fimple and harmleſs people; how or when they fettled here is not known.The 22d, we paffed a large village called Paulovoperevoz, the property of PrinceTzerhafkoy. Its fituation is on the fouth fide of the river: here the banks are muchhigher than above this place.We came the 23d to Niſhna-novogorod, a great town, defended by a caſtle ſtandingon the high banks of the Oka, oppofite to where it lofes itſelf in the Volga, which nowforms a mighty ſtream.The following day we dined at the governor's, where I faw General Creutz, andfeveral other Swediſh officers who had been taken prifoners at Poltava, and lived hereat large.The 25th, we failed from Niſhna, and foon entered the Volga. The wind beingnortherly, we run along at a great rate; but, in the night, the river was fuddenly filledwith floating ice, which drove us on a fand-bank, where we lay a-ground that night andallBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 277all the next day; however, after much labour and fatigue, we got clear, although thefloating ice ftill continued. At laft the wind changed to the fouth, and the weatherturned milder, which enabled us to purſue our voyage.We next paffed Vafily-gorod, and then Kofmodeminnfko, fmall towns, both on theright.November 3d, we 'came to Zaback- zar, a pretty large town, on the fame hand.In this country are caughtthe beft and largeft faulcons in the world, much efteemedfor their ftrength and beauty, particularly by the Turks and Perfians, who purchaſethem very dear. The Ruffians take few young hawks from the neft , preferring theold ones, which they man very dexterously to fly at fwan, goofe, crane, or heron. The'Tartars fly them at antelopes and hares. I have feen them take a wild duck out of thewater, when nothing of her could be perceived but the bill, which fhe was obliged toput up for air. Some of them are as white as a dove. The manner of catchingthemis very fimple: they erect a tall poll upon a hill , free from wood, on a bank of theriver, near which is placed a day-net; under the net fome fmall birds are faſtened bya cord, which the hawk-catcher pulls to make them flutter, on the appearance ofthehawk, who obferving his prey, firſt perches on the pole; and when he ſtoops to feizethe birds, the perfon, who is concealed by the buſhes, draws the net and covershim.The 4th, we paffed Kay-gorod, and the 5th, Swiiafki; the firft on the left, and theother on the right hand. This evening we arrived before the town of Cazan; andhauled our boats into the mouth of a ſmall river, from which the town has its name,called Cazanka. We intended to continue our voyage directly to Aftrachan; but, before we had made the neceſſary preparations at Cazan, the winter fet in, and on the 6thof September, the Volga was filled with floating ice; this determined us to winter atthat place; we therefore unloaded the boats, and came to the city, where we werehofpitably received by the governor.CHAP. II.-Occurrences during our Stay at Cazan; our Journey thence to Aftrachan.CAZAN is about ſeven hundred and thirty-five verft from Moſco by land, but muchmore bywater it is fituated about five verft to the north ofthe Volga, on a high bankof the rivulet Cazanka, which is navigable from this place to the river. The town isftrong by fituation, and defended by a caſtle, fortified with walls of brick: within thecitadel are the cathedral church, the palaces of the archbishop and governor, and theapartments for the courts ofjustice: the town is fenced with a ditch and palifades. Thefuburbs are inhabited chiefly by mechanics, except a ſtreet or two poffeffed by Mahometan Tartars, the pofterity of the ancient natives; they live very decently, have thefree exerciſe of their religion, and many other privileges; fome of them are very richby the trade they carry on to Turkey, Perfia, and other places.Cazan was anciently the capital of a part of Tartary, and the feat of government,where the royal family refided. It was taken from the Tartars by Czar Ivan Vafiloviz, in the year 1552, in confequence whereof, an extenfive country to the ſouthwardeafily fell into his hands. The conquered princes were converted to Chriftianity, andhad lands affigned them in their own country, where the family ſtill fubfifts.The country adjacent is very pleaſant and fertile, producing wheat, rye, barley, oats,and feveral kinds of pulfe. The woods to the fouth and weft confift of ftately oaks,fufficient to fupply all the navies in the world; and from hence St. Peterſburgh is abundantly furniſhed with timber for all the purpoſes of fhip- building, by an eafy conveyanceall278BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.all the way by water. The woods to the north and eaſt, which are of prodigious extent, confift of trees of all forts.In the ſpring, when the fnow melts, the Volga overflows all the low grounds, fometimes to a great diftance; the confequence is the fame with that produced in Egypt, bythe inundations of the Nile; for the mud carried down by the ftream, fertilizes thecountry to a great degree; fo that on the iſlands in the Volga, fome whereof are verylarge, and overgrown with tall trees, I have found plenty of excellent afparagus.Befides the fterlett, there are plenty of fturgeon, and a fish about the fize and nearthe ſhape of the largeſt falmon, which is very delicious, and for the whiteness of its flefh,is called the white fish.The woods afford abundance of game; and, in the fpring, great numbers of waterfowl come hither to hatch from the Cafpian Sea. At Cazan, we found good beef,mutton, and tame poultry, and provifions of all kinds very reaſonable.There is here a confiderable manufactory of Ruffia leather, the hides here beingreckoned the beſt in the empire: great quantities of this leather are exported to Leghorn, and other parts of Europe, and may be confidered among the ſtaple commoditiesof this country: the ftrong fmell of this leather is acquired in the dreffing, for inſteadofoil, common in other places, they uſe a kind of tar, extracted by fire from the barkof the birch-tree; which ingredient the Ruffes call deuggit, and which tree is here ingreater abundance than in other parts of the world; and then they dye them with logwood.Befides the idolatrous Tartars, formerly mentioned, there are two pretty numeroustribes called the Tzerimiſh and Tzoowafh; they ſpeak a language quite different fromthe Mahometan Tartars in theſe parts, who ufe a corrupted dialect of the Arabic. TheMahometans likewiſe have fome learning; but the Tzerimifh and Tzoowaſh have none.They have a tradition among them, that, in former times, they had a book on religion;but as no body could read it, a cow came and ſwallowed it. They pay great veneration to a bull. From whence they came is unknown; but, from their complexion, it isprobable they are from Afia. They live by agriculture; and feem to be an inoffenfivekind of people. Their huntſmen offer in facrifice, to fome deity, the firſt creature theycatch . Hence fome curious men have imagined theſe people part of the ten tribes ofthe Jews, expelled by Shalmanezer. I advance this only as a conjecture, which everyreader may follow or not, as he pleaſes.By accident, I met with an Engliſhman at this place. He was by trade a carpenter;and had been in the Ruffian ſervice; but, being fufpected of deferting, he was condemned to banishment, to this country, for a certain time; and, notwithſtanding thatwas elapfed, the poor man, deprived of all means of afferting his liberty, remained ſtillin the fame fituation. He bought a Tzerimifh wife from her father, for fix roubles,about thirty fhillings fterling. He brought her to viſit me. She was a woman of acheerful and open countenance, and dreffed in the manner of her country; of which,for its fingularity, I fhall give a fhort defcription.Her hair was plaited round her head, in many locks, but that on the backpart longerthan the reft, at the end of which was tied a taffel of red filk, and in the middle a ſmallround brafs bell. About her head was a fillet fet with fmall fhells, instead of jewels,and hung all round with filver pence. Above this was a piece of linen fo artfully plaitedand done up, that it looked like a grenadier's cap; at the top was a filk taffel, withanother brafs bell, which gingled as fhe turned her head. The reft of her dress wasclean, though homely; and the whole feemed becoming enough.I thinkBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 279I think the cold is here more intenfe than at St. Petersburg, though it is five or fixdegrees farther fouth. In going about three miles from town, in a clear day, I had myface, fingers, and toes frozen, notwithſtanding I was not half an hour on the road. Iapplied the common cure, that is, rubbing the numbed parts with fnow, which I foundperfectly effectual.December 24th, our ambaffador arrived from Mofco. At the fame time came anexprefs from court, with the important news of the Crown Princefs ( as fhe was commonly called) being fafely delivered of a fon, chriftened by the name of Peter. Shedied foon after her delivery, univerfally lamented for her many rare and excellent vir- tues. She was of the Wolffenbuttle family, and wife ' to Alexy Petrovitz, the Czarevitz. Beſides this young Prince, fhe left a Princefs called Natalia.At Cazan we found two Swedish generals, Hamilton and Rofen, and many otherofficers of diftinction, taken prifoners at Poltava, who were no farther confined than byhaving a foldier of the garrifon to attend them at their lodgings; and, by the generofity of the governor, lived as eaſily as circumftances would allow. Theſe gentlemenwere invited to all the public diverfions; and, by their polite and agreeable behaviour,contributed not a little to our paffing the winter with a good deal of pleaſure, in fuch aremote part of the world.Upon the banks of the Cazanka ftands a monaftery, very pleaſantly fituated. I accompanied our interpreter to vifit the abbot, who received us in a very friendly manner.He would not, however, give the interpreter his bleffing, nor admit him into the churchduring divine fervice, unleſs he pulled off his wig. He, profeffing the communion ofthe Greek church, expoftulated a little with the prieſt, telling him that their learnedbifhops at Mofco made no fuch fcruples. The abbot replied, that it was contrary tothe rules of difcipline to allow any man to enter the church with his head covered.The time was now come when we expected to leave Cazan. Our boats were readyin the beginning of May, but the Volga was ftill fo high and rapid, that it was reckoneddangerous to proceed till the flood fubfided; for the force of the ſtream frequentlycarries veffels from their courſe into the woods, where the water retiring, leaves themon dry land.At last , on the 4th of June 1716, we left Cazan in eight barks, and rowed down theriver with great velocity. In the night, one of our boats was driven, by the rapidity ofthe current, among the woods, and ftuck faft between two trees, upon which the people climbed, being apprehenfive of danger. The confequence, however, was not fofatal as the circumſtances were alarming; for the veffel was got off next day with inconfiderable damage.The 7th, we paffed a ſmall town called Tetoofk, and the 9th, Sinbiríky, pretty large,and the capital of a province of that name, both to the right. Sinbirfky is defended bya caftle. Near this place are evident marks of camps and entrenchments, which I wastold were the works of the great Tartar general called Timyrak-fack, or Lame Timyr,or Tamerlane, who came to this place with a great army; but, being informed of aninfurrection in his own country, Samarkant, now Bucharia, returned home.The 10th, we put off from Sinbiríky with the wind contrary, which greatly retardedour progrefs. We paffed two hills, one of them exhibiting a very beautiful profpect,the other containing mines of fulphur, as clear as amber. We paffed alfo a mound offand, of confiderable bignefs, in the middle of a plain, where they fay was buried afamous Tartar Prince called Mamay.The 20th, we arrived at the town of Samara, fituated to the left, in a fine plain..The place is but ſmall, and fortified only with a ditch and palifades, with woodentowers.280 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.towers at proper diftances, mounted with cannon fufficient to defend it against the incurfions of the Tarrars, called Kara Kalpacks, or Black Kaps, who inhabit the defert tothe eastward of this place.This tribe of Tartars is not very confiderable; and, when their chiefs are united,which feldom happens, can ſcarce raiſe above ten or twelve thouſand men, who are allmounted on horfeback; becauſe, in their long marches, to rob and plunder theirneighbours, nothing but horfe could be of any ufe. They live always in tents, withtheir flocks, removing from place to place, as led by inclination or neceflity. Theirweapons are bows and arrows, and fabres; fome of them uſe fire-arms. While wewere at Samara, the inhabitants were alarmed with the approach of two or three thoufand of theſe people, who encamped about three miles diftant. From one of the towersI could plainly fee their camp, and them riding about it. As they had not artillery, thegarrifon was in no danger, though fo weak, however, that it durft not at this timeattack them. The people were obliged to keep a conftant watch to defend theircattle. This place is reckoned about three hundred and fifty verft diftant fromCazan.The 21ft, having provided freſh hands for the navigation of our barks, we departedfrom Samara; and, the weather being calm, rowed down the river, which is here verybroad. The weſtern bank is very high, but the eaſtern quite flat. The fields on bothfides are very fruitful, but eſpecially to the weft, where the grafs grows very high, intermixed with fa*ge, thyme, and other herbs; there are alfo fome woods of oaks. Afew hundred acres of fuch land would be of great value in England, though it is herewaſte and uncultivated.We came the 25th to the Ifmeyovi-gory, or Serpent-hills , fo called from the windings of the river at this place; and, after pafling feveral towns, and many villages, allon the right, we landed at Saratof, a large town on the ſame ſide, about eight hundredand fifty verft from Cazan. It is but flightly fortified with a ditch, wooden walls,and towers mounted with cannon, and defended by a garrison of regular troops andCoffacks.We dined next day with the Governor, who entertained us with great variety ofproviſions, particularly fiſh, and very fine mutton.After dinner, a party of us croffed the river, to vifit a great horfe-market, held bythe Kalmuck Tartars. We faw about five or fix hundred of theſe people affembled ina field, with a number of horſes, all running loofe, except thofe on which the Tartarswere mounted. The buyers came from different parts of Ruffia. The Tartars hadtheir tents pitched along the river fide. Thefe tents are of a conical figure. Thereare feveral long poles erected , inclining to one another, which are fixed at the top intofomething like a hoop, that forms the circumference of an aperture for letting out thefmoke, or admitting the light. Acrofs the poles are laid fome fmall rods, from four tofix feet long, and faftened to them with thongs: this frame is covered with pieces offelt, made of coarfe wool and hair. Thefe tents afford better ſhelter than any otherkind and are fo contrived, as to be fet up, taken down, folded, and packed up, withgreat eafe and quickneſs, and fo light, that a camel may carry five or fix of them.Where the Chan, or any perfon of character, refides, they are placed in ftraight lines.Thefe Tartars are ftrong made ftout men, their faces broad, nofes flattiſh, and eyesfmall and black, but very quick. Their dreſs is very fimple, confifting of a looſe coatof ſheep fkins tied with a girdle, a fmall round cap, turned up with fur, having a taſſelofred filk at the top, leather or linen drawers, and boots. Their heads are all ſhaved,except a lock behind, which is plaited, and hangs down their backs.I TheyBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 281They are armed with bows and arrows, a fabre, and lance, which they manage withgreat dexterity, acquired by conftant practice from their infancy. They are men ofcourage and refolution; but much afraid of cannon, which puts their horfes in diſorder.As they are almoſt always on horſe-back, they are excellent riders.The dreſs of the women differs little from that of the men; only their gowns arefomewhat longer than the coats of the men, a little ornamented, and bordered withparty-coloured cloth. They wear ear-rings, and their hair all plaited in locks. Thebetter fort dreſs in filks in fummer. It muſt be obferved, for the honour of their women, that they are very honeft and fincere, and few of them lewd. Adultery is acrime ſcarce ever heard of. The Tartars make very good and faithful fervants; andthe more mildly they are uſed the better they perform their duty; for their wanderingunconfined manner of life naturally infpires them with fentiments of liberty, and averfion and hatred to tyranny and oppreffion.All their wealth is their flocks. Like thoſe who lived in the early ages of the world,they have camels, horſes, cows, and ſheep. The horſes are of a good fize for the faddle, and very hardy; as they run wild till they are fometimes fix years old, they aregenerally headstrong. They are fold at this fair at five to fifteen or fixteen crowns,and the ſtrong well- ſhaped natural pacers much higher. They have few camels, butmany dromedaries, who have two protuberances on their backs. Their cows are of amiddle fize; the fheep large, having broad tails like thofe in Turkey; the wool iscoarſe, but the mutton very fine.In the preceding century, a Kalmuck prince, named Torgott-Chorluke, came fromAlack-Ulla, (which fignifies the fpotted mountains), a country fituated between Siberiaon the north, and India on the fouth, to the borders of Ruffia; and brought along withhim about fifty thouſand families or tents, as they fometimes reckon. In his marchweftward to the Volga, he defeated Eyball-utzick a Tartar prince, who lived in tentsbeyond the river Enbo. Advancing forward, he met three other Tartar chiefs, namedKitta-haptzay, Malebaſh, and Etzan, whom he alfo defeated; and at laft fettled to theeaft of the Volga, under the protection of the Ruffians. Chorluke had fix fons.Dangtzinq, the eldeft, fucceeded him in the government or chanfhip.Theprefent chan, named Aijuka, is the fourth from Chorluke, and is much eſteemedin the Eaft for his fa*gacity and juftice. I am informed that the reaſon why Chorluke left his own country, was a difpute about the fucceffion to the chanfhip. Hebeing engaged on the weakeft fide, and having unſucceſsfully tried his fortune in thefield, at laſt took the refolution of abandoning his own country altogether. Theſepeople are generally called the Black Kalmucks, though they are not black, but onlyTwarthy.They have no money, except what they get fromthe Ruffians, and their other neigh..bours, in exchange for cattle. With this they buy meal fometimes, but mostly cloth,filk ſtuffs, and other apparel, for their women. They have no mechanics, except thoſewho make arms. They avoid all labour as the greateſt flavery; their only employment is tending their flocks, managing their horfes, and hunting. If they are angrywith a perfon, they wish he may live in one place, and work like a Ruffian. Theirlanguage contains none of thofe horrid oaths common enough in tongues of more enlightened nations. They believe virtue leads to happineſs, and vice to mifery; for,when defired to do what they think wrong, they reply, in a proverb, Though a knife be fharp, it cannot cut its own handle.'On long marches, all their provifions confiſt of cheeſe, or rather dried curd, madeup into little balls, which they drink when pounded and mixed with water. If thisVOL. VII. kind282 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.kind of food fails, they have always many ſpare horſes, which they kill and eat. Theybroil or roaft the flefh before the fire, on pieces of broken arrows, and never eatit raw, as is commonly believed, unléfs compelled by neceffity. They have, indeed,large thick pieces of horfe flefh, fmoked or dried in the fun, which they eat; butthis cannot properly be called raw. I have tafted fome of it, and thought it notamifs.As to their religion , I can fay little they are downright heathens; and have manylamas or prieſts, who can read and write, and are diftinguished by their yellow habits.Their high priest is called Delay Lama, and lives far to the eastward.July ift , we put off from Saratof; and the 2d, 7th, and 9th, paffed the towns ofKamofhinka, Czaritza, and Tzorno-yarr, all fituated on the weft bank, and fortified inthe fame manner as Saratof. At the firft of thefe places, Captain Perry, an Engliſhman, with many workmen, was employed in cutting a canal between the Volga and theDon, which would have opened a paffa*ge to the Euxine Sea; but the ground beingvery hard, and rifing in fome places confiderably above the level, the enterpriſe waslaid afide, though the diftance was not above fifty verft.From Tzorno-yarr to Aftrachan, it is not fafe for Ruffians to travel on theweſtern banks of the Volga, on account of the Cuban Tartars, who are theirenemies. To the eaſt, however, there is no danger, as the Kalmucks are friends.On the iſlands in the Volga, I obferved great quantities of liquoriſh growing wild.The 13th, we arrived ſafe at Aſtrachan, and were lodged in the citadel. This placewas taken from the Tartars in the year 1554, by the warlike Czar Ivan Vafiliovitz;whereby all his conqueſts on the Volga were fecured, and the way prepared for fartherextending the Ruffian dominion to the ſouth and eaſt, which hath been fuccefsfullyattempted ſince his time.CHAP. III. -Occurrences during our Stay at Aftrachan; our Journey thence toShamachy.ASTRACHAN is fituated about fixty verft from the Cafpian Sea, on an iſland inthe Volga, having the main branch of that river to the weftward. It is fortified by aftrong brick wall, with embrafures, and ſquare towers at proper diftances. In thecitadel are the cathedral church, governor's palace, and the public offices. There is acreek or haven for fhips that navigate the river and the Cafpian Sea. The houſes aregenerally built with wood, conveyed in rafts along the river; for the neighbouringcountry produces nothing, being all a barren defert. To the weftward there is nowater to be found for many miles. The iflands, however, adjacent to the town, arevery fruitful, and produce excellent grapes, tranfplanted hither from Perfia and otherparts; alfo water-melons, eſteemed the beft in the world; and various kinds of muskmelons, peaches, cherries, pears, apples, and apricots.Here are feveral large vineyards, belonging partly to the court, and partly to privateperfons. There is a Frenchman who fuperintends them. The wines are very goodwhen drunk on the ſpot, but cannot bear carriage, for the leaſt motion renders theminfipid. Were it not for this circumftance, Ruffia would be able, not only to ſupplyitſelf abundantly with wine, but even other parts of Europe. This pernicious qualityis attributed to the nitrous particles of the foil where the vines grow. I have myſelffeen, in the furrows made for watering them, a whitish cruft of falt: but the grapes,notwithſtanding, are very fweet, without the leaft tincture of tartnefs.AboutBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.283About a mile below the town are collected great quantities of common falt. Thepeople dig pits, into which they introduce the water; which, being exhaled by the heatof the fun, the falt is left upon the bottom. After gathering, they tranſport it alongthe river, in large barks of about five or fix hundred ton. The gun-powder manufactory is a little above the town; in which, and in the mines of faltpetre, near thisplace, are employed a great number of workmen for the fervice ofthe government.The climate is healthy, though very hot. The weather is generally calm, duringwhich great numbers ofgnats and muſkitos infeft the inhabitants. Thefe vermine indeedare fometimes difperfed by a breeze from the fea, which renders this place very pleafant. They are hatched and fheltered in the marshes towards the fca, which are foovergrown with ftrong tall reeds that they are altogether impaffable.The Mahometan Tartars here live without the town, and have the fame privileges asin other places. I met feveral of their women in the ftreet with rings in their nofes,which were of different value, according to the rank of the perfon who wore them;fome of gold, and others fet with precious ftones. On inquiring the reafon of fuch afingular ornament, I was told, that it was the confequence of a religious dedication oftheſe perfons to the ſervice of God: it is made by the parents, even while the motheris pregnant; in token whereof, as foon as the child is born, they put a ring in theright noftril, which continues there till death. I have feen fome with two fuchrings.Aftrachan is a place of confiderable trade to Perfia, Chiva, Bucharia, and India.The people of theſe nations have a common caravanfery, where they live and expofetheir goods to fale.The Armenians carry on the greateſt part of the Perfian trade; for the Perſiansthemſelves feldom go out of their own country. There are a few Indians, or Banians,at this place, who have a ſtreak of yellow down their forehead, made with faffron orfome other vegetable. They are a good-natured, innocent kind of people, and livemoftly on fruits.The market is plentifully ſupplied with provifions of all kinds; but efpecially fiſh,of which no place that I know abounds with fuch variety. After the fale is over, whichis ufually about ten o'clock, what remains of the common forts is thrown to the dunghill, wherethe hogs and poultry feed upon them; and hence it happens that their verypork and fowls taſte of fifh. It would be tedious to mention all the different kindsthis place affords: I cannot, however, omit the carp, which for fize exceeds all of thatname I ever heard of. I have feen fome of them of more than thirty pounds weight,very fat and luſcious. Thofe caught in autumn are carried to Mofco frozen, and foldthere and in the places adjacent.I obferved alfo a great variety of uncommon birds, whereof I fhall defcribe a few thatfeemed moſt extraordinary.The firſt I ſhall mention, called by the Ruffians Baba, is of a gray colour, and largerthan a fwan; he has a broad bill, under which hangs a bag that may contain a quartor more; he wades near the edge of the river, and, on ſeeing a fhoal of fry, or ſmallfifhes, fpreads his wings and drives them to a fhallow, where he gobbles as many ofthem as he can into his bag, and then going afhore, eats them, or carries them to hisyoung. This bird I take to be the Pelican.The next is altogether white, except its feet, which are black; it is fomewhat lefsthan a heron, and has a long broad bill. The Germans call this bird Leffelganze, the Ruffians Kolpeck.002 There284 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.There is another about the fame fize, alfo white; but its feet are long and red, andits bill crooked and round, and as red as coral: its wings are adorned with fome bright´fcarlet feathers.Befides thefe, I faw a kind of duck, fomething bigger than the common fort, calledTurpan; it is eaſily tamed, and much admired for its beauty, and a certain kind of noiſepeculiar to itſelf. I have eat of all theſe fowls; but did not much relish them, onaccount ofthe fifhy tafte with which they are all infected.There are alfo patridges and buftards, which need no defcription. The Kalmucks,who are keen fportfmen, particularly at hawking, in which they have arrived to a greatperfection , kill the buftards with bows and arrows: when they ſee them feeding, theyride in upon them at full fpeed; and as the buftard is a heavy bird, and mounts flowly,they have an opportunity of fhooting them with broad-headed arrows.On the banks of the Volga, there is a fpecies of deer of a brighter red, and fomewhat larger than the fallow-deer; they have green horns, but not branched, aboutnine inches long, and covered with circles, rifing one above another to the point, whichis very fharp. This deer is very fwift, and its flefh excellent; it has a high fnout ofgriftle, which rifes very near to the eyes -a circumftance which I have not obſervedin any other animal.I faw alſo a ſmall lively creature, called an Aftrachan hare, about the fize of a ſquirrel, and of a reddifh colour, remarkable for having the fore-feet very fhort in proportionto the hind- feet; its tail is long, with a tuft of hair at the extremity; it burrows in theearth, and, being a very pretty creature, I have fometimes feen them in cages. TheKalmucks eat them very greedily.While we were at Aftrachan, an ambaffador arrived there, from the Chan of Chiva,going to St. Petersburg. On his arrival he fent, according to the eaſtern cuſtom,fome fmall prefents to our ambaffador; they were brought by a part of his retinue, and confifted of a hawking glove, a ſmall knife, an embroidered purſe, and fome fruits.Chiva is a large territory, lying about two or three days journey eaſtward from theCafpian Sea; bounded by Perfia on the fouth, and Bucharia to the eaft. The capital,which bears the fame name, is large and populous, and governed by a Chan, elected bythe people. They are very troublefome and dangerous, both to travellers and theirneighbours, being frequently employed either in robbing the former, or making depredations on the latter. And though Chiva is well fortified, its fituation, in fo fandy andbarren a defert, is its beft defence.One day, as I was walking through the streets of Aftrachan, I obferved avery fingular appearance: it was a pretty Tartar lady, mounted aftride upon an ox; ſhe had aring in her nofe, and a ſtring drawn through the noſe of the ox, which ferved inſteadof a bridle: fhe was dreffed better than common, and attended by a footman. Thefingularity of the equipage, but particularly her extraordinary beauty, drew my attenThe Mahometan muft not be confounded with the Kalmuck Tartars; the firstare a well- looked civilized people in compariſon of the other.tion.Before I leave Aftrachan it may be proper to rectify a miſtaken opinion, which I haveobferved frequently to occur in grave German authors, who, in treating of the remarkable things of this country, relate that there grows in this defert, or ſtepp, adjoining toAftrachan, in fome plenty, a certain fhrub or plant, called in the Ruffian language Tar- -tarfkey Baraſhka, i. e. Tartarian lamb, with the ſkin of which the caps of the Armenians, Perfians, Tartars, &c. are faced. They alfo write, that this Tartarfkey Baraſhka14 partakesBELL'S TRAVELS ´IN´ASIA. 285partakes of animal as well as vegetative life; that it eats up and devours all the grafsand weeds within its reach. Though it may be thought that an opinion fo very abfurdcould find no credit with people of the meaneft fhare of understanding, yet I have converfed with fome who have feemed much inclined to believe it; fo very prevalent is theprodigious and abfurb with fome part of mankind.In fearch of this wonderful plant, I walked many a mile, accompanied by Tartarswho inhabit theſe deferts: but all I could find out were fome dry bufhes, fcattered hereand there, which grow on a fingle ſtalk, with a bufhy top . of a brownish colour; theftalk is about eighteen inches high, the top confifting of fharp prickly leaves. It istrue, that no grafs or weeds grow within the circle of its fhade; a property naturalto many other plants here and elſewhere. After further inquiry of the more fenfible and experienced among the Tartars, I found they laughed at it as a ridiculous fable.At Aftrachan, they have great quantities of lamb ſkins, gray and black; fome waved,others curled, all naturally, and very pretty, having a fine glofs, particularly the waved,which, at a ſmall diftance, appear like the richeſt watered tabby: they are muchefteemed, and are much ufed for the lining of coats, and the turning up of caps, inPerfia, Ruffia, and other parts. The beft of theſe are brought from Bucharia, Chiva,and the countries adjacent, and are taken out of the ewe's belly, after the hath beenkilled , or the lamb is killed immediately after it is lambed; for fuch a fkin is equal invalue to the ſheep.The Kalmucks, and other Tartars, who inhabit the defert in the neighbourhood ofAftrachan, have alſo lamb- ſkins, which are applied to the fame purpoſes; but the woolof thefe being rougher, and more hairy, they are far inferior to thofe of Bucharia orChiva, both in glofs and beauty, as alfo in the dreffing, confequently in value. I haveknown one fingle lamb fkin of Bucharia fold for five or fix fhillings fterling, when oneof thefe would not yield two fhillings.On the 5th of Auguft, we quitted Aftrachan in five veffels, three of them flat-bottomed, and of about an hundred and fifty tons burthen, with three mafts and ten gunseach; the other two common barks. We failed from Aftrachan about noon; and atnight came to an anchor at a fiſhery, called Utzugg. Both the banks are now flat; tothe weftward barren fands, and to the eaſt marfhy and tall reeds, abounding with vermine; fo that we neither eat nor fleep in quiet, notwithſtanding all the precautions wecould uſe. I muft confefs this place had an afpect of horror, efpecially when it is confidered, that, befides the wild and difmal appearance of the banks, we were carrieddown a mighty river, into a great gulf, in many places of dangerous navigation, andwhoſe fhores are inhabited by inhofpitable and barbarous nations; for fuch I reckon allof them, except the Ruffians and Perfians.AtNext morning, at break of day, we got under fail, and about ten entered the CafpianSea; into which the river difcharges itſelf by feven or eight large channels, and manyleffer ones: two only of thefe channels are navigable by fhips of any burthen.night, we caſt anchor near four hillocks of dry fand, caft up bythe fea, called TzetereyBugory, computed to be about thirty verft from the mouth of the Volga: all which diftance we had not above fix or feven feet water; and even this depth is very narrow;fo that the paffa*ge is extremely dangerous in hard gales of wind.The 7th, early, we again fet fail with a gentle breeze from the fhore, which foondrove us into three fathom water, and out of fight of land; the water however ſtillcontinued freſh as the river. About noon the wind fhifted to the fouth, which obligedUS286 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.us to come to an anchor, where we lay for near three weeks in calms and contrarywinds.All this time we did not fee a ſingle ſhip befides our own, except one Rufs veffel thatcame from Guilan in Perfia, with fome Armenian merchants, who made a preſent tothe ambaſſador of a baſket of oranges, melons, and other fruits, which was the moreacceptable, as our own provifions of that kind were all ſpent. As often as the weatherwould permit we got under fail, and endeavoured to reach the road of Terky, a ſmallfortified town belonging to the Ruffians, on the north-west corner of the CafpianSea, where we might be fupplied with proviſions, but the continual calms preventedour fuccefs.On the evening of the 26th of Auguft, the wind changed to the north-weft; wehoiſted all the fail we could, fteering our courfe fouth fouth-east, and, before night,paffed the iſland of Tullen, i. e. of Seals; many of which animals haunt this place.It continued to blow hard the whole night; and next morning we were in fight of themountains called Skaffkall, which were diftant about fifteen leagues. We proceededthe whole day, edging always a little nearer to the fhore.The 28th, in the evening, it fell calm; and, being about fix leagues offthe land, wecaft anchor. Next day, the wind blowing fair, in the afternoon we paffed the town ofDerbent. The ambaffador ordered the caftle to be faluted with nine guns; but it ſeemsthe people are not accuſtomed to make any return. It is a place confiderably large,and the frontier of Perſia in this quarter. It is fortified in the ancient manner, with aſtrong ſtone-wall, which reaches from the mountains to the fhore, fo that no army canpafs this way except mountaineers, or Tartars, who find roads every where. Derbentbeing a place of great confequence, is provided plentifully with cannon and ammunition,and a ſtrong garrifon, governed by a commandant appointed by the Chan, or governorof Shamachy, on which province it depends. It is reported that it was built by Alexander the Great. About the place there ſtill remain feveral monuments of antiquity:particularly large ftones, with infcriptions in uncommon characters. South from Derbent ftands a very high mountain, called Shachdagh, the top of which is covered withfnow the whole year round, though the vallies are exceedingly hot.Auguft the 30th, we arrived at Niezabatt, the place where we intended to land, onthe territories of Perfia. It lies about two days journey eaft from Derbent. Therebeing no harbour nor creek, we hauled up our fhips upon the fhore, which we performed with little trouble, as they were all flat- bottomed.The fhip in which was our fecretary Monf. Venigerkind, and feveral other officers,did not arrive till three o'clock afternoon. The wind was now very high, and a greatfea upon the beach, which obliged them to drop an anchor in the open road; but thewind blowing ftill harder, it became dangerous to ride there, the ſkipper therefore fliptthe cable, and ſtood out to fea. The gentlemen, however, did not like their fituationon board; and, being eager to get to land, ordered the maſter to run the fhip afhore,and they would be accountable for the confequences; which he, a Hollander, in theCzar's fervice, unwillingly complied with, under an eafy fail, about two miles eastwardof the place where we lay. All hands went to their affiftance, but without effect; for,though the fhip had received no damage, yet the fea run fo high, that the boat couldnot be hoifted out to carry them to land.In the mean time, the fecretary, impatient of remaining on board in fuch circumftances, prevailed with one of the failors to carry him afhore on his back: which beingdone, he took his way alone towards the other hips; but his cloaths being drenched in 2 theBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 287the falt-water, and the road lying through deep fands, he was foon fatigued; andtherefore retired nearer to the woods, in hopes of finding a more ſmooth and eaſy path.He diſcovered what he fought; but, inſtead of leading him to the fhips, it carried himaway from the fhore, and the right courfe into thick encumbered woods; and in theſecircumftances night overtook him, utterly ignorant of the difmal and dangerous wildinto which he had wandered. Thus deftitute of all affiſtance, he climbed a tree to favehimſelf from the wild beafts with which thefe woods abound; and in this fituationcontinued all the night, and till noon next day; for the people in his own ſhip neverdoubted of his having fafely reached our tents; while we, on the contrary, had not theleaft fufpicion of his having come afhore. At laft, however, about noon, his fervant came,enquiring for his mafter, who, he told us, left the ſhip the night before. This accountfilled us all with anxiety and apprehenfion; as we certainly concluded he would eitherbe torn to pieces by the wild beafts, or murdered by the favages who inhabit theſecoafts. Immediate order was given for all our people to repair to the woods in fearchof him . He was at laſt found wandering from path to path, without knowing one direction from another. When he came to the tents he looked ghaftly and wild, andrelated many ſtrange ſtories of what he had heard in the night. All poffible care wastaken to alleviate his diftrefs. During his fleep, which was very difcompoſed, he oftenſtarted, groaned, and ſpoke; and, even after he awaked, he perſiſted in affirming thatthere were numbers of people round the tree in the night talking different languages.The imagination, no doubt, will naturally have a ſtrong effect on any man in fuch uncommon circumſtances; for, though the fecretary was a man ofpenetration and foundjudgment, in vain did we endeavour to undeceive him, by repreſenting that it was nothing but the jackals which made the noiſe he had heard; and that, to be convinced ofthe truth of this affirmation, he needed only, at the approach of night, to ſtep a littlefrom the tents, where he would hear the fame founds repeated. Allwas to no purpofe,fince he infifted that the noiſe he heard was quite different from the yelpings of thejackals. He ſcarce ever recovered his former fa*gacity and foundneſs of mind. I muſtconfefs the fituation of this gentleman moved me not a little, as he was a man ofand learning, with whom I had contracted an intimate friendſhip.partsSince I have mentioned the jackals, it may not be improper to give a fhort account oftheſe animals. They are of a fize larger than a fox, of the fhape and colour of a wolf,with a fhort bushy tail. They dig burrows in the earth, in which they lie all day, andcome out inthe night to range for prey. They affemble in flocks among the woods,and frequently near towns and villages, when they make the hideous noife formerlymentioned, reſembling, in fome meaſure, a human voice, or the noife of the Tartars andCoffacks when they attack their enemies. They have fine nofes; and hence the vulgaropinion has arifen, that they hunt prey for the lion. They are in great plenty all overPerfia, and esteemed harınleſs creatures.As foonas welanded, the ambaffador diſpatched an interpreter to Shamachy, to notifyhis arrival to the governor of that place, and to defire him to fend camels and horfestotranfport him thither. The interpreter was kindly received, and an order was immediately iffued out for anfwering his demands.September the 1ft, the Chan of Shamachy fent an officer of diftinction to falute theambaffador; and the next day a prefent of provifions, confifting of an ox, fome ſheep,with fruits and confections.About fix or eight leagues to the eastward of Niezabart is a high rock, called Barmach, orthe Finger, upon the fhore, which a great many of the Armenians vifit annually288 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.ally to pay their devotions. They have a tradition that the prophet Elijah lived fomeyears at this place.September 2d, we were a little alarmed with intelligence, that a confiderable bodyof mountaineers had plundered fome villages in our neighbourhood. We had not yetreceived any guard from the Perfians, and were therefore obliged to take every precaution poffible for our defence. We armed all our own people, and all the failors;and befides theſe we had twenty foldiers from the garriſon of Aſtrachan. Cannon werebrought from the fhips and planted in proper places, to prevent a furpriſe. Theſepreparations feemed to have intimidated the undifciplined favages, for they never at- tacked us.Two days journey eastward from Niezbatt ftand Abfheroon and Backu, two con- fiderable towns. At the former is a good harbour, reckoned the beſt in the CaspianSea, except that of Aftrabatt, which lies in the fouth- eaft corner of it. All the reft arefo dangerous, that they ſcarce deferve the name of harbours.In the neighbourhood of Backu are many fountains of Naphtha; it is a fort ofpetroleum, of a brown colour, and inflammable nature. The Perfians burn it in theirlamps; no rain can extinguiſh it, but the ſmell is diſagreeable. I have feen of it as clearas rock-water.The Cafpian Sea is of an oblong irregular figure, about one hundred and fifty leaguesin length from north to fouth, and forty or fifty leagues broad. The water is exceffively falt, except where it is fweetened by the Volga, which is at leaſt to the diſtance often leagues from the influx of that river.The navigation of the Cafpian belongs folely to the Ruffians; the Perfians and otherborderers having nothing but fiſhing-boats. It contains abundance of fiſh, but no ſhellfifh, except a kind of co*ckle, the fhells of which are very pretty. In fome places thereis a great depth of water. The Perfians obferve that, of late, the fea has retired confiderably from the fhore; which they reckon ominous, prefa*ging ſome calamity to thekingdom. It has no tides but fuch as are cauſed by the wind; and, notwithſtandingthe great quantities of water daily received, it continues nearly about the fame height.Dr. Halley has demonftrated, that exhalations in fo hot a climate is fufficient to accountfor this phenomenon, without having recourfe to fubterraneous paffa*ges.The 4th, I was conducted by an Armenian merchant fome leagues from our tents tovifit a Perfian. We were received in a very complaifant and friendly manner; thehoufe was clean, and the floor fpread with carpets. Our entertainment confifted ofcoffee and boiled rice.On the 11th, arrived two Jefuits from India , named Valery and Martinet, on theirway to Rome. They petitioned the ambaffador for a paffa*ge in one of our ſhips toAftrachan, which was granted. About this time many of our retinue began to be feizedwith different diſeaſes, particularly fevers, fluxes, and agues, which, in a few days, madefuch progrefs, that, at the ambaffador's table, where feldom fewer than ten dined, heand myfelf only were prefent. Theſe diftempers exhibited a moft difa*greeable profpect,and made us wiſh earneſtly to leave a place that threatened our deſtruction. For thispurpoſe meſſengers were daily fent to the Chan of Shamachy to diſpatch the camels,horfes, and mules. Some of them, indeed, were already come, but not nearthe number we needed; for our numerous fick could only be tranfported on litters carriedby mules.The 12th, a conductor, called Mamander, arrived with a guard of Perfian foldiers,and fome more cattle, which were ftill too few. This officer is appointed bythe Shach,orBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 289or King, to guide ambaffadors to court, and furnish them with provifions, carriages,and lodgings, at the Shach's expence, from the time they enter the kingdom.Having accommodated ourſelves in the beſt manner we could, we quitted Niezabatton the 18th, keeping along the fhore; and at night came to a fmall village, about threeagatz from Niezabatt. We found the houfes all empty, the people having fled to thewoods or mountains on our approach.The 20th, we reached a village about four agatz (an agatz is reckoned to be fourEngliſh miles) from the former, where we lodged again in empty houfes; and the 21ft,proceeded four agatz further to a brook of white and muddy water, where we pitchedour tents. About noon next day we came to a fountain of pure water, under a greatoak . Here we halted two hours to refreſh the fick; and, after travelling four agatzfurther, arrived at an old caravanfery; a long day's journey for people in fuch diftrefs.The caravanferies are generally large fquare buildings, with a court in the middle.All round there are rooms for lodging travellers, and on one fide a ſtable for horſes.They are of different fizes and conftructions, according to the bounty or ability of thefounder. Some are built by charitable people, others by good Kings. They are fituated as near freſh water as poffible, and about a day's journey from one another.As there are no inns in the east, theſe caravanferies in fome meaſure ſupply thatdefect, though nothing is found in them but fhelter. They are, however, very convenient for travellers; and fome of them can contain five hundred men, with theirhorfes. There is commonly an old man, who cleans the rooms, and fetches neceffariesfrom the next town or village.The 23d, we halted to refreſh the fick; and here we buried two of our mechanics.The 24th, we travelled to a ruinous caravanfery, about four agatz from the former.This was the firft inftance that occurred of remiffneſs and inattention in the prefent government of Perfia; for the King, without attending to his own affairs, allows himfelfto be guided entirely by thofe whofe intereft it is to deceive him. Nothing, in thejudgment of a foreigner, can render any people more contemptible than the notoriousneglect of fuch uſeful public edifices. This day we received another ſupply of provi- fions from the Chan.The 26th, we travelled to a plain within a league of Shamachy, where we lay all night,to be received into the town the day following in form and ceremony, according to thecuſtom of Perfia. At this place died my friend Capt. Jaques de Villette. He was agentleman of a good family in France, and a very worthy man. And, befides thecaptain, two fervants died here.- CHAP. IV. Occurrences during our Stay at Shamachy. Our Journey thence toTauris.THE 27th, in the morning, came the Kalentar and Dorruga, with many of theinhabitants, to pay their compliments to the ambaffador. Thefe officers are next inrank under the Chan, and have the fole direction of affairs in his abfence. They broughtfome fine horſes, richly caparifoned, for the chief of the retinue. As we approachedthe place we were met by other officers, particularly the Divan, Begg, and Ifhagaffy,and magiſtrates, all mounted on ſtately horſes, with rich furniture, which made a veryfplendid appearance. Before the ambaffador's horſe two young fellows tumbled all theway, with great agility. About two o'clock we entered the city.VOL. VII. PP .. As290 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.As we paffed along the streets, all the tops of the houſes were filled with ſpectators.At laft the ambaffador arrived at the houfe of one of the principal officers, which wasallotted entirely to him and his attendants. The houſes in Perfia are moſtly flat-roofed.As there is but little rain in this country, a very fmall declivity is fufficient to carry offthe water. I compute the diſtance between Niezabatt and Shamachy to be abouttwenty-five agatz, or an hundred miles.October ift, I had a vifit from a gentleman well dreffed in the Perfian habit, and wasnot a little furpriſed to hear him talk good High Dutch. After fome converfation, hetold me he was born at Dantzick; that in his youth he came to Perfia with a Poliſh ambaffador, who died at Ifpahan. That, fome differences arifing between him and hiscountrymen, to end the difpute he turned Mahometan, and fettled in Perfia, where henow enjoyed a ſmall falary as a linguift. He often repented of this rafh ſtep; but havinga wife and children at Shamachy, he could not abandon them.The day following, the Chan, with a numerous retinue, paid a ceremonial viſit to theambaffador. The Chan is a middle-aged man of a graceful afpect, by birth a Georgian,of Chriſtian parents, but brought up at court from his infancy: and, it muſt be confeffed, that his treatment ofthe ambaffador was extremely obliging.The 14th, the Chan fent an invitation to the ambaffador to go a hunting, with horfesfor that purpoſe. We marched about two or three miles to the eastward, till we cameto a plain overgrown with fhort reeds. Wefprung a number of pheaſants, ten or fifteenwhereof were killed bythe Chan's hawks; and feveral hares were run down bythegreyhounds, which were all fent to the ambaffador's lodgings.Ábout this time there happened a miſunderſtanding between the ambaffador andfecretary, bythe imprudence of the latter. It is cuftomary for the Shach to make prefents in money, or other things, to all ambaffadors, according tothe dignity of theirrefpective mafters; and, though no money had yet been granted, the unlucky fecretary,poor gentleman! not quite recovered, by an unfeafonable and ill-advifed claim, pretended a right to part of the future donative. The ambaffador, on the contrary, alledged,that the fecretary was entitled to nothing from him, except the privilege of his table,and provifions for his fervants. Both my fituation in the retinue, and an indifpofition,prevented my intermeddling in this difpute. I only adviſed the fecretary to poftponehis claim till fome more favourable opportunity. Myadvice, however, had no effect,for the difference ftill increaſed, till the fecretary fell fick, and was confined to hislodgings, where he died fuddenly on the 5th of November.This event was the more melancholy to me, in particular as it was unexpected. Bythe death of this gentleman, I was deprived of another worthy friend. He was a Saxonby birth; was candid, honeft, and fincere; and much efteemed by all his acquaintancefor his learning and capacity.A few days after there arrived at Shamachy a Perfian ambaffador, who had been inFrance, and had returned homeward through Ruffia. His behaviour in France, and inother places, had been little for the honour of his mafter. The miniſtry at Iſpahan hadperfect intelligence of his whole conduct, which he came to underſtand; and, beingafraid to undergo a trial at court, went directly to the city of Erivan, the place of hisrefidence when in his own country, where, as it was reported, he poifoned himſelf.He had treated a French engineer, whom he engaged in the ſervice of his maſter, focruelly, that he died two days after coming to Shamachy.The 25th, I dined with Father Peter Ricard, in company with Monf. Bourgard, aFrench merchant. This Father hath lived as a miffionary in different places of Perfia8 forBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 29Tfor many years: he had ftudied phyfic, which he practifed occafionally, and therebyintroduced himfelf to an acquaintance with many families of diftinction: he is a man ofa grave and fober deportment, which procures him great refpect: he has a ſmall congregation at this place, confifting only of Chriſtian Armenians, who have been converted from the communion of the Eaſtern to the Weſtern Church; for it is a capitalcrime to convert a Mahometan. Bourgard was employed by the English factory atIfpahan to buy raw filks here to be fent to Aleppo.The ambaffador fent a prefent to the Chan offables and other rich furs, of confiderable value; and had, in return, a fine horfe, with a faddle, bridle, and other trappings, mounted with gold.Some time after there aroſe a diſpute between the ambaffador and the Chan, aboutthe Shach's gratuity; the first thought the fum offered was too fmall, while the latteraffirmed he had no authority for a greater allowance. The determination of this affairdetained us longer than we intended to ftay; however, in the mean time, camels andhorfes were ordered to be got ready. After many meffa*ges on both fides, the Chan,unwilling to let the ambaffador depart unfatisfied, fent Monf. Bourgard with an offerof ten tomans (a toman is equal to three pounds fterling ) a day, during his journey toIfpahan, and that fum for three days only ofthe time he continued at Shamachy: thispropofal was at laft accepted, and the money paid. I fhall, before we leave this place,add a few remarks on the city and its environs.Shamachy is fituated in about 40 degrees north latitude; it was anciently part of Media, but now the capital of an extenfive province called Shirvan. The city ftands onthe declivity of a hill , inclining to the fouth, and rifes toward the top in form of an amphitheatre; the place is large, but the houſes are meanly built, excepting thoſe of thegovernor, the chief magiftrates, and a few rich merchants; the ſtreets are narrowandirregular; the greater part of the inhabitants are Perfians; there is alſo a confiderablenumber of Georgians and Armenians; the vulgar language is Turkiſh, but the peopleof diſtinction ſpeak Perfian. The air is more healthy than at places nearer to theCafpian Sea.Above the town, on the fummit of a hill, ftands an high edifice, having many windows and a gallery, in which, every day at the rifing and fetting of the fun, is held akind of concert of mufic, compofed of long trumpets, large drums, and hautboys,which make a dreadful found. It is reported, that this cuftom is as ancient as the timeof Alexander the Great.There are alfo in the city ſeveral mofques with high pillars adjoining , which themoulla or prieſt aſcends every day at twelve o'clock to call the people to prayers, for theMahometans uſe no bells. They have befides ſeveral public baths, fome for men, othersfor the women, to which both fexes refort daily for ablution, conformably to the lawoftheir religion. The women go generally in companies offive or fix, fo concealed with awhite veil, that nothing of them is vifible but the eyes and nofe. There are feveralfpacious caravanferies very convenient for ftrangers or merchants, who there expofetheir commodities, for which they pay a fmall impoft.There is a confiderable traffic at this place, particularly in rawfilk, which is producedin the neighbourhood; the greateſt part whereof is purchafed by the Engliſh andDutch factories at Ifpahan, and fent to Aleppo; alfo cotton, which indeed is moſtlyfold to the natives, and confumed in ftuffs for their own ufe. The country aboutShamachy, befides many kinds of fruits, produces plenty of wheat, barley, and veryfine grapes, from which the Chriftians make very good wine; they keep it in great jarsrefembling Florence oil ones, which they depofit under ground in their gardens, coverPP 2 ing292 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.ing them above with a thin ftone neatly pafted about the edges, for the better prefervationof the liquor. When they give an entertainment they fpread carpets round the jar,which is generally placed in a fhade, and on theſe the gueſts are feated.About two miles to the northward of the city, ftands a high mountain, namedGuiliftan-dagh, where are feen the ruins of an ancient caftle built of ftone; it appearednot to be ofeaſtern architecture. I could procure no information who was the founder,or by whom it was demoliſhed. Adjoining to this mountain is another, on which arethe tombs of two faints, or heroes; whither great numbers of devout people comeannually to worſhip. I obferved near thefe tombs feveral hallowed rocks covered withfmall fhells brought hither by the worshippers; I obferved likewiſe, on the commonrocks, many fhells imprinted and petrified, which feemed very extraordinary.December 4th, all things being prepared for our departure, we were furniſhed bytheconductor, or maymander, with one hundred and fixty camels, and near two hundredhorfes and mules, on which we left Shamachy, travelling along the rifing grounds. Wehalted two days at an Armenian village, called Kalckanii.On the 7th, we defcended into a defert plain, called by the Ruffians Mugan, and bythe Perſians Kurdiſtan. At midnight we came to fome wells of brackiſh water, wherewe lodged in fuch tents as are uſed bythe inhabitants, which were prepared by theconductor.We proceeded the 10th five agatz to a little copfe-wood where was found tolerablewater; and the 11th arrived at the river Kure, or Cyre, which we paffed on a bridgeof boats, and pitched our tents on the other fide. The water of the river is fweetand wholefome.About half a league above the bridge the river Araxis, now Arras, falls into theKure, which together form a confiderable ftream, that diſcharges itſelf into the CafpianSea, about a day's journey below the bridge, running northward all the way; butthe mouth of the river is ſo choaked up with fand, that it is navigable by no veffel ofany burden.The river Kure divides the province of Shirvan from Kurdistan. The Kurdy, probably fo called from the name of the river, are a very ancient people, and feem tobe the fame whom Xenophon, in the Anabafis, calls Karduchi, who fo ftrenuously oppofed his paffa*ge in his famous retreat from Artaxerxes. They are ftill reckoneda brave people. Their horfes are moſt eſteemed of any in Perfia, both for beautyand ftrength.We left the Kure on the 13th, and proceeded feven agatz to Chuda-tzoolatzy,where the water was very brackish and muddy. The country around appeared plainas the fea.Setting out early next morning, we travelled ten agatz, and in the evening reacheda brook of tolerable water, called Bolgar. This was the laſt day's journey in the plainof Mugan. The inhabitants, the Kurdy, live in tents all the year.The foil is very dryand barren, notwithſtanding the cattle are in good condition, and the mutton particularly very good.While we halted about noon fome Perfian fportfmen, who by their drefs feemedperfons of diftinction, pitched their tents near ours: they fent the ambaffador a prefentof wild-fowl, and an antelope. The ambaffador invited them to fhare a traveller'sdinner. Three ofthe gentlemen accepted the invitation, but excufed themfelves fromeating any thing, pretending they had already dined; but it is well known that theMahometans fcruple to eat with Chriſtians; each of them however drank a diſh ofcoffee, and an oldman a dram of brandy. They had ſeveral greyhounds and a coupleofBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 293of large hawks, which were trained to fly at antelopes: the hawks cannot hold indeedfo ftrong a creature as an antelope, but they fly about its head and thereby retard itsvelocity, till the greyhounds or horfemen overtake it; for the antelope far out-runsany greyhound I ever faw. In this defert I have feen flocks of them confifting of twoor three hundred.In manning hawks to fly at antelopes, they ftuffthe ſkins of theſe animals with ftraw,and feed the hawk between their horns, placing food there for that purpoſe: hencethey are accuſtomed to hover round the head, which proves the deftruction of theſecreatures. I was informed, that it is in this manner the Tartars manage hawks to flyat foxes and wolves. Thefe particulars may poffibly appear immaterial; however asthey may contribute to amufe the reader, it was thought not improper to infert them.After refting the 16th, we travelled next day four agatz, to the foot ofa very highmountain, where we found a few poor cottages, deferted by their inhabitants on ourapproach. The water was in plenty and good. The weather was very cold, and nofire-wood could be got, except a little we brought along with us. One of our people,ſtraggling too near the rocks, was dangeroufly wounded with a ſtone, throw by fomeof thefe cottagers who had retired thither. On thefe rocks I faw a creature like a goat,called by the Germans Steinbuck; it is much bigger than the common kind of thefeanimals, and its horns are of a prodigious fize.The 18th, we advanced five agatz farther; and the 19th, feven agatz, to a largevillage called Katchoochana, where the Chan of Mugan has a good houſe. The weatherbeing cold and frofty, we continued here all the 20th.The 21ft, we travelled five agatz to a village under a great mountain, where was awater-mill for grinding corn, the firſt machine of that fort I faw in Perfia.The 22d, wecame to a ſmall town called Aggar. The Kalentar ordered the citizensto arm and oppofe our entry; and, notwithſtanding the remonftrances of our conductor, he perfifted unalterable in his purpoſe, affirming he had no order to admit fucha body of armed men He did not however refufe us provifions, wood and water, formoney. Wewere therefore obliged to content ourſelves with thefe, and lodge in ourtents on an open field in cold weather.Next day, we proceeded two or three agatz, to a large populous village, where thepeople, in imitation of thoſe at Aggar, affembled in arms, and barricadoed all theirentries, refufing us admittance; they beat our quarter-maſter, a Perfian officer belonging to the conductor, for offering to force his way into the place. We thereforelodged again in the open air, They fent out fome fire-wood, and whatever elfe theycould fpare. I muſt confefs I could ſcarce blame thefe people for their behaviour; becauſe, had we been admitted, the inhabitants muſt all have left their own houſes, andwhere could a parcel of poor women and children have found ſhelter in fuch extremity. of cold!The 24th, we continued our journey between two great mountains, where the northwind was very piercing. We paffed an old ruinous caravanfery, and arrived in theevening at an empty village, which the natives had forf*ck the day before. All next daywe halted, being Christmas.The 26th, we marched about four agatz, to another village. The inhabitants werefo hofpitable as to afford us lodging, but charged dear for every thing we needed, efpecially wood, which was bought at the rate of three-pence for feven pounds.On the 27th, we travelled over exceeding high mountains, from whence, I was toldby an Armenian merchant in our company, might be feen, in a clear day, the top of thefamous mount Ararat, called by the Perfians Aggry, by the Armenians Meffin; thefummit294 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.fummit is conflantly covered with fnow, and often with a cloud: it is the higheſt ofallthat chain of mountains in Armenia on which we then flood.How far myinformation might be true I cannot determine, but certain it is , that whenthe Armenians fee this mountain, they make a fign of the crofs, and fay their prayers, asis their cufton when they approach any place which they efteem facred.In the evening we arrived at the city of Tauris, Terris, or Tebris, as it is pronouncedbyfome. The ambaffador was met about half a mile from that place bythe Kalentar,and chief officers, who, after the common falutations, conducted him to his lodgings.Our baggage was depoſited in a large caravanfery in the neighbourhood.CHAP. V.-Occurrences during our Stay at Tauris . Our Journey thence to Ifpahan.TAURIS is a large and populous city, the capital of the province of that name, andthe refidence of the Chan. It is fituated in a fruitful plain, encompaffed bythe highrocks of mount Tauris, about ten days journey from Shamachy and twenty-five fromIfpahan, I mean to a caravan. It is fuppofed to be the ancient metropolis of Media.It is ftill of confiderable extent, but not near what it has been. There are yet to befeen many curious remains of ancient grandeur, particularly an old temple, convertedinto a mofque, now neglected and ruinous. The roof is fupported by many ſtatelypillars of porphyry, almoft entire, fome whereof are of a greenish colour, with othercolours and veins of gold interfperfed. The proportions feemed to be regular, and theworkmanſhip very fine and curious. In fhort, I am unable to defcribe the fymmetryand beauty of thefe pillars, and wonder how they have eſcaped the fury of fo many barbarians. It is no lefs furpriſing where were got fuch maffy pieces of marble, feeingnothing like them is now to be found in this country. Thefe particulars demonſtratethe ancient grandeur and riches of this place. It is however a deplorable truth, thatthis countryin general hath undergone fo many revolutions fince the time of Alexanderthe Great, her firſt conqueror, that, a few places excepted, the prefent names and defcriptions of cities and provinces bear almoſt no reſemblance to thofe of antiquity, fothat one can ſcarce imagine them accounts ofthe fame places to fuch a degree hathtime and barbarous invaders changed the appearances of things! Fire and fword haveraged to deſtroy magnificent cities; ftately temples and palaces are demoliſhed; wholeprovinces depopulated, and fruitful fields converted into a defert, by diverting thefprings, or turning the rivers that watered them into other channels. Such are theconfequences of lawlefs ambition on the fineſt productions of nature and art: the laſtis a circumftance to which few countries are fo much expofed as Perfia; for, in the inland part of it, there is almoſt no rain, which obliges the inhabitants to water all theirvegetables from ſprings and brooks. They often convey even rivers feveral leagues, inchannels under ground, for this purpofe. The dew indeed is very plentiful, butwould be infufficient of itſelf for the purpoſes of vegetation.The ſtreets of Tauris are narrow and irregular. The houſes are built of bricks madeof mud, mixed with chopped ſtraw, and dried inthe fun; the governor's palace, indeed,and a fewmore houſes, are built of ſtone, and make a good appearance. The roofs aregenerally flat, and covered with a terrace. The walls are white-waſhed on the infide,and look very white and clean. The floors of every houſe are ſpread with carpets, ormats, according to the circumftances of the inhabitants. The people of diftinction havegreat halls ofaudience in their outer courts, arched with ſquare bricks, which are plaftered and painted with flowers; this is done at a ſmall expence, and makes a very finefhowThereBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 295There are feveral well-built mofques, with ftately minorets, or pillars, which themoulla aſcends to call the people to prayers; alſo a high building for the mufic thatplays evening and morning, as mentioned at Shamachy. There are alfo fome largecaravanferies: fo that no ftranger can be at a lofs for lodging at a fmall expence. Thecity is quite open, having no caftle or fortification to defend it. Indeed one wouldimagine the defert mountains, fcarcity of water, and other obftructions, would be afufficient defence againſt all invafions: the fury of the Turks, however, in their warswith Perfia, furmounted all thefe obftacles.Tauris is fupplied with water from a brook, called Shankuy, which runs throughtthe city, and fome fprings in the neighbourhood. The inhabitants are moftly Perfians,thoughthere are among them many Armenians. They have a confiderable commercein raw filk, and manufactories of carpets, and filk and cotton ftuffs. They have greatcrops ofwheat and barley, when at the trouble and expence of watering the fields;but their principal fupport is rice, brought from the province ofGuilan, where it growsvery plentifully: for this kind of grain, which of all other thrives beft on wet land,agrees wonderfully with that rich moiſt foil near the Cafpian Sea.The Capuchin miffionaries have a convent at this place for the ufe of the Armenians ofthe Roman Catholic profeffion; which is fuperintended by two Fathers of that order.About a league from the city, on the road to Ifpahan, are feen the ruins of a bridge,on the top of a hill, where, I believe, no water has run fince the deluge. It is faidthat it was built by a whimfical prieft, in order to introduce himſelf to the King, ShachAbbafs, who could not avoid taking notice, when he paffed that way, of fuch an extra- ordinary appearance.About four or five leagues from Tauris, in a plain called Roomy, there are feveralfprings of water that petrify wood, and, I have been informed, even reptiles, fuch aslizards. One thing is certain, that, after a ftagnation of this water, for a certain time,there is a fubftance like marble found at the bottom, which the Perfians cut into anybreadth or length at pleaſure. I have feen of it two or three inches thick . It is eafilypoliſhed, and is diaphanous, but not tranfparent. After fawing it into flabs, theyfix them for windows in their bagnios and private apartments. Perhaps it is notmarble improbable the large pillars, formerly mentioned, might be hewn out of this kind of .During our ſtay at Tauris little material happened. The weather continued very cold,which, together with want of horfes and camels, detained us longer than we expected.I could not but pity the poor people of this place; the cold was fo exceffive, andbread and other neceffaries fo dear, that I was informed many of them periſhed in thefreets.January 28, 1717, Monf. Ricard, a French Jefuit, arrived, in his wayto Ifpahan,with fome letters from Rome to the Sophy. He fent Monf. Duffus, one of his retinue,with his compliments to our ambaffador.TheChan being abfent, the Vizir, who is his heutenant, came the 6th, in great ftate,to it the ambaffador; who, on the 11th, returned the compliment, attended with allwashis retinue. He was received in a magnificent hall, fpread with fine carpets. Therea feat placed for the ambaffador; but the reft of the company fat croſs- legged on the carpets, in the Perfian manner.The20th, there was a great fall of fnow, which very much foftened the cold piercing northerly winds.The296 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.The 23d, having with great difficulty procured horfes and camels, we left Tauris,and travelled two agatz through deep fnow, which incommoded us not a little, particucularly on account of the camels, which cannot bear deep roads.The 24th and 25th, the roads were impaffable. I faw here a male camel trampleone of his keepers under his feet: for, at this feafon , when the females are rutting, the males are very furious and ungovernable, and must be managed with greatcaution.The 26th, we travelled two agatz to a fpacious well-built caravanfery, founded by.Shach Sephy, fufficient to contain fome hundreds of men and horfes. Here we haltedfome time, and proceeded in the afternoon five agatz farther. In this day's journeyyou have the choice of two roads, both leading to Ifpahan: one through the cities ofArdeville and Cabin, and the other by Zengan and Sultany: the laſt whereof wechoofed, being fomewhat ſhorter.Ardeville is reported to be a very fine place, and is famous for the monuments ofShach Sephy the Firſt, and other Perfian princes and heroes efteemed for their virtueand piety. A great many devout people come from all parts of the country to worſhipat theſe tombs, where a confiderable charity is daily diftributed to the poor pilgrims;to fupport which, there is a fund fettled by the King, with proper officers appointed tofuperintend the management of it, and prevent frauds. I wanted much to vifit thisplace, but found it impracticable.The 27th, we advanced three agatz, through deep fnow, to a caravanfery built ofbricks. We were at no lofs for water while the fnow lay upon the ground. The nextday we reached a large village, called Kara- China, inhabited by Perfians and Armenians. About a mile from the place we were met by an Armenian prieſt, attended bya company of country people, who came to welcome us as fellow-Chriftians. One ofthem carried a painted crucifix, raiſed on a long pole, others played on flutes and hautboys, and other mufical inftruments, to which one or two perfons kept time, by beatingtwo thin braſs plates againſt each other; and many of them fung hymns and pfalms.In this manner they accompanied us to our lodgings, where we were better accommodated than we had been hitherto. We received from theſe people, in particular, verygood wine and grapes, which they preferve through the winter by hanging them in dryand open places.About this time many of our people had fore eyes, and fwelled faces, caufed by theftrong reflection of the fun-beams from the fnow. The Perfians themſelves are liable tothe fame diſorders. As a remedy they wear a fillet of net-work, made of black horfehair over their eyes, which I found, by experience, altogether effectual.The 31ft, we fet out early, and travelled four agatz to Turkoma, a large village.The fnow continued very deep. Here we were obliged to wait for our camels, fome ofwhich did not arrive till next day.February 2d, we travelled eight agatz, to a little town called Mianna, where is a caravanfery for horfes only. Here we buried another of our people.The 4th, after two hours march, we paffed a river, over which is a ſtone-bridge,tanding under a high mountain, called Kaplanton. Leaving that place, we faw, onthe left hand, the ruins of an old fortification. We repaffed the river on another ſtonebridge; thence to a caravanfery, called Tzamatura, and at night reached another, calledSartzam, being eight agatz from Mianna. Here we halted till our camels arrived;the greateſt part whereof came not before next day. We perceived the depth of thefnowto leffen daily as we advanced to the fouth,9TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 297The 7th, we travelled five agatz to a ſmall town named Zengan, where we lodged ina good caravanfery. The Sultan, or chief magiftrate, waited on us, and gave us afriendly and hofpitable reception. He has under his jurifdiction both this place andSultany; at each he refides half the year by turns.Here we met a Ruffian merchant, who had about fiftcen or twenty camels loadenwith various kinds of merchandife, going to Bucharia.We halted two days on account of the deep fnow in this neighbourhood; and the10th, after travelling fix agatz, came to Sultany. This place is at prefent ſmall andinconfiderable, though it appears to have been a great and famous city in former times.There are ſtill to be feen ſeveral ſtately mofques and minorets; one of thefe mofquesis the tomb of a Perfian prince, called Chudabendie, which has a braſs gate of latticework, feemingly of great antiquity. In the fame mofque is the tomb of Sultan Bajazat,fon to Chudabendie.On the 12th, we travelled four agatz to a village, where we ftaid all night; and the13th, three agatz to another, through deep fnow, which prevented our proceedingnext day.The 15th, we travelled five agatz, and the 16th, four, to a large village called GuigaZayn. At this place a Ruffian youth applied to the ambaffador for freedom and protection. He had been carried away by the Tartars from fome ofthe fouthern provincesof Ruffia, and was fold fome years before in Perfia. He was forced to turn Mahometan; had almoſt forgot his mother tongue, and was obliged to explain himſelf by aninterpreter. The ambaffador afforded him the protection he fought. His maſterclaimed either his flave, or the money he had paid for him; neither of which demandscould be granted.The 18th, we arrived at Sexabbatt, a village four agatz from the former; where wequartered that night, and reſted all the next day.The 20th, we advanced three agatz to Arazant, a fmall village. This diftrictbeing much peſtered with ſtrong gangs of highwaymen, we marched with great circumfpection; and in the night the baggage was guarded, both by our own people andthe conductor's foldiers.The 21ft, after a journey of three hours we came to an old caravanfery, called Idjoop, where we refted; then advanced four agatz to another, called Kockera, ſituatedin an extenſive plain. The fnowwas now altogether gone, and the water at this placevery bad. In an upper room of this caravanfery I faw the names of many Europeanscut on the wall, in different languages: among which was that of Olearius, fecretaryto the Holftein ambaffadors, who publiſhed a very exact account of that fruitlefsembaffy.The 22d of February, we fet out very early, and in three hours reached Denggie, acaravanfery, where we halted for refreſhment; and at night arrived at Saba or Sava,feven agatz from Kockera.Saba appears, from many ruins, to have been a place of great note. It stands in afruitful and extenſive plain , which produces all forts of fruit natural to the climate, particularly pomegranates, the largeſt I have feen. The trees were now in full bloom , andhad a very fine appearance. Some years ago this place was almoft ruined by a deluge.It has been repairing ever fince, but is ftill far from its former condition.The 24th, our road lay through a defert and barren plain, abounding with faltpetre.We travelled fix agatz to Jeffrabatt, a new caravanfery, and the 25th, five agatz, tothe town of Koom.VOL. VII . Q QAbout298 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.About two leagues from Koom we faw a round hill to the left, called in TurkiflGedeen- Gedmaze, which fignifies, that whoever goes up never returns; which thePerfians fay was the fate of a page fent up by Shach Abbafs, with a lighted torch in hishand. However this be, it is certainly no eaſy matter to afcend this place; becauſe thewhole hill confifts of fand, which is fhifted from place to place by the wind, and muſtfoon tire whoever attempts to climb it.Koom is reckoned among the chief towns in Perfia, and is the refidence of a Chan.It is fituated in a fertile plain, well watered by a pretty large river, over which is a fineftone-bridge. In the town is a fpacious caravanfery, and feveral well built mofquesand minorets. One of theſe mofques is highly efteemed by the Perfians, becauſe of thefepulchre of Shach Sephy and his fon Shach Abbafs the Second, and that of Sidy Fathima, grand-daughter to their prophet Mahomet. Theſe tombs are much frequentedby pilgrims from all parts of Perfia, who refort hither once a-year to pay their devotions,and are fupported by a fund appropriated to that purpoſe.Before you reach the mofque you pafs through three neat courts, and, in the middleof the fourth, where the mofque ftands, there is a large bafon of clear water. Abovethe gate are engraven in gilt letters the names of the deceaſed princes, with fome verfesin their praife. The monument of Sidy Fathima ftands in the front of the building,encompaffed with a grate-work of pure filver, very valuable. To each of the princesare confecrated magnificent apartments, where the prieſts read the Koran nightand day.This is alfo a place of refuge for debtors, and unfortunate people, who are maintainedat the public expence. Adjoining to the mofque is a large hall, where alms are dailydiftributed to the poor. Few Chriftians are admitted into this facred place. The ambaffador, however, with a few of the retinue, obtained this favour. Koom is famous formanufacturing the beft blades in all Perfia for fabres and poinards.The 27th, we travelled from Koom five agatz to Kaffim-abbatt, a confiderable village,where we lodged. The weather now began to be fo hot, that we could travel only inthe morning and evening.On the 28th, after travelling fix agatz, we came to Sinnbzyn, another village. Hereour huntfman caught a porcupine, and brought it home alive.March 1st , we arrived at a place called Kafhan, fix agatz from the former. At fomediſtance we were met by the Doroga, or judge, attended by about fifty horfemen. Hecame to falute the ambaffador, and conducted him to his lodgings. The houfe belonged to the Shach, and was pleafantly fituated in the middle of a fine garden, plantedwith various kinds of fruit-trees.Kafhan is a large and populous city. It is fituated in a fertile plain, which ſecuresplenty of all neceffaries, and contains feveral well-built mofques and caravanferies. Themarket-place is well furnished with merchandife of different kinds. The common manufactures of Perfia are found here, viz . filk and cotton ſtuffs, carpets, befides fome otherarticles, which make this place of confiderable trade.This city is much peftered with fcorpions, efpecially the black kind, reckoned themoft venemous. Their fting proves mortal in a few days, nay, even hours, if properremedies be not applied. The cure ufed by the Perfians is, to anoint the wound withthe oil of thefe animals, extracted by frying. Of this oil they have generally a quantityin referve. If it is wanting, they bruife any fcorpion, and apply it to the part affected.Either of theſe remedies taken in due time, feldom fail of fuccefs. The Perfians havefuch a dread of thefe creatures, that, when provoked by any perfon, they with a Kafhanfcorpion 2BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 2991fcorpion may fting him. They are the more terrible, as few houfes are free from them;for moſt ofthe floors being of earth, and covered with carpets or mats, below theſe thefcorpions find or make holes for themfelves, where they lurk unfeen. They do notindeed often hurt, unleſs touched fuddenly. It is advifeable for all travellers to examine diligently the place where they are to fleep, before they go to bed. As the fcorpion is well known, it will be unneceflary to fay anymore of it.The 5th, we reached Buzabbatt, five agatz from Kafhan. The weather was very hot. •At this place I faw a creature called the fellio, or tarantula, and by the Perfians inkureck. It is in fhape and fize forewhat like a large fpider, but overgrown with hair.I was informed that it neither flings nor bites, but drops its venom upon the ſkin, whichis offuch a nature that it immediately penetrates into the body, and caufes dreadful fymptoms; fuch as giddinefs of the head, a violent pain in the ftomach, and a lethargic ftupefaction. The remedy, as in the former cafe, is the application of the fame animalwhen bruifed to the part, by which the poifon is extracted. They alfo makethe patientdrink abundance offweet milk, afterwhich he is put in a kind of tray, fufpended by ropesfixed in the four corners; it is turned round till the ropes are twifted hard together,and, when let go at once, the untwining caufes the baſket to run round with a quickmotion, which forces the patient to vomit.They alfo make them dance to mufical inftruments, which the fick perfon fometimesdoes, of his own accord, till he drops down uponthe fpot. One of thefe terrible creatures happened to fall out of the ceiling upon my hand as I was going one night to bed;I fhook it off inftantaneouſly without receiving the leaft harm. Every thing was movedand fearched for it, but to no purpofe, there being many holes in the floor. It mayeafily be imagined that apprehenfion would prevent my fleeping much that night.The 6th, we travelled five or fix agatz to Kaltabbatt'; and the next day five, toNattanee, a ſmall town fituated under fome high mountains. Here the Shach has apretty little palace, with gardens, fountains of fine water, and cafcades. We lodged inthe palace. The jackals were fo bold that they howled under the windows all thenight long, and carried off fome of our poultry. On the top of a mountain near thisplace, ftands a high tower, built by Shach Abbafs, which is feen at a great diſtance.The 8th, we left Nattance, and in three hours paffed a fine houſe, with gardens, builtby Shach Abbaſs, and fituated by itſelf in a pleafant plain. About three hours after wecame to Tutrin, an old caravanfery, where we lodged. The heat increaſed daily as weadvanced to the fouth. The 9th, we reached Ruck, eight agatz diftant from Tutrin,and four hours journey from the city of Ifpahan.The 10th, being the vernal equinox, when the new year commences among the Perfians, we halted all day. In the evening thirty fine horfes, with rich furniture, werefent from the Shach's ftables to the ambaffador. Some ofthe bridles were ornamentedwith gold, others with filver. Two lions were brought by a Perfian to be fhewn to theambaffador. They were led into a court- yard and let loofe upon a goat; but, infteadof the goat, they ran at fome of our people, who narrowly efcaped by getting into ahouſe and fhutting the doors. It feems the fight of fo many ftrangers had frightenedthem; for the keeper himfelf with difficulty chained them, and one of them even bithis hand.The 11th, we advanced two agatz, to Davilett- abbatt, a village.On the morning of the 13th, the Maymander Bafha, or chief conductor, arrived withmany attendants. In the evening we mounted; and, being accompanied with a numerous train of courtiers, and other people, we travelled two agatz to the fuburbs ofthe city, where we lodged in a palace called Tuchtzy, belonging to the Shach.QQ 2The300 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA,The 14th, in the morning, came a number of horſes fufficient for the ambaffador andall his train; this being the day appointed for our public entry.About noon the Maymander Bafha returned to conduct the ambaffador to his lodgings in the city. He was attended by many perfons of diſtinction.After noon we mounted, and entered the city. We paffed through many ſtreetscrowded with fpectators, as were alfo the tops of the houfes. It was faid that theSophy himſelf was at a window incognito, with fome of his ladies. Curiofity had cauſedfuch a crowd, that, had not the way been cleared by the Perfian guards, it would havebeen impoffible for us to pafs along. At laft, we reached the end of our journey; anoble palace in the middle of the city, with a garden, three courts, and apartmentsfufficient for the ambaffador and all his retinue.The Order ofthe Entry.An Officer.Three dragoons.A kettle-drum.Four trumpeters.Thirty dragoons, three a-breaft, with drawn fwords.Six fpare horfes, with fumptuous trappings.The ſteward.Twelve footmen.Twopages.Three footmen.Two interpreters.Two hey-dukes in Hungarian habits.The Ambaffador, with the Maymander Bafha, and interpreter.The prieſt and one gentleman.Myſelf and one gentleman.Two clerks.Faulconers, huntfien, &c.CHAP. VI. -Occurrences during our Stay at Ifpahan.THE 15th, the agents of the English and Dutch factories, viz. Mr. Coppin theEngliſh agent, fent Meffrs. Batſon and Reynardfon, the Dutch agent likewife fent twogentlemen of their company to falute the ambaffador.The 16th, the Maymander Baſha invited the ambaſſador to an audience ofthe Etmadowlett, or prime miniſter, which he would not comply with till he had an audience ofthe Shach, and delivered his credentials, though it is ufual firſt to take an audienceof that minifter. This day I vifited the Engliſh factory, where I met with a friendlyreception.On the 27th was a great fall of rain, fuch as had not been ſeen at Iſpahan for feven:years it was the cauſe of great joy in this fultry dry climate, though to me it feemednothing extraordinary.April 1ft, I went to Julffa to ſee a friend, accompanied by Mr. Batfon. It is a largeplace in the fuburbs, inhabited by Armenians, who have the free exercife of the Chriftianreligion. On the 10th, I dined at the Dutch houfe, the weather very hot.MayBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.༢༠rMay 4th, the ceremonial part of the ambaffador's introduction to the Shach beingpreviouſly agreed on, he was this day to have his firft audience. In the morning horfeswere fent from the King's ftables, all of them magnificently equipped, with grooms toattend them; many of the faddles and bridles were garnished with gold and filver.We marched in the fame order as at our entry above mentioned, only the dragoonshad not their fwords drawn. After paffing through feveral ftreets we came to thegreat market- place, called Bazar, and then to a gate called Alla-capy, i. e. God's Gate,where we difmounted. Acrofs this gate is hung a chain, and none are permitted toenter on horſeback except the Shach himſelf. We walked through the guards drawnup on each fide, to an inner court, and thence to an arched gate, furrounded withbenches and ſpread with carpets. Here the ambaffador was defired to fit down till theShach was ready to receive him. We waited at leaſt two hours, during which time allthe miniſters of ſtate and officers of the houſehold paffed us in great ftate; after themcame a large elephant, mounted by his keeper and adorned with gold and filver ſtuff;then two large lions, led by their keepers with chains of maffy gold.When this parade was over, an officer informed the ambaffador that the Shach waitedfor him; whereupon, proceeding immediately through the gate, we entered a ſpaciousgarden. The first thing that prefented was a noble view of twenty horſes ſtanding in arow, richly caparifoned, having all their faddles and bridles ornamented with gold andfilver, and fome of them fet with fapphires, emeralds, and other precious flones of greatvalue. The horſes were all tied to a rope fixed to the ground at the extremities by aſtake of gold, near which lay a mallet of the fame metal for driving it, according to thecuftom of Perfia; the hind-feet were alſo faſtened to a rope to prevent kicking: this isan excellent precaution, for, though they were all ftoned horfes, they could neither hurtone another nor any thing elfe; the chains that bound their hind-feet, with the ſtakesand mallets, were alfo of gold. The Perfian horfes are well managed, neither do Ithink them fo vicious as thofe in Europe; whether they are naturally more gentleI ſhall not determine, perhaps it is entirely owing to the milder treatment of theirgrooms. At each end of the row ſtood a large veffel of gold full of water for the horſesto drink.Approaching nearer to the hall of audience we paffed the two lions, chained to theground, one on each fide of the paffa*ge; near them were placed two bafons of goldfilled with water for drink; next to the lions ſtood the elephant, with his keeper onhis back. As the ambaffador paffed both the lions couched, and the elephant benthis fore-knee, at the word pronounced by the keepers.We now turned to the left and had a full view of the hall of audience, about anhundred yards diftant. It ſeemed to ftand by itſelf in the middle of the garden; it isindeed contiguous to the feraglio on the fouth, but is quite open to the north. Beforethe entry is a large fountain of pure water, which ſprings upward in three pipes, and fallsinto a bafon filled with rofes, jeffamine, and many other fine flowers.When we came to the ftair, we were defired to put off our flippers, and our fervants.were no further admitted. The ambaffador only and fix of his retinue (among whomI was) entered the hall. We afcended by eight ſteps of marble, the whole breadth ofthe hall. From the roof hung a canvafs, which was ftretched out over the ſtair, andfhaded the whole infide of the edifice. The hall is a fpacious fquare building with aterrace roof; the ceiling is very magnificent, being all arched and ſet with mirrors ofdifferent magnitudes till within three feet of the floor, which is quite covered with filkcarpets, interwoven with branches and foliage of gold and filver. In the middle weretwo bafons, into which feveral pipes, each about eight feet high, fpouted water, which,falling302 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.falling upon rofes and other flowers, has a fine effect on a hot day. The farther endof the hall is a femicircle; here fat the Shach upon a fofa, raiſed about a foot from thefloor, which was elevated four ſteps above the rest of the hall; he was attended bytwenty eunuchs; one carried his fabre, another his bow, a third the quiver with arrows, a fourth the calianne, or tobacco-pipe, fo that each had his office of ftate.The ambaffador was received in the hall bythe mafter of the ceremonies, calledIfhaggan Bafha, to be by him introduced to the Shach. He continued fitting upon hisfofa, with his legs acrofs, while all his minifters of ſtate ſtood in their places, clothedmagnificently in their robes; which they never wear except on folemn days, and, whenthefe are over, they leave them in a wardrobe at court, appointed for keeping them. Imuft confefs the appearance was veryfplendid, and put me in mind of the accounts leftus bythe ancients of the magnificence of the Kings of Perfia.At our entry into the hall we were ftopped about three minutes at the first fountain,in order to raife the greater refpect; the pipes were contrived to play fo high that thewater fell into the bafon like athick rain; nothing could be difcovered for fome time,and the Shach himfelf appeared as in a fog. While we moved forward every thingwas ftill as death; the maiter of the ceremonies took the ambaffador by the arm, andconducted him within fix yards of the throne, who, offering to advance, in order todeliver his credentials, was prevented by the Etmadowlett, or prime minifter; thisminifter received the credentials and laid them before the Shach, who touched themwith his hand as a mark of refpect. This part of the ceremony had been very difficultto adjuft; for the ambaffador infifted on delivering his letters into the Shach's ownhands, the Perfian minifters, on the other hand, affirmed that their Kings never receivedletters directly from the ambaffadors of the greateſt Emperors on earth.The ambaffador now made a fhort fpeech, which the Sophy anſwered, through theEtmadowlett, in very obliging terms. He then enquired after his Czariſh Majeſty'shealth, and aſked feveral queftions about the Swediſh war, and whether the ambaffadorhad fuffered any hardships on the road during fo long a journey? To all which hereturned anſwers fuitable to the occafion . At laft he was defired to take his feat, towhich he was led by the mafter of the ceremonies: it was about a foot high, andplaced at the diſtance of ten yards from the King. A little behind the ambaffador wereplaced his attendants, on feats nearly of the fame height. During all this ceremonymufic played, confifting of a variety of inftruments which were not unharmonious, andthe Mufti, or high priest, read, without intermiffion , chapters of the Koran.Before the ambaffador was feated the prefents from His Czarish Majefty to the Sophy,carried by fifty men, were brought to the entry, and received by the proper officers:they confifted of fables and other valuable furs, falcons, a variety of fine tea, muſicalclocks, gold watches fet in diamonds, &c.As foon as the ambaffador had taken his feat all the minifters offtate fat down on theirhams, on both fides of the hall, in rows; for none are allowed to fit cross-legged inprefence of the Sophy.There was now placed before the company little tables on which were fet all kindsof ſweetmeats and confections; and before the ambaffador was laid a golden calianne,or tobacco-pipe, which the Perfians reckon an high inftance of refpect.The mufic continued playing, and the Mufti coninued fill reading, but every thingelfe was very filent. Several meffa*ges paffed between the King and the ambaffador,by means of the mafter of the ceremonies and our interpreter. The King ſpokethe Perfian language and the ambaffador the Ruffian, while the other two ufed theTurkiſh.InBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 303In the mean time fome pure water, with a bit of ice in it, was brought in goldenbafons to drink. About an hour after victuals were brought by a number of fervants,who carried them on their heads in large fquare baſkets. Firft the Shach was ferved,and next the ambaflador with his retinue, then all the officers of ftate that fat in thehall. The grand ſteward of the houſehold waited on the King, and his afliftants on thereft of the company, according to their different ranks. Atthe fame time our fervantswere entertained in the garden.The entertainment confifted moftly of different kinds of rice boiled with butter,fowls, mutton, boiled and roafted lamb. The whole was ferved in large gold or chinadifhes, and placed in the baſkets, which ſtood on a long cloth ſpread above the carpet .The diſhes were interfperfed with faucers filled with aromatic herbs, fugar, and vinegar.But, according to the cuftom of the country, we had neither napkins, fpoons, knives,nor forks; for the Shach himfelf eat with his fingers, and every one followed hisexample. There were indeed, befides the common bread, fome very large thin cakes,which we ufed inftead of napkins to wipe our fingers. They are made of wheat- flour;the Perfians fometimes eat them; they are not difa*greeable. Our drink was fherbet,and water cooled with ice. Formerly it was ufual on fuch occafions to drink wine, andhave women to dance and fing. But the prefent Sophy, being a fober and devoutprince, thought it proper to aboliſh a cuſtom productive of fo many indecencies, anddirectly contrary to the rules of the Koran. We had therefore only men to fing, andno dancing.The ambaffador, and all the gentlemen who were admitted into the hall, continuedwith their heads covered during all the time of the audience. They only, on enteringthe royal prefence, uncovered once, and bowed to His Majeſty.When the entertainment was over the ambaffador took his leave, and returned to hislodgings, conducted by the Maymander Bafha, in the fame manner as in the morning.The streets were lined with the Sophy's guards, to prevent any inconvenience from thevaft crowds of people.The fame evening the Shach fent a prefent to the ambaffador of the golden caliannehe had ufed at court; it was neatly wrought in filigree, and valued at forty or fiftypounds fterling; alfo twenty large difhes of folid gold, filled with variety of fweetmeats.Thofe who brought them returned immediately, leaving the plate, which remained atthe ambalador's lodgings above fix weeks. All this time it was uncertain whetherfuch a valuable treaſure was forgot, or intended as a prefent. The difhes however wereat laſt demanded, and delivered. They weighed about thirty pounds a- piece, but wereof mean workmanfhip, being all beat out with a hammer. From this and manyfimilar inftances, fome conception may be formed of the immenfe riches whereof theSophy is poffeffed.The Shach's name is Huffein; he is about thirty years of age, of a middle ftature,open countenance, and has a fhort black beard. It is faid his legs are remarkablyfhort, in proportion to his body. He is very good- natured, and of a beneficent difpofition . He has feveral children by different ladies. Tachmaz the oldeft, at prefent inhis minority, feldom appears out of the Haram. Huffein himfelf, though a princeadorned with many virtues, yet being educated in the Haram among the women, islittle acquainted with the world, and leaves the management ofthe empire wholly to hisminifters in them he places an entire confidence; and they, in their turn, perfuadehim that it is below his dignity to attend to any public affairs whatever. At this verytime there was a formidable rebellion begun at Chandahar, a ſtrong town on the bordersof304 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.of India by Mery-Mahmut, an enterpriſing and powerful chief, who took advantage ofthe weakneſs of the prefent adminiſtration.The Perfian miniftry neglected and deſpiſed theſe rebels, threatening, in their ſtyle,to fend fome troops to cut them all to pieces. Time hath fhewn the vanity of theſehigh words. I muſt obſerve, that they want neither men nor money; but their foldiers were undifciplined, and, above all, they had no officers of fufficient abilities tocommand them.The 9th of May, the ambaffador had his firſt audience of the Etmadowlett. Wewereconducted in the fame manner as when we went to court. The entertainment was likewifeof the fame kind, but much more magnificent. The palace was grand , and had a finegarden adjoining. The Etmadowlett, whofe name is Phatalychan, was by birth aGeorgian, of Chriftian parents, but educated in the feraglio. He is a tall well- fhapedman, of a friendly afpect, and a great favourite of the Sophy. After we returned homethe Etmadowlett fent the ambaffador a prefent of a fine horfe, with a faddle and bridle,richly mounted, after the Perfian faſhion, and a gold calianne, little inferior to thatgiven by the Shach. It was reported that no foreign ambaffador had ever been treatedwith fo much reſpect.The 11th, the ambaffador had a fecond audience of the Sophy, at the fame palace asformerly, called Tavalea Telear, i. e. The Palace near the Stables; it was very fhort,and no entertainment was given. Next day he received from the Shach a prefent offome excellent Sherras wine, and a gold bottle that contained about two quarts, with afmall cup ofthe fame metal.On the 15th, the ambaffador had a fecond audience of the Etmadowlett, relating tothe fubject of the embaſſy.Three days after the Hackim Bafha, or chief phyſician, ſent me an invitation to viſithim. He received me in a very courteous obliging manner; and detained me abovetwo hours, talking on different fubjects. He told me that the phpficians in Perfia madevegetables, and their virtues, their chief ſtudy; they dealt but little in minerals and chemical preparations. Then he asked me, whetherthe European phyſicians admitted opiumin their preſcriptions? I told him they did, with great fuccefs. To which he replied,that the qualities of that drug were known to very few. He enquired whence tea came?howit fhould be made? and what were its virtues? All which I anſwered to his fatiffaction. Hence it is evident, that the Perfians have no correſpondence nor commercewith the Chineſe. The phyfician is an elderly man, of a grave deportment, andmight paſs for a doctor, any where. On taking my leave, he told me he was forryhe could not converſe with me but by means of an interpreter, which was tedious anddifa*greeable.The fame day the Dutch commiffary, Mynheer Vonkettler, made his public entry atIfpahan, as envoy from the governor of Batavia to the Shach of Perfia. He was preceded byfix elephants, fent as a prefent to the King by the governor. He had a numerous retinue, and was attended by feveral gentlemen, and made as grand an appearance as if he had been a miniſter from any court of Europe. He took up his lodgingsat the Dutch factory. Mr. Kettler told me that he was born in Courland; that, in hisyouth, he had inlifted as a foldier in the fervice of the Dutch East India company; byhis uncommon abilities he had raiſed himſelf from that low fituation to the honourable!place he now held.The following day Mr. Kettler fent two of his retinue to compliment our ambaſſador;and, both our gentlemen being indifpofed, I was fent next day to return the compliment.II TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 305The 28th, I dined at the Dutch houfe, where we had a grand entertainment.June 2d, the ambaffador intended to go a-hunting, and to take a view of the countryabout Ifpahan. But an officer came from court, defiring him to delay it till anotheropportunity; for the Shach had pitched on that day to vifit a country-houſe, in company with his ladies; on which occafion it is death for any one to be feen near theplace where the court paffes. To prevent accidental tranfgreffions in this reſpect, acryer is previouſly diſpatched to warn the inhabitants, who proclaims through theſtreets and along the road, that nobody, under pain of death, fhall appear either in theway, or from any houſe near it, by which His Majeſty and the ladies are to march.The Shach rides on horfeback, attended only by eunuchs. The ladies are mountedaftride, fome on horfes, others on mules and affes. They are all veiled with whitemuflin, fo that nothing can be feen ofthem but the eyes and noſe.The Perfians tell a pleaſant ftory of Shach Abbas's behaviour on an occaſion ofthisnature. The Shach at a certain time was riding along, attended by his concubines,when he happened to meet a poor country- fellow upon the road. He was immediatelybrought before the King; and, expecting inftant death, fell on his knees, moſt ſubmiffively begging pardon for fo heinous an offence, and pleaded ignorance in his excufe, having neither feen nor heard of any cryer. The prince was pleaſed with thefimplicity and innocence of the peafant, ordered him to take courage, and all the ladiesto unveil; then defired him to pick out any of his concubines he liked best, and hefhould have her for a wife. This treatment difpelled his fear; he pitched on one thatpleafed him moft. The Shach approved fo much of his taſte that he carried him tocourt, where he foon became a great favourite.The 9th, I dined at the Engliſh factory, where Mr. Coppin, and the other gentlemenbelonging to the company received me in the moſtfriendly manner. The day was veryhot, and in the evening we fupped near a fountain in the garden. On a fudden we felta guft of wind, as hot as if it had come from the mouth of an oven. It was foon overwithout any bad effect. But I was informed that theſe hot winds are very dangerousin travelling over the deferts, and often kill people immediately. The only refource,on perceiving them coming, is to fall down flat, with the face to the ground, and continue in that pofture till they are gone.On the 12th, the ambaffador had a third audience of the Shach at Farrabbatt, acountry-houſe near the city. It is an extremely pleaſant place, adorned with gardens,fountains, and caſcades, furrounded with parks for all kinds of game. While we wereat fupper on the terrace we had a fqual of wind, which almoft carried away every thing,and actually ſwept off the thin broad cakes which the Perſians uſe inſtead of napkins.The 16th, Monf. Ricard, whom I mentioned at Tauris, and twelve miffionaries ofdifferent orders, were invited to dine with the ambaffador. Several of thefe gentlemen had been long in India and Ethiopia, which rendered their converfation veryentertaining.court.The 21ft , the ambaffador was invited to dinner by the Devettar, or keeper of thegreat feal and ftandiſh. Here, as in all other countries, this is an office of great truſt.We were entertained with more magnificence than by the prime minifter, or even atSoon after we entered there were ferved up a great variety of ſweetmeats, andall kinds of fruit that the climate afforded. Coffee and fherbet were carried about byturns. We were placed cross-legged on the carpets, except the ambaffador, who hada feat. During this part of the feaft we were entertained with vocal and inftrumentalmufic, dancing boys, tumblers, puppets, and jugglers: all the performers executedtheir parts with great dexterity. Two of them counterfeiting a quarrel, one beat offVOL. VII. R Rthe306BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.the other's turban with his foot, out of which dropped about fifteen or twenty largeferpents, which run or crawled about the room . One of them came towards me withgreat fpeed, which foon obliged me to quit my place. On feeing us alarmed, they toldus the creatures were altogether inoffenfive, as their teeth had been all drawn out. Thefellow went about the room and gathered them into his turban again like fo manyeels. The victuals were now ferved in, a neat and elegant manner. Every thing waswell dreffed in the Perfian faſhion. Our hoft was very cheerful, and contributed everything in his power to pleafe his guefts. He excufed himfelf handsomely enough fornot having wine, as it was not then uſed at court.On the 23d, the Maymander Baſha brought a meffa*ge from the Shach to the ambaffador, intimating, that the bufinefs of his embaffy being now finiſhed, he mightchooſe his own time to depart. This was not very agreeable news to the ambaſſador,who alledged, that before he could procure fhipping to tranfport him to Aſtrachan, theſeaſon would be far advanced, and oblige him to winter in fome part ofPerſia.July 1ft , the Shach fent the ambaffador, and the principal parts of his retinue, whatthe Perfians call the kalatt. It confifts of a tunic, a long robe of gold and filverſtuff, a fafh and turban, and fome pieces of Perfian filk, whereof about ten or a dozenfell to my fhare. The whole value was not confiderable; but the Shach beſtows thismark of favour to all foreign minifters who come on friendly errands. On thisoccafion, he fent the ambaffador, in particular, a prefent of two fine horfes from hisown ftables.The 3d, the ambaffador had his laſt audience of the Shach at a palace in the city;when he received an anſwer to the Czar's letter, and immediately took leave ſtanding,without further ceremony.The 8th, the Shach fent the ambaffador another prefent, confifting of an elephant,two lions, two leopards, fix monkies of different kinds, three parrots, two white andone green, three fine horſes, and an Indian bird called Myana; it is in colour, fhape,and fize like a blackbird, and whiſtled a very fine note.Auguſt the 3d, we began to prepare for our journey homeward, which took up muchtime. The 18th we removed from our lodgings in the city to a houſe belonging to theShachin the northern fuburbs, called Tauchtzy.The 26th, I took leave of my friend Mr. Coppin, who fet out this day on hisjourney to England, by way of Aleppo. The English factory at Ifpahan are very wellfituated in the middle of the city, have a fpacious garden adjoining, and are feparatedfrom the reſt of the town by a wall. Moſt of the great houſes in the city are furroundedin the fame manner, which renders it very extenfive.Ifpahan is fituated nearly in 32 degrees north latitude, on a fruitful plain, in the province of Hierack, anciently the kingdom of the Parthians. About three or four Englishmiles diftant from the city, to the fouth, runs an high ridge of mountains from eaſt toweft. Shach Abbafs the Great transferred the feat of the Perfian government fromCafbin to this place.Ifpahan is plentifully fupplied with water from the river Schenderoo, which runs between the city and the fuburbs, keeping its courſe to the north. It rifes near the city,and is fordable almoſt every where unleſs during great rains, which feldom happen.After paffing this place its courfe is but fhort, for it foon lofes itſelf in dry parchedplains. Over the Schenderoo there are three ftately ftone-bridges in fight of one another; but the one in the middle, betwixt the city and that part of the fuburbs calledJulpha, which terminates the fpacious ſtreet Tzar-bach, far exceeds any ſtructure ofthat kind I ever faw. It is broad enough for two carriages and a horfeman to paſsa-breaſt ,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 207abreaft, and has galleries on each fide, which are covered for the convenience ofpeopleon foot; and watchmen are ftationed at each end to prevent diforders. There are fewhoufes in the town which have not their chaufes, i. e. cifterns of water conveyed inpipes from the river: a moſt falutary and refreſhing circumftance, in fuch a dry andfultry climate.The city is populous, and, as I already obferved, very extenſive. As most of the inhabitants have their houfes apart, furrounded with gardens, planted with fruit andother trees, at a diſtance it appears like a city in a foreft, and affords a very agreeableprofpect.The ſtreets are generally very narrow and irregular, excepting that leading to thegreat bridge already mentioned. This noble ſtreet is very broad and ſtraight, and nearan Engliſh mile in length. On each fide are the King's palaces, courts of juftice, andthe academies for the education of youth, with two rows of tall chinar-trees, which afford a fine fhade. Thefe trees have a ſmooth whitiſh bark, and a broad leaf, like theplane-tree. At certain diftances there are fountains of water that play continually,round which are ſpread carpets; and thither the Perfians refort to drink coffee, fmoketobacco, and hear news: which I muſt confefs is very agreeable in hot weather.About half a mile below the city is a fine plain upon the banks of the river, where thePerfians every evening exerciſe their horſes in riding, and accustom them to the difcharge of fire-arms. They alfo fhoot at butts with bows and arrows, and throw blunteddarts at one another: at which they appear very dextrous.The city is almoft quite defenceless, having only a flight wall round it, built of muddried by the fun, which is broken down in many places: fo that if the army is defeatedin the field, Ifpahan cannot defend itſelf one day; for even all the artillery I faw confifted of about twenty brafs cannon, which ſtood in the grand court before the palacegate, and were more for parade than real ufe.The houſes here, as in other places of Perfia, are generally built with bricks hardened bythe fun. The roofs are flat, and covered with a terrace. They make but amean appearance from the ſtreet, though within they are neat and clean, and very convenient for the Perfian manner of life. The Shach's palaces, the public edifices, andthe houſes of all perfons of diſtinction, are built with ſtone.As the ſtreets are not paved, when it is windy, the city is fometimes involved in fucha cloud of duſt that the fun is ſcarcely viſible. This obliges the inhabitants to water thestreets at leaſt every evening. Theſe gufts of wind are very diſagreeable, but they happen feldom, and are of fhort duration.At Ifpahan are many manufactories of filk and cotton, and a great many filk-wormsin the neighbourhood. As the confumption of filk is very confiderable at this place,little of it is exported. The making carpets, however, employs the greateſt number ofhands, for which the demand is great; as they are preferable in quality, deſign, andcolour to any made elſewhere.The fields about the city are very fertile and produce plentiful crops of excellentwheat and barley; but then they muſt all be watered on account of the drynefs of thefoil, which is a work of labour and expence. Befides theſe I ſaw no other grain.The Perfians tread out their corn with oxen or affes. For this purpoſe they make acircle about twenty or thirty feet in diameter, on the circumference whereofthe ſheavesare laid. There is a light fledge or hurdle drawn by the cattle, in which the driverfits, and directs them round and round as often as is neceffary; and new fheaves arealways added when the former ones are trodden fufficiently. This operation alfofoftens the ſtraw, and renders it very good provender. There is no hay in Perfia; andRR 2 the308BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.the beſt horſes are kept in a condition for any ſervice by this food, and a finall quantityof dried barley, twice a-day.They have flocks of large fheep, whereof the mutton is very good, but the woolcoarfe. In the province of Karamenia, indeed, they have exceeding fine wool, fome ofwhich I have feen little inferior to filk. Their horned cattle are buffalos, which affordthem milk, and are ufed in ploughing the ground, and drawing carriages. Theyhave alſo the common kind of cattle of different fizes. The better fort of people eatchiefly mutton and fowls, but very little beef.Befides the cattle I have mentioned there is another kind, having a high rifing uponthe ſhoulder, with clean limbs, which are very handfome.As I have formerly obferved that the Perfians make ufe of ice to cool their water infummer, it may be asked, where are got fuch quantities , in fo hot a climate, as are dailyfold in the ſtreets for that purpofe? I was informed, that there were people who madeit their buſineſs to watch the frofty nights in the winter feafon; on which occafionsthey went to the mountains near the city, and threw water on certain places, whichbeing frozen, they continued to repeat the operation till the ice was of convenient thicknefs; then they cut it in pieces and carry it into caves hewn in the rocks, where it isperferved during the fummer. What they cannot carry off before the fun rifes is covered to defend it from his heat.While I remained at Ifpahan I vifited the Shach's aviary. It contains a great varietyof all kinds of birds, many of which had come from India and other foreign parts.Among the reft were a couple of turkeys, which it ſeems are rare birds in Perfia. Theplace is very neat and elegant. The aviary is about fifteen feet high, and covered witha net-work of brafs-wire to prevent the birds flying away.Provifions of all kinds are very dear at Ifpahan, which is fufficiently apparent fromthe number of poor that go about the ſtreets. Nothing, however, is fo extravagantlyhigh as fire-wood.The Ronian Catholics have three convents in the city, viz. thofe of the Carmelites,Capuchins, and Auguftins. The Jefuits and Dominicans have their ſeparate conventsin the fuburbs of Julpha, which is inhabited by Armenians, who are allowed the freeexerciſe of their religion.There is a confiderable number of Jews in the city, who are either merchants ormechanics.In the neighbourhood of the city is a tribe of people, called by the Perfians Giaur,who worship fire, being the poſterity of the ancient inhabitants of this country, whopaid divine honours to that element. They are a poor indolent race, and live in naftyhuts, or in tents. They fpeak a different language from the Perfians, have black hair,and are of afwarthy complexion. They have fome fheep and cattle, but many of themgo about the ſtreets begging.About three or four miles tothe fouthward of the city are to be feen the ruins ofatower on thetop of a mountain, where it is faid Darius fat when Alexander the Greatfought the fecond battle with the Perfians. I was alfo told that, about two days journeyfrom Ifpahan, are diſtinguiſhable the remains of the tomb of Queen Efther, a lady celebrated in holy writ for many virtues. Thefe, and many other places, I intended to haveexamined on the ſpot, but was unluckily prevented for want of time.While we lay at Tauchtzy waiting for horfes and camels, two of our fervants wereftung with ſcorpions, but were foon cured, by timely application ofthe oil of fcorpions,prepared after the Perfian manner, without any other remedy. The jackals made adifmal howling under our windows every night.I haveBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 309I have now finifhed my obfervations on whatever feemed moft remarkable in andabout the city of Ifpahan. I fhall only add, that, among the many lofty and pompoustitles which this mighty monarch affumes, there are fome very extraordinary; of whichI fhall mention one: " That the greateſt Kings of the earth may think it an honourto drink out of his horfe's footſteps." Several more inftances might be given in theoriental ftyle fully as extravagant.The Shach's Palaces.1. Tzel Sootun, or that of forty pillars.2. Tevela Telear, near the ſtables.3. Hafta-Behafi, chambers of paradiſe.4. Othiat Tallard, near the Haram.5. Guldefta, houſe of eunuchs.6. Tauchtzy, at the north entry.7. Farrabbatt, fouth-eaft from the city.Perfia is at preſent divided into fixteen provinces, many of them of great extent. Ifhall mention their prefent names, together with thoſe they ſeem to have borne amongthe ancients, diſtinguiſhing the latter by Italics.1. Turkomania, -Great Armenia.2. Diarbeck, Mefopotamia.--3. Kurdistan, Part of Affyria.-4. Hierack Arabee, - Chaldea, or Babylon.5. Hierack Aggemy, ―Region of the Parthians.6. Shirvan, -Towards the north- west coast ofthe Cafpian Sea.7. Guilan and Mefanderan, - Hyrcania.8. Aftrabatt, Margiana.9. Ufbeck, Bactria:10. Koraffan, - Aria.11. Sableftan, Parapomifia.12. Sigiſtan,13. Arachofia.14. Machran.Drangiana.15. Karamenia, —Reaching to the GulfofOrmus.16. Pharfiſtan, -Old Perfia, whereof Perfepolis was the capital city.I have added the ancient names according to the beſt information I could procure;for, under the various revolutions of this country, the records have been almoſt whollyeither loft or deſtroyed: fo that the Perfians themſelves know very little of the ancienthiſtory of their country.CHAP. VII. - From Ifpahan to Shamachy; Occurrences during our Stay there.SEPTEMBER 1ft, having procured horfes and camels and every thing neceffary,and having alſo got a conductor from the Shach, we this day left Ifpahan in order toreturn to Ruffia. We travelled ſhort ſtages along the fame road by which we came toIfpahan. Little material happened for a confiderable time, and I fhall not repeat whatI formerly obferved; I fhall only take notice, that many of the places through whichwe paffed were much infeſted by ſtrong gangs of highwaymen. We were thereforeobliged!103 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA..聘obliged to travel very cautiously, and to keep our people together near the baggage,but particularly to procure a fafe caravanfery for our lodgings. The weather continuingvery hot was the reafon of our making eafy marches; and theſe chiefly in the morningsand evenings, and fometimes in the night, when it could be done with fafety.We travelled in this manner till the 26th of September, when we arrived at a villagecalled Arrazant, where we lodged. Next day, inftead of purfuing the fame route byTauris, we turned to the right, and took the road leading to Cafbin and Guilan.The 27th, we proceeded five agatz, to Membereck; and the 28th four, to the city ofCafbin. This place is fituated in a fpacious plain, having a ridge of high mountainsto the north. I mentioned formerly that Cafbin was once the feat of government, andthe refidence of the Perfian monarchs. There are ftill to be feen the ruins of manyftately mofques, palaces, and other public edifices. The city appears to have been informer times very large and flouriſhing, but is now much contracted and decayed.The plague raged here all the preceding fummer, which had almoſt depopulated theplace; and, although the fury of that contagious diftemper was much abated, peoplecontinued to die daily, which made us refolve to remain no longer than was abfolutelyneceffary, in order to prepare things for our journey to Guilan. This could not befoon accompliſhed at a time of ſuch public calamity.In the mean time many of our people were feized with peftilential fevers, who allrecovered but one. He died fuddenly, with the ufual fymptoms of the plague. I andfeveral of our people were likewife taken with fevers, occafioned by our being lodgedin houſes where the Perfians had lately died. Theſe circumſtances made the ambaffador refolve to leave the place at all events. During the time therefore which we wereobliged to wait for horfes and camels, we removed out of town about a mile, to a gardenbelonging to the Shach, provided for us by the commandant of the city and province.Here we fet up our tents, and in this fituation, by the help of free air and good water,our people recovered furpriſingly, fo that in a fhort time moſt of them were able toride; another gentleman only and myfelf were carried in litters between two mules.The 12th of October, we fet out again, purfuing our journey northward. Aftertravelling about two leagues through a plain we afcended a high and ſteep mountain,and, proceeding onward about a league, came to a fmall village, where we lodged.All the inhabitants had forfaken their houfes. Whatever elſe was wanting, we had herethe comfort of pure air, which had fuch an effect on me that next day I was able tomount on horſeback, though, at fetting out, I was ſcarcely in condition to bear the eaſymotion of the litter.Wecontinued our journey aſcending and defcending many ſteep rocks and mountainsfor four days, when we arrived at Menzyly, a little town fituated in a charming valley,where grow abundance of citrons, oranges, olives, befide grapes and other fruits.Theſe I own were tempting objects, but fad experience taught many of us to value themno more than floes or bramble berries. Menzyly is governed by a kalentar, or judge;it is a pretty romantic place, encompaffed by high mountains on all fides, which declineto the north, and are covered with grafs. This is a rare fight in Perfia, and is caufedby the great autumnal rains; for along the fouth coaft of the Cafpian Sea it rains atthis ſeaſon almoſt without intermiffion, for the ſpace of fix weeks or two months. Inthis and the neighbouring villages are bred a great number of filk-worms, which produce the beſt and greateft quantities of raw filk made in the province of Guilan; fromwhence it is exported by the Armenian merchants partly through Ruffia to Holland,and partly by land to Aleppo, for the Levant trade.HavingBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 311Having ftaid two days at Menzyly, we fet out again in heavy rains, through deeproads, which greatly incommoded our camels: for they often flipped, and ſometimesfell down under their burthens; however in five days we reached Refhd, the capitalofthe province of Guilan.Refhd ſtands in a plain furrounded with great woods on every fide, about a day'sjourney from the neareſt ſhore of the Cafpian Sea, where is a very good harbour forfhips offmall burthen.The houſes are thinly ſcattered, reſembling rather a large village than a town. As theground at this place is very flat, the inhabitants are obliged to chooſe the dryeft placesto build on. In the market-place I faw about eight pieces of cannon, mounted on forrycarriages; among which was a neat brafs field-piece, with the name of that noted princethe Duke of Holftein Gottorp upon it: it feems to have been left here accidentally bythe ambaffadors of that Duke to the then Shach of Perfia.The houſes are mean in compariſon with thofe in other parts of Perfia; the roofsare raiſed and tiled to carry off the great falls of rain.The marfhes and pools with which Refhd is furrounded renders it very unhealthy, efpecially in the heat of fummer, when it is often vifited with the peftilence; and, althoughit is a place of the greateſt plenty, the inhabitants look as half ſtarved. I was told theywere obliged to confine themſelves to a ſcanty diet; that, if they allowed themſelvesthe leaft indulgence, even fo far as to eat their rice with butter, they were liable to agues,the reigning diftemper in this climate. Many of our people were actually feized withthefe agues, though none of them proved mortal. Here, as at the capitals of the otherprovinces, we were obliged to remain a confiderable time, much longer than we inclined; for every province bears the expence of ambaffadors from the time they arriveat its capital till they reach the capital of the next province, where freſh ſupplies ofmoney and cattle are to be procured. The obtaining theſe things, and the rainy weather, detained us in this diſagreeable place. The pools are full of frogs that chatterlike magpies, and make fuch a loud croaking befides their chattering, that a perfon- cannot fleep till he is accuſtomed to that noiſe..The country above Refhd is very fruitful, particularly in rice, which grows plentifully on the marfhy grounds, and is fufficient to fupply moſt of the other provinces ofPerfia; there is alfo plenty of fruit natural to the climate. The Armenians who inhabit Refhd make good wine, both red and white; and even in the woods you may feethe vines loaden with cluſters of grapes twiſting about the trees, which are left to thebirds, as they are not worth gathering amid fuch plenty.Great flocks of fieldfares, thruſhes, blackbirds, with vast quantities of ftorks, cranes,ſwans, wild-geeſe, and all other kinds of water-fowl, come hither from the north duringthe winter, and return tothe northern regions in the ſpring.The ſtaple of Guilan is raw filk, of which they make great quantities, both for theirown conſumption and for exportation.While we remained at Refhd two ambaffadors arrived from the Aijuka Chan, Princeof the Kolmuck- Tartars, in their way to Ifpahan.November 9th, we left Refhd, and travelled through thick woods to the fhore,along which we kept to the left, in all about five agatz, and then lodged in a ſmallempty village.The 13th, we proceeded fix agatz to a ſmall town called Kefhker. This day the roadlay through pleaſant woods. At fome diſtance from ſea we met with ſome groves of orange-trees, where we found bloffoms, ripe and green fruit on the fame tree. Thegreat rains detained us fome days at Kefhker; during which a new Maymander ar rived ..312 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.rived from Ifpahan, who arreſted the former one for fome fault he had commited onthe road.The 20th, we travelled from Kefhker to the ſhore three agatz, and halted a little, thenalong the ſhore four agatz farther, and at midnight reached an empty village; a difa*greeable circumſtance, after marching in conftant rain the whole day, which had rendered the rivers almoſt impaffable to camels.From the 21ft to the 27th, we advanced along the fhore. The roads were very good.At laſt we came to a town called Aftara, where we halted for refreſhment. There isnothing remarkable about this place, except its pleaſant fituation.December ift, we reached Siarakent, a large village. And next day Langgara, ſituated on the fhore at the mouth of a river, an agatz diftant from the former. And the3d to Kyzillagatch, five agatz from Langgara. This day we paffed along ſeveral largebridges, over very deep rivers. In great rains and ſtrong northerly winds, theſe riversfwell above their banks, and, fpreading to a great extent round the bridges, renderthem impaffable.The 5th, we travelled five agatz to Tzamachava. I was ſurpriſed at the great flocksof water- fowl near this place: fo numerous were they that one of our people killedeight geefe at one difcharge.The 7th, we entered the plains of Mugan. I defcribed what feemned moſt remarkablein this defert when going fouthward, and fhall not recapitulate any thing I formerly obferved. The road was very good. We lodged at the river Bulgara, fix agatz fromTzamachava, the water of the river is muddy and brackish. Next day we advancedfeven agatz, and lodged again in tents; for there are no houfes in this plain, and onlypit water, very brackish.On the 9th, we travelled feven agatz to fome fmall huts beyond the river Kure,which we paffed on a bridge of boats. We paffed this river about a day's journeyabove this place, in going to Ifpahan, when I made my remarks upon it. Seven agatzfrom theſe huts ſtands a place called Karakurody, the laſt ſtage in the defert, where welodged on the 11th.The 12th, we arrived at Shamachy, five agatz from the laft ftage. Since the timewe left this place it had fuffered grievously by the plague, which raged here all the preceding fummer. It was now much abated, though not quite extinguifhed. This was adiſagreeable circumftance; many of our people were fickly, and two of them died ofthe diftemper: for the empty houfes where the Perfians had died, notwithſtanding everyprecaution, particularly fmoaking the walls, ftill proved infectious.I was informed, that about feventy thoufand perfons had been carried off bythe peſtilence within the last eight months, in Shamachy and the province of Shirvan.The 15th, my old acquaintance Monf. Yeiifky, the Dantzicker, whom I formerly mentioned, came to vifit me. He was fo altered by fickneſs that I fcarcely knew him. Hetold me what difmal havoc the plague had made, particularly in his own family. Iafked, why he did not retire to the country for better air? His anfwer was, whithercould he fly from God Almighty! This I find to be the general opinion of theMahometans, both Perfians and Turks. The fame day I had a vifit from FatherBackond, the only miffionary at prefent in theſe parts, his companion Father Ricardbeing dead ofthe plague.The feafon being now far advanced, it became proper to pitch onfome place for winter-quarters. The terrible peftilence which had prevailed fo long, and with fuch deftruction, greatly deterred us from choofing this place. The fuperior convenience, however,of it, the prefent abatement of the plague, and chiefly becauſe a province is not obliged5toBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 313to fupport the expences of an ambaffador till he arrives at the capital, and ſeveral otherreafons, determined us to winter at Shamachy.January 15th, 1718, the Chan came to town from the country, where he had beenall the laft fummer.The 21ft, the ambaffador paid the Chan a viſit, which was returned the 25th.Nothing material happened during the winter; only we often heard of the bad fuccefs of the Shach's forces, which were fent to Chandahar againſt the rebel Mery Mahmut, and ofmany incurfions into the Perfian provinces, made by the mountaineers whoinhabit between the Black and Cafpian Seas.March 10th, one of our gentlemen, Monf. Lepuchin, was fent away by land to Aftrachan, with an elephant and all the horfes. He was efcorted by thirty Ruffian foldiers,and fome Aftrachan Tartars. In his march, between Derbent and Terky, he was at-• tacked by fome hundreds of the mountaineers, called Shaffkalls, who killed one manand two horſes, and wounded ſeveral men and the elephant. Meeting, however, with awarm reception, they thought proper to retire, but carried off three of the horfes. Thegentleman arrived fafe without any further misfortune at Aftrachan.April 14th, fhips, commanded by Captain Rentle, arrived at Niezabatt, in order totranfport the ambaffador to Aftrachan. He could not, however, proceed immediatelyto embark, for we were obliged to wait for an anſwer to an exprefs, which the Chan haddiſpatched to Ifpahan on affairs of importance, which did not return till the end ofMay. All of us impatiently defired to leave Shamachy before the great heat came on.In the mean time we diverted ourſelves with hunting. I went often to fee the filkworms feeding on mulberry-leaves. The inhabitants were apprehenfive that the plaguewould break out again in the fummer; and we had already buried twenty-two of ourpeople fince our arrival on the frontiers of Perfia.On the night of the 8th of May, there were fuch flaſhes of lightning as had not happened in the memory of man; though the night was dark, I could plainly fee the cattlein the adjacent fields by means of the corufcations; the lightning was accompanied withdreadful claps of thunder, which lafted above two hours.CHAP. VIII. -From Shamachy to St. Petersburg.JUNE 16th, we left Shamachy, and in four days arrived ſafe at Niezabatt, wherewe found fhips waiting to receive us.On the 21ft, we began to load the veffels with all poffible diſpatch , which was foonaccompliſhed by the affiftance of fome Rufs foldiers who had wintered at this place.Since I have mentioned thefe foldiers, I fhall briefly relate how they happened to be onthis coaft.The people of Chiva, a territory eaſtward from the Caſpian Sea, having ſeveral timesrobbed and plundered fome caravans of Ruffian merchants going to Bucharia, HisCzarish Majefty determined to fend a ſmall body of regular troops, and fome Coffacks,to demand fatisfaction for fuch outrages committed in time of peace. For this purpofe,Mr. Beckvitz, a captain ofthe guards, who was appointed to command in this expedition, repaired to Aftrachan, in fummer 1716, in order to make all the neceffary preparations againſt next fpring. Having accordingly embarked his men, provifions, andammunition at the proper feafon, he fteered his courfe along the Cafpian Sea, andlanded at a place called Krafna-vooda, i . e. Red Water, as near to Chiva as he conveniVOL. VII. S Sently314 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.ently could.This place was barren an uninhabited. Having therefore moored his tranfports, he erected a ſmall fort to fecure his retreat, in cafe of accidents.In the mean time, he fent a friendly meffa*ge to the Chan of Chiva, to notify his arrival, and to defire that he would furnish him with provifions and quarters for his men;for which he offered to pay ready money. The crafty Tartar returned for anfwer, thathe might come to Chiva with the greateſt ſafety, where all his demands fhould begranted. At the ſame time ſent him a prefent of fruits and freſh provifions, and guidesto conduct him on the road, accompanied with the higheſt expreffions of reſpect to HisCzarish Majefty. Mr. Beckvitz, having left about three hundred men in the fort, toguard the camp and provifions, proceeded with the reft, and a few field-pieces, towards Chiva.In three or four days, he arrived in the neighbourhood of the town, where hewas met by feveral of the chiefs, who came with compliments from the Chan, and tofettle matters relative to the cantonment of the foldiers. This particular was difficultto adjust.Mr. Beckvitz infifted that all his men fhould be quartered in the town, and nothingbut infatuation could have influenced him to alter fo prudent a refolution. But the Tartars ſtarted many objections againſt putting it in execution, and pretended that the Chanand themſelves were willing to agree to it, but the people were averſe, and jealous ofhaving fo many armed men lodged within their walls; and therefore they propoſed, asa means of quieting the minds ofthe people, that he ſhould ſeparate his men, in orderto be quartered more conveniently in the adjacent villages, and that himſelf ſhould havelodgings in the town, with a fufficient guard to attend him. This motion was ſtronglyoppofed by all the old officers, who looked on it as a ſtratagem laid for their deftruction. And fuch in reality it proved in the end.Mr. Beckvitz, deluded by falſe promiſes, at laſt confented to canton his men. Nofooner were they divided into fmall parties than they were inclofed, and attacked bygreat numbers of Tartars, and moſt of them either killed or taken prifoners, who wereafterwards fold for flaves. A few of them, taking the alarm, ftood to their arms, andmade a brave defence, for fome time endeavouring chiefly to regain their camp andfhips; but having a barren defert to paſs, and the Tartar horfe haraffing them day andnight, they were at laft obliged to fubmit to fatal neceffity. The imprudence of thegeneral was the fole cauſe of all theſe misfortunes; for, being in no want of provifions .or ammunition, had he only kept his men together, the whole combined power of theſeTartars could not have prevented his regaining the camp and fhipping.The camp was next attacked by the Tartars, but they were repulfed by the garrifon,which having now intelligence of what had paffed at Chiva, demoliſhed the fort, reimbarked the men and ſtores, and fet fail for Aftrachan. The feaſon was now too far advanced to gain that port; this circumftance, together with hard gales of contrary winds,obliged them to put into Niezabatt, in order to paſs the winter. Here they were hofpipitably received by the Perfians; and the prefence of the ambaffador at Shamachycontributed greatly to the relief of theſe poor unfortunate people.Unhappy Beckvitz himſelf happened to be taken prifoner. He was fent for to theChan's tent, on fome pretence of bufinefs, where they firft ftruck off his head, then,after venting their barbarous rage on his dead body, they flayed it, and having ſtuffedthe ſkin with ſtraw, placed it, a miferable ſpectacle, on one of the city gates.This unfortunate gentleman was the fon of a petty prince, or chief of a tribe, inTzerkeffia, and had been fent to Ruffia in his infancy, as a hoftage for his father'sfidelity.BeingBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 315Being now on the point of departing from Perfia, called by the Perfians Iran, andalfo Pharfiſtan, I ſhall cloſe what I have to offer regarding that country, by giving a liftof the principal officers of ftate who attend that mighty monarch at the megilifs, i. e.public audience of ambaffadors; they fit in the hall of audience according to their reſpective ranks, and have all of them, on thofe occafions, magnificent capes and robesof ſtate, kept in the King's wardrobe for that purpoſe.1. The Etmadowlett, prime minifter.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.II.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.22.23.24.25.26.Spaffelaar, general in chief.Kurtfy Bafha, general of 12,000 men.Kular-agaffy, director of the prifons.Tfengy Bafha, general of muſketeers.Ifhek-agaffy Bafha, maſter of ceremonies.Divan Begg, chiefjustice.Toptfhy Bafha, mafter of the ordnance.Vaggian Aviz, fecretary of ſtate.Meriſh-kaz Bafha, grand falconer.Dgevedar Bafha, general ofthe artillery.Milachurd Baſha Giloff, mafter of horſe.Milachurd Yaffy Bafha, mafter of the field-horſes.Kolopha.Mamalek, comptroller of the houſehold.Kchaffa, cabinet fecretary.Nazyr Daftar, ſteward of the houſehold.Vifir Ifpahan, chief magiftrate of Ifpahan.Vifir Kurtfy, general of horſe.Vifir Kule.Chafnadar Bafha, chief treaſurer.Kaliphar Kafhkar, chief judge in civil affairs.Doroga Taftar, judge of the city.Sachapt Tauchtzy.Sachapt Narvis, chief aftrologer.Hakim Basha, chief phyfician.The following officers attend the Shach wherever he goes:1. The Ibrahim Aga, chief of the eunuchs.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.ŵ fúbNåYeuſh Bafha, chief of the white eunuchs.Achmet Aga, chief of the black eunuchs.Klitch Kurtfhy, fword-bearer.Tzatyn Bafha, quiver-bearer.Saddach Kurtfhy, bow-bearer.Tfang Kurtfhy, mufket-bearer.Dgid Kurtfhy, dart- bearer.Kalchan Kurtſhy, target-bearer.$ $ 2 The316BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.The following are the chief doctors of the law of Mahomet:1. Sadyr Chaffa, the fame office in Perfia as that of the Mufti in Turkey.2. Sadyr Mammalek.3. Fazyl.4. Shach Iflam.5. Chazy.6. Mullah Baſha.7. Mudarafs.8. Pifhnamafh.9. Mutafhett Baſha.10. Woafham Basha.Theſe are the principal; befides whom there are many other officers too numerousto recite. With the foregoing lift I cloſe what I have to fay regarding Perſia.The 26th, we fet fail from Niezabatt with a fair wind at fouth-eaft, which laſted onlya few hours; after which we were becalmed for three days.July 2d, the wind became again fair, and carried us with a gentle breeze out of thedeep water into foundings; but turning contrary, we came to anchor in thirty fathomwater, where we lay till the 10th, when it blew a very hard gale, which drove us fromour anchors out to fea; and, continuing for two days, brought us again in fight of thePerfian fhore, which was at this time no very agreeable object.The 13th, the wind chopped about favourable, and fo continued, with little variation,till the 18th, when we arrived fafe at Aftrachan, to the great joy of all our company.September 7th, leaving Aftrachan, we failed up the Volga. Our progreſs, contraryto the courſe of the river, was very flow and tedious. In calms the boats were drawnup by men, who went upon the banks; but in hard gales, we were obliged to haulthem near the fide, and lie ftill.October 12th, after a voyage of five weeks we arrived at the town of Saratoff, abouteight hundred verft diſtant from Aftrachan. The winter drawing on prevented ourfarther progrefs by water. Wetherefore unloaded, and difcharged the boats, beingrefolved to remain here till the fnow fell, when we might proceed by land in fledges.November ift, there had now been a little fall of fnow, fufficient to fmooth theroads, and this day we fet out from Saratoff in fledges.The 3d, we came to a little town called Petrofky, about ninety verft from Saratoff.The 8th, we came to a large town called Penze, ninety verft from the former. Aswe advanced to the north the froft and fnow daily increaſed, which made the roads veryfmooth and eafy. Before we left this place, a fudden rain obliged us to halt a few days.Here we met with Brigadier Kropotoff, who, with fome regiments of dragoons had winterquarters at this place.The 14th, the froft and fnow returning, we fet out from Penze.The 15th, we reached Saranfky, eighty verft from the former. Here we foundmany Swediſh officers taken at Poltava, who were well quartered in a plentifulcountry.The 17th, we left Saranſky, and the 21ft, arrived at Arzamaſs, an hundred verſtfrom Saransky.The 24th, we came to Murum, three hundred and fixty verft from Saratoff, whichI mentioned in going fouthward by water. From Saratoff to Petroſky the country isfomewhatBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 317fomewhat dry and barren, but the rest of the country through which we paffed is veryfruitful, producing all kinds of corn, fine woods, particularly of oaks, interfperſed withmany villages; and the face of the country, conftantly varied by plain and gentlyrifing grounds, affords a moft beautiful profpect. From Murum we came to thetown of Wolodimir, an hundred and thirty verft from Murum. This place is largeand well peopled, and famous for being formerly the refidence of a great prince ofthe fame name.The 30th, we arrived ſafe at the city of Mofco, an hundred and forty verſt from theformer, and ſeven hundred and ſeventy from Saratoff.December 19th, we proceeded towards St. Peterſburg, where we arrived on the30th. Nothing material happened during our return through Ruffia; and what wasmoſt remarkable in the country I defcribed in going fouthward. I cannot help takingnotice of an extraordinary cafe of one of our people, in an exceffive cold night. Thefellow, expecting to baniſh all feeling of cold from himſelf, drunk a large quantity offpirits, which produced a drowſineſs, that ended in fleep in an open fledge. On arrivingat a village, the perfon was found ftiff, fpeechlefs, and apparently quite dead; butbeing carried to a brook hard by and plunged feveral times in the water, and thenrubbed with fnow, and brought into a warm room, with proper regimen he foon recovered, and was able to proceed next day.I have often obſerved, in other inftances, that the ufe of fpiritous liquors in coldweather is the worst of remedies; for, though they warm at firſt, they leave a chillneſsbehind them, not to be got clear of for a confiderable time. I have found by experience nothing preferable to weak warm liquors, mixed with a little fpirits. The Ruffiantravellers carefully avoid the exceffive ufe of brandy in ſtrong froſts.Thus I have finiſhed my account of a long, tedious, and dangerous journey, whichlafted for three years, attended with many difficulties , not eafily conceived by thoſe whohave not travelled the fame road. At our return to St. Peterſburg we found His Majeſty at that place, who, I was informed, was well fatisfied with the conduct of his ambaffador, whofe principal errand was to cultivate and cement amity, and a good corre■ ·fpondence between the two crowns of Ruflia and Perfia.Notwithstanding the war with Sweden had continued near twenty years, this activemonarch had not neglected, nor even fufpended the building and adorning his newcapital. During my abfence the appearance of things was fo changed, that I couldfcarce imagine myfelf in the fame place; fo furprifing was the alteration in fo fhorta time. Befides, this prince had fitted out a navy of thirty fhip of war, and three hundred gallies, enterprifes which might have been the work of ages, but not fuperior tothe fingle induſtry and activity of Peter the First.A JOURNEY318BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.A JOURNEY FROM ST. PETERSBURG IN RUSSIA, TO PEKIN IN CHINA, WITH AN EMBASSY FROM HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, PETER THE FIRST, TO KAMHI EMPEROROF CHINA, IN THE YEAR 1719.Names of the principal Perfons who compofed the Train of the Ambaſſador,LeoffVaffilovich Ifmayloff.Secretary of the Embaſſy,Laurence de Lange.The Ambaffador's Secretary,Ivan Glazunoff.Gentlemen of the Embaffy,Kneaz Alexander Saf*ckin,Nicolaus de Pauli Kreftitz,Lukian Nefteroff,Alexie Divioff,David Grave,The Author of this Journal.Gregory, a Prieſt.Interpreters, clerks, a band of mufic, valets, footmen, &c. in all to the number ofabout fixty perfons; befides a troop of twenty- five dragoons, for our eſcort, fromTobolfky to Pekin, and back.CHAP. I.-From St. Petersburg to Tobolfky, the Capital of Siberia.WHENI met 7HEN I arrived at St. Peterſburg from Ifpahan, I met with a very fenfible mortification, on finding that my very worthy friend, Dr. Arefkine, was no more;he died about fix weeks before my arrival. Not long after which, upon being informedthat an embaffy was preparing for China, and that His Majefty had nominated LeoffVaffilovich Ifmayloff, a gentleman of a family very well known and much refpected inRuffia, and a captain of the guards, for that employment, I became very defirous ofmaking that journey in his train.Upon my acquainting my very good friend, Artemy Petrovich Valenſky, with mydefire, he, without lofs of time, recommended me to Leoff Vaffilovich Ifmayloff, theappointed ambaffador, in fuch a manner as produced, on all occafions, marks offriendſhip and regard for me, as well during the journey, as alſo after our return, until he died in 1736.The time between my return from Ifpahan and my fetting out for Pekin, I ſpentwith much fatisfaction with my friends and acquaintance at St. Peterſburg. Amongwhom I eſteemed as fuch, not only feveral worthy perfons of my own countrymen, aswell in trade, as in the ſervice of His Majefty; but alſo not a few of the Ruffian gentry,to whom I became known on occafion of my journey to Perfia, and of whom I foundmany to be perfons of much worth and honour.At length the preſents for the Emperor of China being got ready, as well as the ambaffador's diſpatches, I fet out from St. Peterſburg the 14th of July, 1719, in companywith Meffieurs Lange and Grave, attended by a few fervants; the firſt was a native ofSweden,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 319Sweden, and the other of Courland. We travelled to the city of Mofco in ſmallparties, the more eaſily to procure poft-horſes. The weather being very hot obligedus to make ſhort ftages, confining us moftly to the mornings and evenings. Havingin my Perfian journal defcribed what is moſt remarkable on this road, I have nothingto add to what I have there obſerved.Nothing material happened during our journey to Mofco, where we arrived on the30th of July, and joined the ambaffador, who had arrived there two days before, having paffed us onthe road. We took up our lodgings at the houſe of Mr. Belayof,near the triumphal arch. Here we ſpent five weeks in preparing barks to go by waterto Cazan, and neceffaries for fo long and unfrequented a road. This interval wepaffed very agreeably, being invited to all the entertainments the place afforded.September 9th, having ſhipped our baggage, and prepared every thing for our departure, we went ourfelves on board; and, after firing nine guns, rowed down theriver Mofco. There is a fhorter way from Mofco to Siberia through Yaroflave; butas we were incumbered with heavy baggage, confifting chiefly of preſents from HisMajefty to the Emperor of China, it was thought beft to proceed as far as poffible bywater.Accordingly, we continued our courſe down the Mofco river to Kolumna, then intothe river Ocka; and, paffing Pereflave- Refanſky, Murum, and other towns of leſsnote, we arrived at Niſhna- Novogorod, fituated to the right hand, on a high bank ofthe Ocka, at its confluence with the Volga. Leaving Niſhna, we entered the riverVolga, and proceeded towards Cazan.After a voyage of fix weeks, we arrived at Cazan on the 20th of October. Weintended to have continued our route farther down the Volga to the river Kama, whichfalls into the Volga about fixty verft below Cazan, and then up the Kama to Solikamſky;but the advancement of the feafon, and the froft coming on apace, made us refolve toremain at Cazan till the winter fet in, left we ſhould run the hazard of being frozen upnear fome uninhabited place on the Kama.In confequence of this refolution, the barks were diſcharged, and we took up ourlodgings in the city: Here I found many of my old friends and acquaintance, particularly the Swedish officers; among others General Hamilton, General Rofen, and Baron Wachmaiter, who ſtill remained priſoners of war, regretting the hard fate oftheirlong captivity. Weftaid here about five weeks, waiting for thefnowfalling to finooththe roads; and in the mean time were employed in preparing fledges, and other neceffaries for our journey. Having formerly made my remarks on this route, and particularly on Cazan and its neighbourhood, I fhall now purſue our journey towardsSiberia.November 24th, we fent offthe heavy baggage; but Monfieur Ifmayloff, with a fewof the gentlemen, remained fome days longer, becauſe it was diſagreeable travelling onrough roads with loaded fledges. At laft , on the 28th, late in the night, the ambaffadorquitted Cazan, keeping to the north-eastward. There being many villages on the road,we changed horfes as often as occafion required.The 29th, we travelled through woods, confifting chiefly of tall oaks, fir, and birch.This part of the country is very fruitful, producing plenty of cattle, corn, and honey.The hives are not made like thofe in England; the inhabitants take the trunk of alime tree, afpin, or any foft wood, of about five or fix feet long; having ſcooped ithollow, they make a large aperture in one fide, about a foot in length, and four inchesbroad; they then fix crofs rods within the trunk for the bees to build upon, and having done this, cloſe up the place carefully with a board, leaving fmall notches for the2 bees320 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.bees to go in and out. Theſe hives are planted in proper places, at the fide of a wood,and tied to a tree with ſtrong wythes, to prevent their being deſtroyed by the bears,who are great devourers of honey. The wax and honey exported yearly from Cazan,make a very confiderable article of trade. I have feen above an hundred hives nearone village; and was informed that they have a method of extracting the honey andwax without killing the bees, which would certainly be worth knowing; but I wastold it fo indiftinctly that I could not underſtand it, and had no opportunity of ſeeingit practifed.The villages through which we paffed were moftly inhabited by the Tzermiſh andTzoowafh Tartars, whom I have formerly mentioned. The three following days theroads were rough and narrow, lying through dark woods, interfperfed with fome villages and corn-fields. We paffed the Ick and feveral ſmaller rivers, and then the Viatka, a pretty large one; all which difcharge themfelves into the Kama.After a tedious journey of fix days, we came to a ſmall town called Klinof, or morecommonly Viatka, from the river of that name running near it. The fituation of thisplace is very pleafant, having round it corn-fields and fine pafture; and the rivers inthe neighbourhood abounding with a great variety of fifh.The country about Klinof is reckoned fo proper pafturage for ſheep, that His Majefty ordered fome thouſands of German fheep, moft efteemed for their wool, to bebought and fent thither, with a view to eftabliſh a manufactory at this place, for clothing his army. He alfo caufed a German fhepherd to be engaged in his fervice, who isfettled here, and enjoys a confiderable falary. The flocks are already fo numerous,that I am perfuaded they will in time anſwer the end propofed. A thouſand other inftances might be produced of the unbounded genius of this great and active prince,who fpares no expence, and overlooks nothing that can contribute either to the honouror advantage of his empire. I cannot omit another feemingly inconfiderable article;I mean pump-leather. This commodity was formerly brought from England and Holland, at no ſmall charge; to fave which, His Majefty gave orders to engage an Englishtanner for a certain number of years, whom he ſent to Cazan, where the beſt hidesare, to teach the natives the art of dreffing them. This fcheme has fully anfwered theend in view, and produced abundance not only of pump-leather, but of every otherkind of leather whereof that country hath any need.There being no verft-pofts on this, though on most other roads in Ruffia, I compute the diſtance between Cazan and Klinof to be about five hundred verſt; each verftmeaſures one thoufand one hundred and fixty-fix yards and two feet Engliſh. Here Imet with ſeveral Swediſh officers, who paffed a folitary life in a pleaſant and plentifulcountry. We halted one day to refresh ourſelves; and the next, being the 5th ofDecember, we left the baggage to follow leifurely, and fet out again towards Solikam .fky. On the 7th, we reached Kay-gorod, a fmall town. We perceived the cold becoming daily more intenfe as we proceeded northward along the banks of the Kama.The 8th, we quitted Kay-gorod, in a vehement cold. Though there was littlewind, and a thick fog, the froft continued fo penetrating, that feveral of our people,who were moſt expofed, had their fingers and toes frozen. Moft of them recoveredbythe common method of rubbing the numbed parts with fnow; but, had we nothalted from time to time at villages to let them warm themſelves, they muſt haveperiſhed by cold. On the 9th, we arrived at the town of Solikamſky, derived fromSole falt and Kama the river, on the banks of which it is fituated. Our arrival was amoſt agreeable circumſtance, as the piercing froſt ſtill prevailed.7Solikamfky,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 321Solikamfky is a large and populous town, and the capital of a province of that name;which is at prefent annexed to the government of Siberia. Its fituation is very pleaſant,upon the caftern bank of the Kama. This river is of great fame in thefe parts oftheworld. It rifes far to the north, and in its courfe receives the Parma, Pilva, Koyva, andmany other rivers, which together form a mighty ftream, very nearly equal to theVolga, into which it difcharges itfelf, about fixty verft below the city of Cazan, andlofes its name. Its long courfe to the fouth-weft is now turned fhort, bythe currentof the Volga, and carried towards the fouth- eaft. The Kama is well ftored with varietyof excellent fish. On the banks are fine corn-fields and paſture grounds, but often interrupted bythick woods, eſpecially to the north. Thefe woods are ſtocked with differentkinds of game, and wild beafts natural to the climate.Solikamfky is famous for having many falt-pits in its neighbourhood, the property ofmyworthy friend Baron Stroganof, by virtue of a grant from His Majefty. The Baronhas brought theſe works to fuch perfection, that he is able to ferve all Ruffia with falt,and could befides furnifh a confiderable quantity for exportation, were there any demand. The falt is of a brownish colour, and very good of the kind.The common method of procuring this falt is as follows: they dig pits in the earthtill they come to the falt rock, which feems to lie in theſe parts at a certain diftancefrom the furface, as coals do in other places of the world. When the pit is finiſhed,it is naturally, and of courſe, filled with water; which, ſtanding for a convenient time,till it is fufficiently impregnated with falt, is then drawn out, with pumps and otherengines, and put into large iron cauldrons, where it is boiled to a proper confiftence;when, the water being evaporated, the falt is left upon the bottom.I was informed of another curious and extraordinary procefs, by which they drawfalt-water from a freſh-water river, which I cannot omit taking notice of. In the riversnear this place, there is a mixture of falt-water arifing from the fprings, which eitherhave their fource in the falt-rocks, or run through them. It is the bufinefs of the inhabitants to difcover the places where thefe fprings empty themfelves into the rivers,which they do by diving, or fome other manner; having done this, they make a largeframe of ftrong thick balks or beams joined very clofe, about fifteen or twenty feetfquare, and of depth enough to reach the bottom of the river, while part of it remainsabove the furface; when the ice is very ſtrong, they fink this machine into the river,over the place where the falt fpring iffues, and drive ftrong piles of wood all around,to hinder its being forced from this pofition by the current, or by floating ice in theend of winter. During the winter, they draw out all the water, mud, and fand, contained within the machine, and fink it ftill deeper until it hath penetrated the bottomof the channel of the river, and prevented all further communication between it andthe falt-fpring. The frame is now filled only with the falt-water, iffuing from thefpring, from whence it is drawn, and the falt extracted, as formerly deſcribed.However tedious and expenfive this proceſs may ſeem, thefe people perform it withgreat readineſs and eaſe; and, what is ftill more extraordinary, without regular inftruction in any art fubfervient to that purpoſe, but by the mere force of natural genius.The Baron has a great number of hands conftantly employed in this fervice. And thewoods for fuel are inexhaustible.When the falt is made, it is laid up in granaries, till the feafon of tranſporting it toMofco, St. Peterſburg, and other places. The barks for this purpoſe, called by theRuffians lodia, are of a conftruction fomewhat uncommon. I have feen fome of themlonger and broader than any firſt rate man of war in England, and not one iron nail inthe whole fabric. All of them are flat-bottomed, having one tall tree for a maſt, andVOL. VII. T Ta fail322 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.a fail of light canvas in proportion. To manage this mighty machine, fix or eighthundred men are neceffary. The rudder is nearly as long as the bark, and fo unwieldy, that fometimes it requires forty or fifty men to fteer it. They load thefe fhipsvery deep, and let them float down the Kama into the Volga; where, if the wind isnot favourable, they are obliged to draw them, againſt the ſtream, to the place oftheir deftination.I cannot leave Solikamfky without mentioning the rich iron-mines in the countryadjacent, at Kathenaburg, and other places of that diſtrict, which produce iron equal,perhaps, in quality to the beſt in the world. Thefe works have of late been broughtto great perfection, by the ſkill and indefatigable induſtry of Mr. Demidof, a native ofRuffia, enabled and encouraged to carry them on by a beneficial grant from His Majeſty, who is always ready to aflift and protect thoſe who, by their ingenuity, form projects to the advantage of his country.Thefe works, I am informed, are ftill capable of great improvement. The ore isvery good, and rifes in many places to the very furface of the earth, and may be dugat a fmall expence. As for wood to fmelt it, no place in the world can have greateradvantage. Befides, all the machines may be driven by water; and there is an eaſycommunication by the rivers to St. Petersburg, for exportation, and to many other partsof Ruffia, for inland confumption.In theſe mines are often found magnets of various fizes. I have feen fome of themvery large, and of high virtue.There are feveral other iron-works in Ruffia; for instance, at Tula, Olonitz, andother places; but the metal is of an inferior quality to that of Siberia. Beſides thefeof iron, there alſo rich mines of excellent copper at this place, which, being lately difcovered, are capable of great improvement. The copper-ore alfo rifes to the veryfurface.In the neighbourhood of Solikamfky is found the foffil called aſbeſtos; of which ismade a kind of cloth like linen, that may be put into the fire, and taken out again unconfumed. This cloth was known among the ancients, and uſed by them on feveral occafions. At prefent, it goes by the name of the incombuſtible linen.The afbeftos, like many both curious and uſeful diſcoveries, was found out by mereaccident in theſe parts. I fhall briefly relate in what manner: a certain huntſman being about to load his fowling piece, and wanting wadding, obferved a great ſtone inthe woods, which feemed to have fome flakes upon it like looſe threads; he foonfound that, by rubbing, it turned into a foft downy fubftance fit for his uſe: he therefore filled his pocket with it; but, having fired his piece, was furpriſed to ſee that thegunpowder had no effect upon the wadding. This raiſed his curiofity fo far, that hekindled a fire on purpoſe, into which he put the aſbeſtos; but ſtill took it out entire,and ofthe fame ufe as formerly. This experiment fo frightened the poor ſportſman,that he imagined the devil had taken poffeflion of the foffil. On returning home, henarrated what had happened to the prieſt of the pariſh, who, amazed at the relation,repeated it fo frequently, that at laft he told it to a perfon who was acquainted withthat quality peculiar to the aſbeſtos; and, on examination, found the flakes to be thatfoffil.The weather is much colder at Solikamfky than at other places fituated ſeveral degrees nearer to the north pole. Perhaps its great diſtance from any part of the oceanmay be partly the caufe of the exceffive cold which fometimes prevails.December 10th, the ambaffador took poft-horſes, and fet out for Tobolfky, leavingthe baggage to follow as fhould be moſt convenient. About midnight we came to a9villageBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 323village called Martinfky; here having changed horfes, we foon reached the mountainsnamedVe rchaturfky-gory, where we found the fnow very deep, and a ſtrong froft ſtillcontinued. We kept on our journey, afcending and defcending theſe high and ſteepmountains for the ſpace of fifteen hours. In fuch of the valleys as are fit for culture,are found Ruſſian villages well peopled. And, where the woods are cut down, thereappeared a beautiful landfcape, even at this bleak ſeaſon.Thefe mountains divide Ruffia from Siberia. They run in a ridge from north tofouth, inclining a little to the eaſt and weft of thefe points. They are quite coveredwith wood, confifting of tall firs of different kinds, larixes, birch, and other trees natural to the climate; and abound with game, and various kinds of wild beafts . Theirlength, from north to fouth , I cannot afcertain; but compute their breadth, where wepaffed, to be about forty Engliſh miles. But they are not near fo high as the mountains I have ſeen in Perfia, and other parts of the world.Having paffed theſe mountains, we defcended, on the 11th, into a country finelyvaried with plains and rifing grounds, interfperfed with woods, villages, corn-fields,and pafturage; and, in the evening, reached the town called Verchaturia, from Verch,which fignifies high, and Tura, the name ofthe river on which the town ftands. Thisriver is navigable, and runs to the eaft till it empties itfelf into the Tobol. Verchaturiais pleaſantly fituated upon a rifing ground, and fortified with a ditch and pallifades. Itis governed by a commandant, who has under him a garrifon, confifting of fome regular troops and and Coffacks.. What makes Verchaturia confiderable, is its being a frontiertown, and commanding the only entry from Ruffia into Siberia . Here is a cuſtomhouſe, where all merchants are obliged to make entry of what fums of money or merchandife they carry into Siberia, or from Siberia into Ruffia; on all which is chargeda duty of ten per cent. to His Majefty. Though this impoft may appear high, it isreally very moderate, confidering the profits whichthe trade yields, and it extends onlyto the money to be employed in traffic; for every merchant is allowed a certain funfor his expences, free of all duty.The country adjacent to Verchaturia is inhabited by a race of people called Vogullitz, who differ in language, dreſs, and manners, from any nation I ever faw. Theirfeatures and perſons have a reſemblance of the Tzoowafhians near Cazan. They havefome obfcure notions ofthe Deity, and are very fond of a kind of wizards called Shamans, whom they hold in great eſteem. I fhall have occafion to ſpeak more fully ofthefe Shamans afterwards. The Vogullitz know nothing of agriculture, but live inhuts in the woods, and fubfift by hunting and fishing. They are an honeft inoffenfivepeople, but not very numerous; arifing, perhaps, from their unfocial and uncomfortable manner of life. The Archbishop of Tobolfky hath of late, by his pious labours,converted many of them to Chriftianity; who now begin to build houfes, and cultivatefome appearance of fociety; and probably, in time, the reft will follow fo laudable anexample. This, however, will depend much on the encouragement they meet withfrom the clergy and fub-governors of provinces. I vifited them as often as any opportunity offered, both in their huts and houfes, and endeavoured to procure fome information about their original, or from whence they came to fettle in theſe northern parts,but could obtain nothing fatisfactory on either of thefe heads.Before we enter Siberia, it will not be perhaps improper to give a fhort account ofthe fingular manner in which this moft extenfive country was difcovered by theRuffians.About the beginning of the laft century, a certain Don Coffack, named YarmakTimetheovitz, being obliged, by fome accident, to leave his native country, and havingTT 2 no324 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.no means of fubfiftence, he, with a few accomplices, betook themfelves to robbingon the high-ways. He foon became famous and powerful; for he robbed onlythe rich; and, by a generofity uncommon in fuch a character, liberally beftowedto fuch as were in want. He never killed, nor even hurt any perfon, unlefs compelled to fuch outrages in his own defence. This behaviour fo raiſed his reputation , that all the idle fellows in the country enlifted themſelves in his gang, proudto follow fo brave and enterprifing a leader. He became at laft fo troubleſome,that the governors of the fouthern provinces fent out troops to apprehend him;but, being previouſly informed of the defign, he withdrew from the land; and procuring boats upon the Volga, commenced pirate on that river. Being attackedhere alfo, he was forced to crofs the Cafpian Sea, and fhelter himſelf on the Perfian fhore, where he paffed fome time under the difguife of a merchant. Beingagain difcovered, he was obliged, by the Perfians, to quit their coaft: and now hisonly refuge was to return to the Volga, where he behaved with great circumfpection, often lurking in woods and villages; and, being in no want of money, paidthe inhabitants liberally for every thing he needed. Forefeeing, however, that fucha numerous gang could not be long concealed, he took the refolution of leavingthe Volga, and fteered his courfe up the river Kama, at that time little frequentedby the Ruffians, or any other nation; here he hoped to find, at leaſt , a ſafe retreat during the winter. Yarmak, therefore, with his followers, amounting to thenumber of two hundred, continued their voyage up the Kama, till they were ftoppedby the ice, at no great diftance from a large village, now belonging to Baron Stroganof. The inhabitants were alarmed at the fight of fo many armed men, whomthey were not able to oppofe, and therefore gave them an hofpitable reception .Yarmak demanded only provifions and winter- quarters for his money, promising toleave them unmolefted next fpring. In confequence of this declaration, he and hisfollowers paffed the winter very quietly in this remote place; afraid, however, atthe approach of fummer, of being diſcovered by the government, and uncertain whatcourfe to fteer, it was at laft determined to cross the mountains of Verchaturia,and go to the eastward, in hopes of finding fome inhabited country, or at leaſt afafe retreat.Having paffed the mountains, they arrived at the river Tur; and, finding itnavigable, foon made a fufficient number of canoes for the whole gang. Afterrowing for fome days down the Tur, they difcovered feveral villages of Mahometan Tartars, who were furpriſed at the fight of fuch a number of ftrangers, ofwhom they had before never fo much as heard. Yarmak, having got what intelligence he could procure of the fituation and government of the country, purfued his voyage to the river Tobol, where he found the towns populous, and theland well cultivated. His approach alarmed the King of the Tartars, who affembled a numerous body of horfe and foot, armed with bows and arrows, lances,and other fuch weapons, with whom our adventurer had many fkirmishes, and defeated great multitudes, by means of his fire-arms, which had never before beenknown in theſe parts. The poor Tartars were as much amazed and terrified atthe fight of the Ruffians, and their arms, as the inhabitants of Mexico on thearrival of the Spaniards in America, to which Siberia may, in many reſpects, becompared.Yarmack, finding his enemies daily more numerous the nearer he approachedthe refidence of the Tartar King; having alfo loft many of his men, in continualencounters, and ſpent the greateft part of his ammunition; knowing, befides, of8 noBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 325no place of fafety, where he might pafs the winter, which is both long and fevere inthis quarter, at laſt determined to retreat. Hetherefore fteered his courfe to the weft,up the Tobol and Tur rivers. The furious Tartars gave him no reft, but haraffed himperpetually froin the banks. He himſelf and a few more efcaped, with a confiderablebooty, and returned to the village, where they wintered the preceding year. The inhabitants, on feeing the rich furs and other fpoils, gave them a welcome reception. AndYarmak did not forget to difpenfe his favours liberally among thofe who had entertained him in his diftrefs, when he fled from juftice.Our adventurer had now time to reflect on his miferable circumftances. He confidered, that his lurking in thefe parts, though remote from any town, could not belong a fecret to make another attempt againſt the Tartars, with a handful of men, illprovided with arms and ammunition, might perhaps be ruinous, and certainly unfuccefsful. He therefore refolved to fubmit himfelf to His Majefty's clemency, in hopesof obtaining a gracious pardon for himſelf and his accomplices, on condition of pointing out the way to a rich and eaſy conqueft of a country which he had lately difcovered. The propofal was made at court by a friend, and was of too great importance to be neglected. In fhort, Yarmak was brought to Mofco, under a fafe conduct,where he communicated the whole affair. He begged His Majefty's pardon, and aſkeda certain number of troops, which he promiſed to lead to a glorious conqueft.. HisMajeſty granted him a pardon, approved of the expedition, and gave immediate ordersfor the troops to attend him. They marched to Solikamfky, where they paffed thewinter in making preparations for the enterprize, which was to be undertaken in thefpring.During this interval, Yarmack behaved with furprifing prudence and activity, anddifcovered himſelf to be a perfon of uncommon genius. He collected fuch of hisformer followers as remained, and formed them into a company in whom he could:confide on all occafions.At the proper feaſon, the troops fet out towards Siberia. On coming into the inhabited part of the country, they found many ftraggling parties of Tartars in arms,ready to oppofe them, and a number of boats upon the rivers, full of armed men.-The King of the Tartars himfelf was on board of one of thefe veffels. This expedition was of fhort duration; and, in the iflue, fully anfwered the expectation of theRuffians. I cannot omit a few particulars of the laft action. The Tartars in theboats, being purſued by the Ruffians, a battle enfued on the river Irtifh. Yarmak obferving the King's barge, ordered his crew to board her; which he endeavouring todo at the head of his men, jumped fhort, fell into the river, and was drowned, to thegreat grief of all his followers. Thus fell poor Yarmak! Notwithstanding this misfortune, the Ruflians gained a complete victory. The brave King of the Tartars loft hislife in the action. His fon, andthe reft of the royal family, were taken prifoners, andfent to Mofco, where they were honourably received by the Czar, and treated according to their quality. The Prince had an extenfive property granted him in Ruffia,which the family enjoys to this day, together with the title of Sibirfky Czarevitz, orPrince of Siberia; which, I believe, is a more generous treatment of the conqueredthan any of the mighty monarchs of Peru or Mexico, or any of their lineage, haveexperienced.December 11th, we left Verchaturia, in deep fnow. The cold was exceflive, andthe sky clear.Next day, we came to a large village, having a few of the Vogullitz Tartars in theneighbourhood; and the 13th, arrived at the town of Epanthin. From Verchaturia

to .326BELL'STRAVELSINASIA.to this place the country is moftly covered with woods. About the villages there arelarge plains, for corn or pafturage. The cattle are in good condition. The horſes,particularly, being of the Tartar breed, are larger and better ſhaped than ordinary, andfit for any uſe.Epanthin is but a ſmall place, fortified with a ditch and pallifades, and defended bya few foldiers in garrifon. This place is fometimes alarmed with incurfions of the Tartars, called Koffatfhy- Orda, and Kara-Kalpacks; but the Ruffians have of late fo fortified their frontiers, that thefe rovers appear feldomer than formerly. Both thefetribes are Mahometans, live always in tents, and ſpread themſelves, with their flocks ,in the great defert. Both are very numerous, and own fubjection to different chiefs,whom they call Batteer, which fignifies a hero. Theſe are chofen by themſelves; andare the most famous among them for their abilities in military exploits. They are atcontinual war with the Kalmucks, who inhabit along the Volga, and with all their otherneighbours. They are not able to ftand againſt regular troops; and when attacked bythem, retire into the wild defert, with their families and cattle, whither none, but people accustomed to their manner of life, can follow them.The country of the Kara-Kalpacks, or Black- Caps, fo called from a kind of caps theycommonly wear, turned up with black lamb-fkins, lies to the fouth-weft, towards theVolga. That of the Koffatfhy- Orda extends to the fouth-eaft, as far as the river Irtifh.The courfe of this river I fhall have ocion to mention afterwards.The 14th, we came to a pretty large town, called Tuma, fituated upon the northbank of the river Tuma, from whence the place takes its name. The banks of theTuma are high and fteep. There is a very convenient wooden bridge at this place.TheTuma has its fource far to the weft; and in its courfe is augmented by the Tura,and feveral other rivers. It continues to run to the caft, till meeting with the Tobol,it lofes itfelf and name.The country between Epanthin and Tumen begins to be niore open, and betterpeopled, than that weftward of theſe places. For, befides the Ruffians, who makethegreatest part of the inhabitants, we meet feveral villages inhabited by the defcendants ofthe ancient Mahometans, who were natives of thefe places. Thefe Tartars fubfift byagriculture, and país their lives without care or diſturbance, in the free exerciſe of theirreligion, and other privileges.Tumen is a pretty neat place, and well fortified: the ſtreets are fpacious, and thehoufes built in a ftraight line. The adjacent country is covered with fine woods, interfperfed with villages, corn-fields, and pafturage; and provifions of all kinds are veryplentiful. The merchants of this place have a confiderable trade in furs, particularlythe fkins of foxes and ſquirrels; which, indeed, are not fo valuable here as they are tothe eastward.Early on the 15th , we left this place, keeping on our courfe along the banks of theTuma, till we arrived at the river Tobol, which we croffed, and proceeded along thecaftern bank, through a fine country, and well peopled. Though the froft ftill continued ftrong, it was not near fo violent and piercing as about Solikamiky; which mayproceed from the woods being cut down, and the country cultivated. On the otherfide of the river, indeed, the face of the country appeared flat and moraffy, aboundingwith tall and dark woods.The 16th, about noon, we were in fight of the city of Tobolfky, though diftant fromus about twenty Engliſh miles. It ftands upon a very high bank of the Tobol. Thewalls are white, and the croffes and cupolas ofthe churches gilded, and make a veryfine appearance. About two o'clock we arrived fafe at the city of Tobolfky, the capitalofBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 327of this mighty province, and the refidence of the governor. We lodged in the broadftreet, leading to the governor's palace, and the courts ofjustice.We travelled betwen Tumen and Tobolky, about two hundred and fifty verft, inthe ſpace of thirty hours. Sledges are the moft fimple and convenient machines fortravelling on fnow that can be imagined. And the perfon in the fledge may either fitor lie along upon the couch, according to his inclination.CHAP. II. -Occurrences at Tobolsky, Obfervations on the Kalmucks, &c. and Journeycontinued to Tomsky.TOBOLSKY is fituated in latitude 58 degrees 40 minutes north, at the conflux ofthe Irtifh and Tobol. From this laft the city has its name. Both theſe rivers are navigable for ſeveral hundred miles above this place. The Irtiſh, after receiving theTobol, becomes a noble ſtream, and diſcharges itfelf into the Oby. This fituation waschofen bythe Ruffians, both for its ftrength and beauty. Formerly the Tartar princeshad their abode at a place about thirty verft fouth from Tobolfky, which is now neglected and ruinous..Tobolfky is fortified with a ftrong brick wall, having fquare towers and baſtions atproper diſtances, and is well furniſhed with military ftores. Within the town ſtand thegovernor's palace, courts of juftice, feveral churches built of brick, particularly a largecathedral, and the palace of the Archbishop. From the walls you have a very extenfive proſpect of a fine country, eſpecially to the fouth. To the weft the land isalfo flat, and overgrown with tall woods. The inhabitants are chiefly Ruffians, ofdifferent profeffions; many of them are merchants, and very rich, by the profitable trade they carry on to the borders of China, and many places of their owncountry.Theſe live moſtly upon the hill. Under the hill, in the ſuburbs, along the banks ofthe river, are ſeveral large ſtreets, called the Tartar-ſtreets, occupied by the remains ofthe ancient inhabitants of theſe parts. Here, as at other places, thefe people enjoy thefree exerciſe of their religion, and the privileges of trade.. They reſemble, in theirperfons, religion, language, and manners, the Tartars of Cazan and Aftrachan: theirhoufes are cleanly: they are very courteous to ſtrangers, and eſteemed honeft; onwhich account they get credit in their commercial affairs. Befides the fortificationformerly mentioned about the town, the whole fuburbs are furrounded with a ditch andpallifades.When we were at Tobolfky, Siberia was fuperintended by Mr. Petrof Solovy, vicegovernor, a perfon well acquainted with the buſineſs of the government, and a Captainof the guards. The former governor, Kneaz Gagarin, had incurred His Majeſty's difpleaſure, and was recalled: and his fucceffor, Kneaz Alexie Michaylovitz Cherkafky, anobleman worthy of fuch an important truft, was not yet arrived.Asin moft other towns through which we paffed, we found here many Swediſh officersof diſtinction. Among others, Monfieur Dittmar, formerly fecretary to Charles XII.King of Sweden. He was a native of Livonia, and equally efteemed for his probity and capacity. He was much refpected by the late governor, who, indeed, was afriend to all theſe unfortunate gentlemen. They were allowed to walk about at large,a hunting or fiſhing, and even permitted to travel to other places, to vifit their countryFor mypart, I think the greateſt favour His Majefty fhewed theſe priſoners, was men.the328BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.the cantoning them in thefe parts, where they may live well at a ſmall expence, andenjoy all the liberty that perfons in their circ*mstances can expect.I cannot but obferve, that the Swediſh prifoners, difperfed in moft of the towns inthis country, contributed not a little to the civilizing the inhabitants of thefe diftant regions, as they were the means of introducing feveral uſeful arts, which were almoſtunknown before their arrival.Many of the officers, being gentlemen of liberal education, the better to ſupporttheir tedious captivity, devoted their time to the ſtudy of the more agreeable and entertaining parts of fcience, particularly mufic and painting; wherein fome of themattained to great perfection. I was prefent at feveral of their concerts; and was not alittle furprised to find fuch harmony, and variety of mufical inftruments, in this part ofthe world.They fometimes amuſed themſelves with teaching young gentlemen and ladies theFrench and German languages, mufic, dancing, and other fimilar accompliſhments,whereby they gained many friends among the people of diftinction; a circumſtance tomen in their fituation both honourable and uſeful.In Tobolfky there are always about five or fix thouſand regular troops, horſe andfoot, befides a number of irregulars. Thefe troops, added to the natural ſtrength ofthe place, effectually fecure it from any attacks of the neighbouring Tartars.The woods and fields about Tobolfky are ftored with all kinds of game natural tothe climate; fuch as the coq-limoge, coq-bruiere, and gilinots; the laft are about the ſizeof a partridge, their flesh is white and very agreeable. There is another kind of theſegilinots fomewhat larger, with rough feet, which, in the winter, turn white as a dove.Alfo the common partridge, which, on the approach of winter, flies off to more temperate climates; woodco*cks, a great variety of fnipes, which fly off in the autumn, afterhaving hatched their young. As for water-fowl, no country in the world can producefuch numbers and variety; they are alfo birds of paffa*ge. In my Perſian journal, Igave an account of the vaſt flocks of theſe fowls on the fhores of the Cafpian Sea.Here alfo you meet with ſeveral kinds of fmall birds about the fize of a lark, particularly thofe called fnow- birds. They come to Siberia in vaft flocks in autumn and remaintill the fpring, when they difappear. Many of them are white as fnow, fome fpeckled,and others all over brown. They are reckoned a very fine and delicious diſh.I obferved another very pretty bird about the fize of a thruſh, having beautiful redand yellow feathers in the wings and tail, with a tuft of brown feathers on its head,which it raiſes at pleaſure. Theſe are alfo birds of paffa*ge; and, as they breed nowhere in Europe or Afia, that I know of, perhaps both theſe and the fnow-birds maycome to Siberia from the northern parts of America. This conjecture will appear notimprobable, when it is confidered, that theſe birds are of a hardy nature, and the flightnot fo far as is generally imagined.In the woods are various kinds of wild beaſts, ſuch as bears, wolves, lynxes, ſeveralforts of foxes, fquirrels, ermins, fables, martins, and rofio-macks, called feelfrefs bythe Germans. The furs are better of their kinds than thoſe of any other country.The ermins commonly burrow in the open fields, and are caught in traps baited with abit of fleſh; this is done only in the winter, when they are altogether white, and the furmoft valuable. In fummer moſt of theſe animals turn brown, when they are not killed,becauſe, at this feaſon, the fur is of little ufe.lakes, whoſe ſkins yield a confiderable profit.are very profitable. At prefent few fables areThere are alfo otters in the rivers andIndeed furs of all forts, in this country,caught in this neighbourhood; it is faidtheyBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 329they fly from ſmoke, which, perhaps, is partly true; yet I am apt to believe, that theſepoor animals are chafed away towards the north to the wild woods, on account of thehigh value of their ſkins.The woods of Siberia abound alfo with venifon of feveral forts; as elk, rein-deer,roe-buck, together with an incredible number of hares, which change their colour frombrown in fummer to white in winter. The hares are generally caught by the countrypeople in toils, more on account of their ſkins than their flefh, of which they makebut little ufe. The fkins are bought by the merchants, and fent in great quantities toSt. Petersburg, and other ports, in order to be exported to England, Holland, and othercountries, where they are chiefly manufactured into hats.Having defcribed the land animals, I fhall now give fome account of the fish. In myopinion, there are few countries in the world fo well watered with navigable rivers andlakes as Siberia; and few rivers and lakes produce greater quantities, or more varietyof excellent freſh water fifh, than thofe in this country. For, befides fturgeon, whitefiſh , ſterlet , and others, to be found in the Volga, and the rivers in Ruffia, there arefeveral kinds peculiar to this part of the world; particularly the muchfoon, about thefize of a large carp, and much efteemed by perfons of delicate taſte.Southward from Tobolfky the foil is fruitful, producing abundance of wheat, rye,barley, oats, and other grain. The cattle alfo are very numerous, and in winter arefed with hay. In a word, provifions of all kinds are extremely reaſonable. Fromwhat I have faid, it will appear, that Tobolfky is by no means fuch a difa*greeable placeas is generally imagined. Whatever the opinions of mankind may be, it is the bufinefsof a traveller to defcribe places and things without prejudice or partiality, and exhibitthem fairly as they really appear. This principle it fhall be my study to keep alwaysin view.Captain Tabar, a Swediſh officer, was at this time writing a hiſtory of Siberia. Hewas a gentleman very capable for fuch a performance; and, if it ſhall ever be publiſhed,it cannot fail of giving great fatisfaction to the curious.Before I leave Tobolfky, it will not be improper to give a fhort account ofthe famousriver Irtifh, that paffes this place. It continues its courfe a little to the eastward of thenorth, in a ſtrong but fmooth current, vifiting ſeveral ſmall towns and villages, and receiving many leffer ſtreams, and a large river called Konda, running eastward, till itdifcharges itfel into the Oby, at a town called Samariofsky-yamm, about fix hundredverft below Tobolfky.The Irtifh takes its rife from a great lake, named Korzan, in a mountainous country,about fifteen hundred verft to the fouthward of Tobolíky. The country about this lakeis inhabited by the Black Kalmucks, a mighty and numerous people, governed by aprince called Kontayfha. From theſe the Kalmucks on the Volga are defcended. Afterthe Irtiſh hath run for many miles through a hilly country covered with wood, it paffesthrough a fine fruitful plain, inhabited by the Kalmucks, till it comes to a houſe calledSedmy-palaty, or the Seven Rooms, fituated to the right in coming down the river. It isvery ſurpriſing to find fuch a regular edifice in the middle of a defert. Some oftheTartars fayit was built by Tamerlane, called by the Tartars, Temyr-ack-fack, or Lametemyr; others by Gingeez-chan. The building, according to the beſt information Icould obtain, is of brick or ſtone, well finiſhed, and continues ftill entire. It confifts offeven apartments under one roof, from whence it has the name of the Seven Palaces.Several ofthefe rooms are filled with fcrolls of glazed paper, fairly written, and manyof them in gilt characters. Some of the fcrolls are black, but the greateſt part white.The language in which they are written is that of the Tonguft, or Kalmucks. While IVOL. VII. UU was-330BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.was at Tobolfky, I met with a foldier in the ſtreet with a bundle of theſe papers in hishand he asked me to buy them; which I did for a ſmall fum. I kept them till myarrival in England, when I diſtributed them among my friends; particularly to thatlearned antiquarian Sir Hans Sloane, who valued them at a high rate, and gave them aplace in his celebrated muſæum.Two of thefe fcrolls were fent, by order of the Emperor Peter the First, to the RoyalAcademy at Paris. The Academy returned a tranflation , which I faw in the raritychamber at St. Petersburgh. One of them contained a commiffion to a lama or prieft;and the other a form of prayer to the Deity. Whether this interpretation may be depended on, I fhall not determine. The Tartars eſteem them all facred writings, as appears from the care they take to preferve them. Perhaps they may contain fome curious pieces of antiquity, particularly of ancient hiftory. Above the Sedmy-palaty, towards the fource of the Irtifh, upon the hills and valleys, grows the beſt rhubarb in theworld, without the leaft culture.Several days journey from the Palaces, down the Irtifh, on the weſtern bank, ftandsan old tower named Kalbazinfhabafhna, or the tower of Kalbazin. Below this is thelake Yamifhoff, to the right, where the Ruffians have built a fmall fort, for the conveniency of making and gathering falt from that lake, great quantities whereof are madeby the fun; it is brought in barks down the river to Tobolíky, and other places. Thisfort created fome jealoufy to the Kontayfha; he fent an ambaffador to the governor ofSiberia, requeſting to have it demolished; but this demand not being granted, the difference came to an open rupture, the event of which time muft difcover.Defcending farther, you meet with another fettlement of the Ruffians, called Shelezinſky, from a rivulet of that name in its neighbourhood. A little below Sheleziníkyftands Omufka, a confiderable town, which alfo derives its name from a river. Boththefe places are fituated on the eaſtern bank of the Irtifh. You now pafs fome inconfiderable places before you arrive at Tara, a little town fituated on the weſtern bank, onthe road leading from Tobolfky to Tomíky, through a country called Baraba, of whichI fhall give fome account as we proceed to the east.Between Tara and Tobolky are a few fmall towns, and many villages, inhabitedby Mahometan Tartars. And the country abounds with corn, cattle, and finepafturage.I have now pointed out the courfe of the Irtifh till it reaches Tobolfky, and fromthence till it empties itſelf into the river Oby. I have nothing further to remark concerning Tobolky and the country around it, and fhould therefore nowpurſue our journey to the eastward; but, before I leave this place, I imagine it will not be improper tofubjoin a few more particulars relative to the Kontayfha, Prince of the Kalmucks, whomI formerly mentioned . I am the more inclined to do this, as I can entirely depend onmyintelligence, having procured it from perfons who have been in that country, andfeen this prince; but particularly from an ingenious and penetrating gentleman, whofills a public office in this place, and was employed in feveral meffa*ges to him from thelate governor of Siberia.The territories ofthis prince are bounded by three of the most potent empires in theworld; on the north by Ruffia, by China on the eaſt, and bythe country of the GreatMogul to the fouth. Fromthe two firſt he is ſeparated by defert plains, and from thethird by almoft impaffable mountains. To the fouth-weft his frontiers reach near toBucharia. The Kontayfha is a very powerful prince, and able to bring into the field,at a fhort warning, an hundred thoufand horfemen, who are all of them able- bodiedmen, well mounted, and armed with bows and arrows, lances and fabres. This is a7 greaterBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 334greater number of horſe than any prince that I know can mufter, except His Ruffian,Majefty, and the Emperor of China. Thefe Tartars live in tents all the year, removing from place to place, as called by neceflity or inclination. This is the most ancientand pleaſant manner of life. It is entertaining to hear them commiferate thoſe who areconfined to one place of abode, and obliged to fupport themſelves by labour, which theyreckon the greateſt flavery.The Kontayfha has always fome thouſands of his fubjects encamped near himfelf,who treat him with great veneration and refpect. And, in juftice to him, it muſt beconfeffed, that he is as attentive to the interefts of his people, and as affiduous in the adminiſtration of juſtice, in particular, as if they were his own children .The Kalmucks are not fuch favage people as they are generally reprefented; for I aminformed, a perfon may travel among them with greater fafety, both to his perfon andeffects, than in many other countries.The Kontayfha received the deputies from the governor of Siberia, like ambaſ、fadors from foreign princes, and treated them accordingly. This fhows what highrefpect theſe eaſtern princes entertain for his Czarish Majefty, when the governor of Siberia is regarded as a fovereign. The ceremony on thefe occafions was asfollows:-The deputy with his fervants were admitted into the tent, where the Kontayſha fatwith his queen and ſeveral children about him. He defired all of them to fit down oncarpets or mats; for the Kalmucks, like moft Afiatics, ufe no chairs. They were entertained with tea before dinner; and after it, the Kontayfha difmiffed the deputy in afriendly manner, telling him he would fend for him next day to receive an anfwer tothe governor's letter, which he punctually performed. This anfwer was expreffed invery plain and concife terms. Thefe Tartars in general write with brevity and perfpicuity. I have feen feveral of their letters tranflated, which pleafed me extremely, asthey contain no tedious preambles, nor diſguſting repetitions, which ferve only to perplex the reader.The Emperor of China was fome time ago engaged in a war with the Kontayfha,about fome frontier towns, of which the latter took poffeffion, and maintained his claimwith a ſtrong army. The Emperor fent againſt him an army of three hundred thoufand men, under the command of his fourteenth fon, who is reckoned the beſt generalof all his children. Notwithstanding their fuperiority in numbers, the Kontayha defeated the Chineſe in ſeveral actions. The Emperor, at laft , thought it beft to accommodate the difference, and a peace was concluded to the fatisfaction of bothparties.It muſt be obſerved, that the Chineſe, being obliged to undertake a long and difficultmarch, through a defert and barren country, lying weftward of the long wall, beingalfo incumbered with artillery and heavy carriages, containing provifions for the wholearmy during their march, had their force greatly diminiſhed before they reached theenemy. The Kontayfha, on the other hand, having intelligence of the great armycoming againſt him, waited patiently on his own frontiers till the enemy was within afew days march of his camp, when he fent out detachments of light horfe to fet fire tothe grafs, and lay wafte the country. He alfo diftracted them, day and night, with repeated alarms, which, together with want of provifions, obliged them to retire withconfiderable lofs.ancient amongThis circumThis method of carrying on the war, by wafting the country, is verythe Tartars, and practifed by all of them from the Danube eastward.ftance renders them a dreadful enemy to regular troops, who must thereby be deprivedUU 2 of332 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.of all fubfiftence, while the Tartars, having always many ſpare horſes to kill and eat,are at no lofs for provifions.I have only to add, that the Kontayfha muft be the fame prince who, in our European maps, is generally called the Great Cham of Tartary. As noEuropeans travelthrough that country, thefe maps muſt be very erroneous. It is, however, to be expected, that the Ruffians will in time make a more complete diſcovery of the eafternparts of Afia.Our baggage did not arrive at Tobolfky The people till the 23d of December.refreſhed themſelves till the 27th, when they again fet out, taking the road along the Irtifh to Tara. The ambaſſador and his retinue remained, to paſs the reſt of theholidays.January 9th, 1720, we proceeded towards Tara. We paſſed through many Tartarvillages; and at night lodged in one of their little huts, and warmed ourſelves at a goodfire on the hearth. Thefe houfes confift generally of one or two rooms, according tothe ability of the landlord. Near to the hearth is fixed an iron kettle, to drefs thevictuals. In one end of the apartment is placed a bench, about eighteen inches high,and fix feet broad, covered with mats, or fkins of wild beafts, upon which all the familyfit by day, and fleep in the night. The walls are built of wood and mofs, confifting oflarge beams, laid one above another, with a layer of mofs between every two beams.All the roofs are raiſed. Afquare hole is cut out for a window, and to ſupply the wantof glaſs, a piece of ice is formed to fit the place exactly, which lets in a good light.Two or three pieces will laſt the whole winter. Theſe Tartars are very neat andcleanly, both in their perfons and houſes. They ufe no ftoves as the Ruffians do.Near the houſe there is commonly a fhade for the cattle.We continued our journey along the banks of the Irtiſh, having the river tothe rightor left, as the road lay from one Tartar village to another.The 15th, we reached Tara, a fmall town, reckoned about five hundred verſt fromTobolíky. In all this road we did not meet with a Ruffian village, except a ſmall onenear Tara. The country abounds with woods, corn-fields, and fine pafturage; whichappeared fufficiently from the quantities of hay, and the good condition of the cattle,thoughthe face of the country was covered with deep fnow. Wefound the air at Taramuch milder than at any place fince we left Kazan.Tara is fituated on the Irtifh, and fortified with a deep ditch, ftrong pallifades, andwooden towers, fufficient to defend it againſt the ſudden attacks of the Tartars, calledKoffatfhy-orda, who inhabit weftward of the Irtifh, and are very troubleſome neighbours.Here we laid in provifions for our journey over the Baraba, which fignifies, in theTartar language, a marshy plain. Its inhabitants are a mixture of different Tartartribes, called Barabintzy, from the name ofthe country in which they live. They area poor miferable people, being treated as fubjects both by the Emperor and the Contayfha, and obliged to pay a tribute, in fur and ſkins of wild beaſts, to each. Theyhave no grain or cattle of any kind, except a few rein-deer, and fubfift byhuntingand fishing. What fish they confume not in the fummer, are dried and ſmoked fortheir winter provifions. They are partly of the Mahometan, and partly of the Kalmuck religion; but this difference caufes no difputes.It is generally reckoned, that more robberies are committed in Baraba than in anycountry on the road to China; not bythe natives, for they are very honeſt and hofpitable, but by the Kalmucks, who come to collect tribute for the Contayfha, whofometimes pick up travellers, and carry them off, with all their effects. It was faid, that a5 ftrongBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 333ftrong party of them, having intelligence that the ambaffador was to paſs that way,waited to intercept him; on which account, he took thirty dragoons, and fome Coffacks, from the garrifon of Tobolfky, to efcort him to Tomfky; which was a fufficientguard againſt any robbers who might attack us; and he knew the Contayſha was toopolite a prince to authoriſe his fubjects to moleft any foreign minifter who had donehim no injury, notwithſtanding the differences that fubfifted between him and HisCzarish Majefty.Our baggage having waited at Tara till our arrival, we left that place on the 18th;and next day came to a large Ruffian village, fixty verft from Tara, and the laft inhabited by Ruffians, till you paſs the Baraba, and come to the river Oby.In the places through which we paffed, the ambaffador fent for all the hunters andfportfmen, that he might inquire what kinds of game and wild beafts were in theirneighbourhood. Hunting is the employment of moft of the young fellows in this country, and is very profitable, as they fell the furs to great advantage. We foundthat this place produced great plenty, both of game and wild beaſts, but few fables. Imthe ſpring, a number of elks and ftags come hither from the fouth; many of which arekilled by the inhabitants, both on account of their fleſh and their hides. What of thefleſh is not confumed freſh they falt. The hides are very large, and are dreffed intoexcellent buff. The huntfinan having found the track of a ftag upon thefnow, purfuesit upon his fnow fhoes, with his bow and arrows, and little dog, till the animal is quitefatigued; for, the fnow on the furface being melted by the heat ofthe fun, and congealed at night by the froft, but not ftrong enough to bear the weight of fuch an animal, he finks deep at every ſtep , and the fharp ice cuts his ancles, and lames him; fothat he becomes an eafy prey to the hunter.One of theſe hunters told me the following ftory, which was confirmed by feveralof his neighbours: that in the year 1713 , in the month of March, being out a hunting,he diſcovered the track of a ftag, which he purfued; at overtaking the animal, he wasſomewhat ftartled, on obferving it had only one horn, ftuck in the middle of its forehead. Being near this village, he drove it home, and fhowed it, to the great admiration of the fpectators. He afterwards killed it, and eat the fleſh, and fold the horn toa comb-maker in the town of Tara, for ten alteens, about fifteen-pence fterling. I inquired carefully about the fhape and fize of this unicorn, as I fhall call it, and was toldit exactly reſembled a ftag. The horn was of a brownish colour, about one archeen,or twenty-eight inches long, and twiſted from the root till within a finger's length ofthe top, where it was divided, like a fork, into two points very ſharp.The 19th, we entered the Baraba, and continued travelling through it for ten days,when we came to a large Ruffian village called Tzaufky Oftrogue, from a rivulet ofthat name, which diſcharges itſelf into the Oby, a little diſtance eastward from thisplace. Here is a fmall fort, furrounded with a ditch and pallifades, mounted with afew cannon, and garrifoned by fome militia of the country, in order to prevent the incurfions ofthe Kalmucks. We ftaid a day at this place, to refreſh ourſelves, and having changed horſes, proceeded towards Tomíky.Baraba is really what its name fignifies, an extenfive marfhy plain. It is generallyfull of lakes, and marshy grounds, overgrown with tall woods of afpin, alder, willows,and other aquatics; particularly many large birch-trees, having their bark as white andfmooth aspaper. The lakes abound with various kinds of fiſhes, fuch as pikes, perches,breams, eels, and particularly a fifh called karraſs, of an uncommon bignefs, and veryfat. Theſe the inhabitants dry, in fummer, for winter provifions, which are all thefood to be found among them. I have eat of it often, and thought it not difa*greeable.In334 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.In winter they ufe melted fnow for water. They are very hofpitable; and defire nothing in return of their civilities, but a little tobacco to fmoke, and a dram of brandy,of which they are very fond. The drefs, both of men and women, confifts of longcoats of fheep-fkins, which they get from the Ruffians and Kalmucks, in exchange formore valuable furs. As they wear no other apparel, nor even fhirts, they are verynafty. Their huts are moft miferable habitations, and funk about one half underground. We were glad, however, to find them, as a baiting place, in fuch a coldfeafon.The Barabintzy, like moft of the ancient natives of Siberia, have many conjurersamong them, whom they call Shamans, and fometimes prieſts. Many ofthe femalefex alfo affume this character. The Shamans are held in great efteem by the people;they pretend to correfpondence with the fhaytan, or devil; by whom, they fay, theyare informed of all paft and future events, at any diſtance of time or place. Our ambaffador refolved to inquire ftrictly into the truth of many ftrange ftories, generallybelieved, concerning the Shamans, and fent for all of fame in that way in the placesthrough which we paffed .In Baraba we went to vifit a famous woman of this character. When we entered herhoufe, fhe continued bufy about her domeftic affairs, without almoft taking any noticeof her gueſts. However, after fhe had fmoked a pipe of tobacco, and drunk a dram ofbrandy, fhe began to be more cheerful. Our people afked her fome trifling queſtionsabout their friends; but fhe pretended to be quite ignorant, till fhe got more tobaccoand fome inconfiderable prefents, when the began to collect her conjuring tools. First,ſhe brought the fhaytan; which is nothing but a piece of wood, wherein is cut fomething refembling a human head, adorned with many filk and woollen rags of variouscolours; then a fmall drum , about a foot diameter, to which were fixed many brafs andiron rings, and hung round alfo with rags. She now began a difmal tune, keepingtime with the drum, which fhe beat with a ſtick for that purpoſe. Several of herneighbours, whom she had previouſly called to her affiftance, joined in the chorus.During this fcene, which lafted about a quarter of an hour, fhe kept the fhaytan, orimage, cloſe by herſelf, ſtuck up in a corner. The charm being now finifhed, fhe-defired us to put our queftions. Her anfwers were delivered very artfully, and with asmuch obfcurity and ambiguity as they could have been given by any oracle. She wasa young woman, and very handfome.On the 29th of January, we reached the Oby, which we croffed on the ice, and entered a country pretty well inhabited by Ruffians, where we found proviſions and freſhhorfes, as often as we wanted them. The country is generally covered with woods, exceptabout the villages, where are fine corn-fields and good pafture grounds. Our courfelay a little to the northward of the caft from Tzaufky Oftrogue.February 4th, we arrived fafe at the town of Tomfky, fo called from the nobleriver Tomm, upon the eaſtern bank of which it ftands.CHAP. III. - Occurrences at Tomfky: Obfervations on the Tzulimm Tartars, &c. andJourney continued to Elimfky.THE citadel of Tomfkyis fituated on an eminence, and contains the commandant'shoufe, public offices, and barracks for the garrifon. The fortifications, like moſtothers in this country, are of wood. The town ftands under the hill, along the banksof the river Tomm. The country about this place is pleaſant and fruitful. From thetopBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 335top of the hill you have a very extenſive view every way, except to the fouth, where itis interrupted by hills. Beyond thefe hills there is a large, dry, and open plain, whichftretches a great way fouthward.About eight or ten days journey from Tomíky, in this plain, are found many tombsand burying-places of ancient heroes, who, in all probability, fell in battle. Thefe tombsare eafily diftinguished by the mounds of earth and ſtone raiſed upon them. When, orby whom, theſe battles were fought, fo far to the northward, is uncertain. I was informed by the Tartars in the Baraba, that Tamerlane, or Timyr-ack-fack, as they call him, had many engagements in that country with the Kalmucks, whom he in vain endeavoured to conquer. Many perfons go from Tomfky and other parts every fummerto theſe graves, which they dig up, and find among the afhes of the dead confiderablequantities ofgold, filver, brafs, and fome precious ftones, but particularly hilts of fwordsand armour. They find alfo ornaments offaddles and bridles, and other trappings forhorſes, and even the bones of horfes, and fometimes thofe of elephants. Whence itappears, that when any general or perſon of diftinction was interred, all his arms, hisfavourite horſe, and fervant, were buried with him in the fame grave: this cuſtom prevails to this day among the Kalmucks and other Tartars, and feems to be of great antiquity. It appears from the number of graves, that many thoufands muft have fallenon theſe plains; for the people have continued to dig for fuch treafure many years,and ftill find it unexhaufted. They are fometimes indeed interrupted, and robbed ofall their booty, by parties of the Kalmucks, who abhor the diſturbing the aſhes ofthe dead.I have ſeen ſeveral pieces of armour and other curiofities that were dug out ofthefetombs, particularly an armed man on horſeback, caft in braſs, of no mean deſign norworkmanship; alfo figures of deer, caft in pure gold, which were fplit through themiddle, and had fome fmall holes in them, as intended for ornaments to a quiver, or thefurniture of a horſe.While we were at Tomfky one of theſe grave-diggers told me, that once they lightedon an arched vault where they found the remains of a man, with his bow, arrows,lance, and other arms, lying together on a filver table. On touching the body it fell toduft. The value of the table and arms was very confiderable.The country about the fource of the river Tomm, near which theſe tombs are, is veryfruitful and pleafant. At the fource of the Tomm the Ruffians have a ſmall town,called Kuznetſky. The river is formed bythe Kondoma, and many leffer rivers; allwhich run to the north.In the hills above Kuznetsky, there had lately been diſcovered rich mines of copper,and fome of filver; which, fince I was in this country, have been greatly improved.On the hills and in the woods near this place are many ſorts of wild beaſts , particularly the urus, or uhr-ox, one ofthe fierceft animals the world produces, and exceedingin fize and ftrength all the horned fpecies. Their force and agility is fuch, that no wolf,bear, nor tiger, dare to engage with them. Thefe animals are found in the woods ofPoland, and fome other parts of Europe. As they are well known, I need not defcribe them.In the fame woods is found another fpecies of oxen , called bubul by the Tartars; itis not fo big as the urus; its body and limbs are very handſome; it has a high fhoulderand a flowing tail , with long hair growing from the rump to the extremity, like that of ahorfe. Thoſe I faw were tame, and as tractable as other cattle. Here are alſo wildaffes. I have ſeen many of their fkins. They have in all refpects the head, tail, andhoofs of an ordinary afs; but their hair is waved white and brown, like that of a tiger.There336BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.There is befides a number of wild horfes, of a chefnut colour, which cannot betamed, though they are catched when foals. Thefe horfes differ nothing from the common kind in ſhape, but are the moſt watchful creatures alive. One ofthem waits always on the heights to give warning to the reft, and, upon the leaſt approach ofdanger,runs to the herd, making all the noife it can; upon which all of them fly away, like fomanydeer. The ftallion drives up the rear, neighing, biting, and kicking thoſe whodo not run fast enough. Notwitftanding this wonderful fa*gacity, thefe animals areoften ſurpriſed by the Kalmucks, who ride in among them, well mounted on fwifthorſes, and kill them with broad lances. Their fleſh they efteem excellent food, anduſe their ſkins to fleep upon instead of couches. Thefe are the animals peculiar to thispart of the country; and befides thefe, there are many more common to this place with the rest of Siberia.The river Tomm, having paffed Kuznetsky, Tomfky, and feveral other towns oflefs note, empties itſelf into the Oby, at a place called Nikolíky, about an hundred verſtbelow Tomfky, in a country overgrown with thick woods. Here the Tomm lofesits name, and makes a great addition to the Oby, which now commences a mightyftream.The Tomm abounds with variety of fine fifh; fuch as fturgeon, fterlet, muchfoon,and the largeſt and beft quabs, called in French guion, that I have any where feen.The method of catching theſe fifh is by planting pales acroſs the river, in which thereis left one narrow opening for the fishes to pafs through. Above this opening a hole iscut in the ice, and near it is placed a fire upon ſome ſtones laid for that purpoſe. Thefifh, on feeing the light ofthe fire, ftops a moment in its paffa*ge; and, at this inftant,the fiſherman ftrikes it with a fpear through the hole in the ice. This exercife requires great quicknefs, for the fifh is gone in a trice. I killed feveral of themmyfelf.Thus, having made a fhort excurfion up and down the Tomm, and given a briefdefcription ofthe country adjacent, I return again to Tomíky.Tomfkyis a good market for furs of all forts; but particularly offables, and black andred foxes, ermins, and fquirrels. The fquirrels called Teleutfky, from the name of thediftrict where they are caught, are reckoned the beſt of that fpecies. They have ablackiſh ſtripe down their back.Befides the common fquirrel, there is another fpecies found here called the flyingfquirrel. There is little peculiar in its fhape or fize, only it has, at the upper joint ofthe thigh ofthe fore-leg, a ſmall membrane, ftretching to the fhoulder, fomewhat likethe wing of a bat, which it extends at pleafure, and is thereby enabled to fpring muchfarther, from tree to tree, than it could do without the help of thefe wings. Both theermins and fquirrels are caught only in winter, becauſe in fummer their fur is quitebrown, fhort, and of little ufe.We waited fome days at Tomfky for the arrival of our baggage. Here we foundfeveral Swediſh officers, who had good quarters in a plentiful though diftant place.After our people had refreſhed themſelves for two days, they fet out again on the roadto Yenifeyfky.During our abode in Tomíky, we diverted ourſelves with fifhing and hunting. Wewere prefent alfo at feveral concerts of mufic, performed by the Swedish officers, atMr. Kofloff's, commandant of the place. Thefe gentlemen were not lefs expert intouching their inftruments than their companions at Tobolfky. Mr. Kofloff is a goodnatured and cheerful gentleman, and treats thefe officers with great humanity. Theyhad along with them a Swediſh parfon, Mr. Veſtadius, a man of genius and learning.TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 337The 9th, we were entertained at the commandant's, where were affembled fome hundreds of his Coffacks, or light horfe, armed with bows and arrows. After going throughtheir ufual exercife, they fhowed their dexterity in fhooting on horfeback at full fpeed.They erected a pole for a mark in an open field, and paffing it, at full gallop , let fly theirarrows, and foon fplit it all to fhivers.The 12th, about midnight, we went into our fledges, and fet out on our journey towards Yenifeyfky. For the two following days we had tolerably good roads, lyingthrough a pretty fine country, inhabited by Ruffians. The villages are but thinly feattered, yet fufficiently near one another to afford provifions and freſh horfes.On the 14th, we reached a large navigable river, called Tzulimm.We went upthis river upon the ice. We met with neither houſe nor inhabitant for the ſpace of fixdays. We could get no freſh horfes, and were obliged to carry both provifions andforage along with us, which made this part of the road very tedious. During all thistime, we had no where to warm ourſelves, or drefs our victuals, but in the thick overgrown woods, which occupy both fides of the river. There is great plenty of fallentrees in theſe woods, of which we made large fires. The trees are chiefly pitch fir,rifing like a pyramid, with long fpreading branches hanging to the ground, which render thefe woods almoft impaffable to man or beaft. We frequently fet fire to the mofsand dried fibres of thefe firs. In the space of a minute, the fire mounts to the top ofthe tree, and has a very pretty effect. The kindling fo many fires warmed all the airaround.In fummer, the banks of this river are inhabited by a tribe of Tartars, called by theRuffians Tzulimmzy, from the name of the river, who live by fiſhing and hunting. Wefound ſeveral of their empty huts as we went along. In autumn, theſe people retirefrom this inhofpitable place towards the fouth, near to towns and villages , where theycan find fubfiftence.The 20th, we arrived at a Ruffian village called Meletſky Oftrogue, where we ftaid aday to refresh ourſelves and horfes. In the neighbourhood of this place, we found manyhuts of the Tzulimm Tartars, who feem to be a different race from all of that name Ihave yet mentioned. Their complexion indeed is fwarthy, like that of moft of theother defcendants of the ancient natives of Siberia; but I have feen many of themhaving white ſpots on their ſkins, from head to foot, of various figures and fizes. Manyimagine theſe ſpots natural to the people; but I am rather inclined to believe they proceed from their conftant diet of fish and other animal food without bread. This, ofcourfe, creates a fcorbutic habit of body, which often breaks out in infants; and thefcars falling off, leave that part of the ſkin as if it had been fcalded, which never recovers its natural colour. I have however feen feveral children with thefe fpots, whofeemed healthy.The Tzulimms, like other Tartars, live in huts half-funk under ground. They havea fire in the middle, with a hole at the top to let out the fmoke, and benches round thefire, to fit or lie upon. This feems to be the common method of living among all thenorthern nations, from Lapland eaſtward to the Japaneſe ocean.The Tzulimms fpeak a barbarous language, compofed of words from many otherlanguages. Some of our people, who fpoke Turkish, told me, they had many Arabicwords which they underſtood. They are poor, miferable, and ignorant heathens. TheArchbishop of Tobolfky in perfon came lately hither, and baptized fome hundreds ofthem, who were inclined to embrace the Chriftian faith. As they are a well-difpofedand harmleſs people, probably in a fhort time they may be all converted.VOL. VII. .X.X The338BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.The river Tzulimm has its fource about three hundred verft above Meletſky Oftrogue; from this place it continues its courfe to the northward till it meets with theriver Oby, at a place called Shabannfky Oftrogue. Oftrogue, in the Ruffian language,fignifies a ſtrong palifade, inclofing a certain piece of ground. On the first fettlementsmade by the Ruffians in thefe parts fuch inclofures were neceffary to prevent any ſurpriſefrom the inhabitants.The 21ft, early in the morning, we left Meletſky, and travelled through thick woods,along narrow roads. Next day we came to a fmall Ruffian village, called Melay-keat;where we found our baggage, for the first time fince we quitted Tomíky. Near thisplace the river Keat has its fource; and runs towards the weft till it meets with theOby. Having changed horfes at Melay-keat, we left our baggage and proceeded onour journey.On the evening of the 22d, we came to a zimovey, where we halted a little to refreſhourſelves and bait our horfes. A zimovey is a houſe or two, built in a place at a greatdiſtance from any town or village, for the convenience of travellers; and is a fort ofinn, where you generally find a warm room , freſh bread, and a wholeſome and agreeableliquor called quafs, made of malt or rye-meal, ſteeped and fermented; with hay andoats at eaſy rates.From this place we travelled to Beloy, a large village, where we changed horfes, andproceeded. From hence to Yenifeyfky the country is well cultivated. Upon the roadare many Rufs villages, where we got frefh horfes as often as we pleaſed, without halting ten minutes. Thus we continued travelling day and night till we arrived, on the23d, at the town of Yeniſeyſky, where we had a friendly reception , and good entertainment from the commandant Mr. Becklimifhof, who had come fome miles from town tomeet his old friend the ambaffador.Here I found Mr. Kanbar Nikititz Aikinfiof, with whom I got acquainted at Cazan,while we wintered there, in the journey to Perfia. Some croſs accident had been theoccafion of his coming to this place. He enjoyed full liberty to walk about at pleaſure.He underſtood ſeveral languages, was well acquainted with hiſtory, and a cheerful good- natured companion.Here we paffed the holidays called Mafslapitza, or the Carnaval, which is held onthe week before Lent. In the mean time our carriages arrived, which were diſpatchedagain as foon as poffible.The town of Yenifeyfky is pleaſantly fituated in a plain, on the weſtern bank of theriver Yenifey, from which the town takes its name. It is a large and populous place,fenced with a ditch, palifades, and wooden towers. Here is a good market for furs ofall forts; particularly of the animals called pieffy, which are of two colours, white anddove- colour. Theſe creatures are caught far to the northward of this place. Theyare nearly of the ſhape and fize of a fox; having a fhort bushy tail, and a thick foftdowny fur, very light and warm, which is much efteemed bythe great men in thenorthern parts of China; and, by them, made chiefly into cuſhions, on which they fit in winter.Befides the above there is here another creature called roffomack in Rufs, and feelfrefs bythe Germans; becauſe they imagine it eats a great deal more in proportionthan other animals. I have feen feveral of them alive. They are very fierce, and aboutthe ſhape and fize of a badger; the neck, back, and tail are black, but about the bellythe hair is of a brownish colour. The blacker they are the more valuable. The ſkinbeing thick is only uſed in caps and muffs. Alſo elks, rein-deer, and ſtags. The latterretireBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 339retire to the ſouth on the approach of winter, and return in the fpring. Here are likewife an incredible number of white hares, which perhaps I may mention afterwards.I muſt not omit the black foxes, which are in great abundance about Yeniſeyſky.Their fur is reckoned the moſt beautiful of any kind; it is even preferred to the fable,with reſpect to lightneſs and warmnefs. I faw here one of their ſkins valued at five hundred crowns, and fome of them far exceed this fum.ofBefore I leave this place, I fhall give a fhort defcription ofthe courſe of the famousriver Yenifey, according to the beft information I could procure. It rifes in a hillycountry, at a great diftance fouthward from this place; being joined by many rivers inits courfe, it grows into a mighty ftream, and is, at Yenifeylky, full as large as theVolga. It runs the longeſt courfe of any river on this vaft continent. The first townany note in coming down this river is Kraffno-yarr, which ftands on the weſternbank. It is a place of confiderable trade, particularly in furs. From this place alongthe banks are many villages, till the Yenifey meets the lower Tongufta, a large river,coming from the eaſt, a few verſt above Yenifeyfky. Below this place there are many inconfiderable fettlements till you come to Mangafeyfky, a town famous for furs, and theſhrine of an illuſtrious faint called Vaffile Mangafeyfky, much frequented by the devoutpeople in theſe parts.Above this place the Yenifey receives the Podkamena- Tongufta, a large river, running from the fouth-eaft; and at Mangafeyfky it meets another river called Turochaniky,coming from the weft. The Yenifey now continues its courſe almoſt due north, till itdiſcharges itſelf into the ocean. This river abounds with variety of excellent fifh, fuchas I have already mentioned, but in leffer quantities.The 27th, we left Yenifeyfky, and travelled about eight or ten verft along the fouthbank of the river, when we came to thick and tall woods, which obliged us to leave theland and march along the river on ice, which was very uneven. This roughneſs iscauſed bythe froſt ſetting in about autumn, with a ſtrong wefterly wind, which drives upgreat cakes of ice upon one another, in fome places four or five feet high. Ifthe frofthappens to begin in calm weather, the ice is very fmooth, and eafy for fledges.The 28th, we proceeded along the Yenifey, meeting fometimes with villagers. Therigour ofthe cold was much abated, but the face of winter appeared every where, without the leaft fign of fpring. At evening we entered the river Tongufta, which wefound as rough as the former; but, as both the banks were overgrown with thickwoods, we were obliged to keep along the ice.Next day, we ſtill proceeded along the river, in blowing weather and driving fnow.The 1ft of March, we overtook our baggage, which we paffed; it being thoughtmore convenient, both in order to procure lodging and frefit horfes, that the heavycarriages fhould travel behind.We continued our journey for feveral days along the Tongufta. We found, nowand then , little villages, or fingle houſes, on the banks. One day, we chanced to meeta prodigious flock of hares, all as white as the fnow on which they walked. I fpeakwithin compafs, when I fay there were above five or fix hundred of them. They werecoming down the river, very deliberately, on a ſmall path of their own making, cloſeto the beaten road. As foon as they faw us, all of them run into the woods, withoutfeeming much frightened. I am informed, that theſe hares travel to the fouth ,in much greater flocks than this, every fpring, and return in autumn, when the riversare frozen, and the fnow falls. In moſt of the villages we found plenty of this fortof veniſon; the inhabitants, however, value it but little; for they catch thefe haresX X 2 more340 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.more on account of their fkins, of which they make confiderable profits, than theirflefh.The Tongufy, fo called from the name of the river, who live along its banks, arethe pofterity of the ancient inhabitants of Siberia, and differ in language, manners, anddreſs, and even in their perfons and ftature, from all the other tribes of thefe people Ihave had occafion to fee. They have no houfes where they remain for any time, butrange through the woods, and along rivers, at pleaſure; and, wherever they come,they erect a few fpars, inclining to one another at the top; thefe they cover withpieces of birchen bark, fewed together, leaving a hole at the top to let out the ſmoke.The fire is placed in the middle. They are very civil and tractable, and like to ſmoketobacco, and drink brandy. About their huts they have generally a good ſtock ofrein-deer, in which all their wealth confifts.The men are tall and able-bodied, brave, and very honeft. The women are of amiddle fize and virtuous. I have ſeen many of the men with oval figures, like wreaths,on their foreheads and chins; and fometimes a figure reſembling the branch of a tree,reaching from the corner ofthe eye to the mouth. Thefe are made in their infancy,by pricking the parts with a needle, and rubbing them with charcoal, the marks whereofremain as long as the perfon lives. Their complexion is fwarthy. Their faces are notfo flat as thofe of the Kalmucks, but their countenances more open. They are altogether unacquainted with any kind of literature, and worship the fun and moon. Theyhave many fhamans among them, who differ little from thofe I formerly defcribed. Iwas told of others, whofe abilities in fortune-telling far exceeded thofe of the fhamans atthis place, but they lived far northward. They cannot bear to fleep in a warm room,but retire to their huts, and lie about the fire, on fkins of wild beafts. It is furpriſinghow thefe creatures can fuffer the very piercing cold in theſe parts.The women are dreffed in a fur-gown, reaching below the knee, and tied about thewaift with a girdle. This girdle is about three inches broad, made of deer's fkin, havingthe hair curiouſly ſtitched down and ornamented; to which is faftened, at each fide,an iron ring, that ferves to carry a tobacco pipe, and other trinkets of ſmall value.Their gowns are alfo ftitched down the breaft, and about the neck. Their long black.hair is plaited, and tied about their heads, above which they wear a fmall fur-cap, whichis becoming enough. Some of them have fmall ear- rings. Their feet are dreffed inbufkins made of deer-fkins, which reach to the knee, and are tied about the ancle witha thong of leather.The drefs of the men is very fimple and fit for action . It conſiſts of a ſhort jacket,with narrow fleeves, made of deer's-íkin , having the fur outward; trowſers and hoſe ofthe fame kind of ſkin, both of one piece, and tight to the limbs. They have, beſides,a piece of fur, that covers the breaſt and ftomach, which is hung about the neck with athong of leather. This, for the moſt part, is neatly ftitched and ornamented by theirwives. Round their heads they have a ruff, made of the tails of fquirrels, to preferve the tips of the ears from the cold. There is nothing on the crown, but the hairfmoothed, which hangs in a long plaited lock behind their backs.Their arms are, a bow, and feveral forts of arrows, according to the different kinds ofgame they intend to hunt. The arrows are carried in a quiver, on their backs, and thebow always in their left hand. Befides thefe, they have a fhort lance, and a little hatchet.Thus accoutred, they are not afraid to attack the fierceft creature in the woods,even the ſtrongeſt bear; for they are ftout men, and dexterous archers. In winter,which is the ſeafon for hunting wild beaſts, they travel on what are called fnow fhoes,withoutBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA,- 341without which it would be impoffible to make their way through the deep fnow. Theſeare made of a very thin piece of light wood, about five feet long, and five or fix inchesbroad, inclining to a point before, and fquare behind. In the middle is fixed a thong,through which the feet are put. On thefe fhoes a perfon may walk fafely over thedeepeſt fnow; for a man's weight will not fink them above an inch. Thefe, however,can only be uſed on plains. They have a different kind for åfcending hills , with thefkins of feals glued to the boards, having the hair inclined backwards, which preventsthe fliding of the fhoes, fo that they can afcend a hill very cafily; and in defcendingthey flide downwards at a great rate.The nation of the Tongufy was very numerous, but is of late much diminiſhed bythe ſmall-pox. It is remarkable, that they knew nothing of this diftemper till the Ruffians arrived among them. They are fo much afraid of this difeafe, that, if any one ofafamily is feized with it, the reft immediately make the patient a little hut, and fet by himfome water and victuals; then, packing up every thing, they march off to the windward, each carrying an earthen pot, with burning coals in it , and making a dreadfullamentation as they go along. They never revifit the fick till they think the dangerpaſt. If the perfon dies, they place him on a branch of a tree, to which he is tiedwith ftrong wythes, to prevent his falling.When they go a-hunting into the woods, they carry with them no proviſions, butdepend entirely on what they are to catch. They eat every animal that comes in theirway, even a bear, fox, or wolf. The fquirrels are reckoned delicate food; but theermins have fuch a ſtrong rank tafte and fmell, that nothing but ftarving can obligethem to eat their flesh. When a Tongufe kills an elk or deer, he never moves fromthe place till he has eat it up, unleſs he happens to be near his family , in which cafe,he carries part of it home. He is never at a lofs for a fire, having always a tinder-boxabout him . If this fhould happen to be wanting, he kindles a fire, by rubbing twopieces of wood against each other. They eat nothing raw, but inin great extremity.The fables are not caught in the fame manner as other animals. The fur is fotender, that the leaft mark of an arrow, or ruffling of the hair, fpoils the fale of thefkin. In hunting them, they only ufe a little dog and a net. When a hunter findsthe track of a fable upon the fnow, he follows it perhaps for two or three days, till thepoor animal, quite tired , takes refuge in fome tall tree; for it can climb like a cat; thehunter then spreads his net around the tree, and makes a fire; the fable, unable toendure the ſmoke, immediately defcends, and is caught in the net. I have been toldby fome of theſe hunters, that, when hard pinched with hunger on fuch long chaces,they take two thin boards, one of which they apply to the pit of the ftomach, and theother to the back, oppofite to it; the extremities of thefe boards are tied with cords,which are drawn tighter by degrees, and prevent their feeling the cravings of hunger.Although I have obferved, that the Tongufy, in general, worship the fun and moon,there are many exceptions to this obfervation . I have found intelligent people amongthem, who believed there was a being fuperior to both fun and moon, and who createdthem and all the world.I fhall only remark farther, that, from all the accounts I have heard and read of thenatives of Canada, there is no nation in the world which they fo much reſemble as theTongufians. The diſtance between them is not fo great as is commonly imagined.The 4th of March, we came to a little monaftery, called Troytza, dedicated to theHoly Trinity; where we found about half a dozen monks, who gave us an hofpitablereception in their cells, and furnished us with provifions and fresh horfes. The monaftery ftands upon the north fide of the river, on a very pleafant though folitary bank,encompaffed342 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.encompaffed with woods, corn- fields, and good pafturage. Moſt of the villages areon the north ſide of the river, as it is higher than the ſouth ſide.The fame day, we proceeded on our journey along the river. We met with, daily,great flocks of hares in their progrefs to the weftward, and many Tongufians in theirhuts. It is to be obferved, that, from this river northward to the Frozen Ocean,there are no inhabitants, except a few Tongufians, on the banks of the great rivers;the whole of this moft extenfive country being overgrown with dark impenetrablewoods. The foil along the banks of this river is good, and produces wheat, barley,rye, and oats. The method taken by the inhabitants to deſtroy the large fir-trees is,to cut off a ring of bark from the trunk, about a foot broad, which prevents the af--cending of the fap, and the tree withers in a few years. This prepares it for beingburnt in a dry feafon; by which means the ground is both cleared of the wood, andmanured by the afhes, without much labour.The Ruffians obferve, that, where the fort of fir commonly called the Scotch firgrows, the ground never fails of producing corn; but it is not fo where the pitch, orany other kind of fir, prevails.The 7th, we came to the head of the Tongufky, which is formed by the conflux oftwo other rivers, the Angara and the Elimm. The firſt iffues from the great Baykalllake, and runs towards the weft, till it meets the Tongufky, when it lofes its name.Weleft the Angara and Tongufky on our right hand, and proceeded along the Elimm,which we found much fmoother than the Tongufky. The Elimm is a confiderablelarge and navigable river. The banks on the fouth fide are very high, and coveredwith rugged rocks, overgrown with woods; but, to the north, you meet with feveralvillages, corn-fields, and pafturage.We kept on our courfe up the Elimm, a little to the northward of the eaſt, till the9th, when we arrived at the town of Elimſky, ſo called from the name of the river,which ftands in a narrow valley, on the fouth fide of the river, encompaffed with highhills and rocks covered with woods. This place is but ſmall, and is only confiderable,as it ftands on the road to the eaftern parts of Siberia; for travellers to China generallytake to the fouth- eaft , towards Irkutfky; and thofe who travel to Yakutíky and Kamtzatfky to the north- eaſt.-CHAP. IV. -Obfervations on Yakutsky and Kamtzatky, &c. Journey continued toIrkutsky; and Occurrences there, &c.AT Elimfky I met with General Kanifer. He was adjutant general to Charles XII.of Sweden, and much efteemed by that great warrior, for his military exploits. Kanifer was a native of Courland. He was taken prifoner by the the Ruffians in Poland,and ſent hither, where he lived in eafe and folitude, and was regularly viſited by alltravellers.This gentleman had a creature, called kaberda, which was brought to him when afawn, by fome of the Tongufy. It is the animal from which the fweet-fmelling drugcalled mufk is taken. The mufk grows about the navel, in form of an excrefcence,which is cut off, and preferved, when the creature is killed. There are many of themin this country; but the mufk is not fo ftrong fcented as that which comes from China,and more fouthern climates. The general had bred this creature to be very familiar.He fed it at his table with bread and roots. When dinner was over, it jumped on thetable, and picked up the crumbs. It followed him about the ſtreets like a dog.2 I mustBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 343I must confefs it was pleafing to fee it cut caprioles, and play with children likea kid..The kaberda is a fize leſs than the fallow-deer, and its colour darker. It is of apretty ſhape, having erect horns, without branches; is very fwift, and haunts rocksand mountains of difficult accefs to men or dogs; and, when hunted, jumps from cliffto cliff with incredible celerity and firmneſs of foot. The flesh is eſteemed better veniſonthan any of the deer kind of larger fize, whereof there is great variety in theſe parts.Before I leave Elimfky 1 fhall, as ufual, give a fhort account of fome of the placesadjacent, particularly thofe to the north-eaft, towards the river Lena and Yakutsky,according as I have been informed by travellers, on whoſe veracity I could entirelydepend.The people, who travel in winter from hence to theſe places, generally do it in Ja--nuary or February. It is a very long and difficult journey, and which none but Ton--gufians, or fuch hardy people, have abilities to perform. The Ruffians frequentlyfinifh it in fix weeks. The common method is as follows: after travelling a few daysin fledges, when the road becomes impaffable by horſes, they fet themfelves on fnowfhoes, and drag after them what is called a nart, containing provifions and other neceffaries, which are as few and light as poffible. This nart is a kind of fledge about fivefeet long and ten inches broad, which a man may eaſily draw upon the deepeſt fnow..At night, they make a large fire, and lay themſelves down to fleep in theſe narrowfledges. As foon as they have refreſhed themſelves, they again proceed on their fnowfhoes, as before. This manner of travelling continues about the ſpace of ten days, whenthey come to a place where they procure dogs to drawboth themſelves and their narts..The dogs are yoked by pairs, and are more or fewer in number according to the weightthey have to draw. Being trained to the work, they go on with great fpirit, barkingall the way; and the perfon, who lies in the fledge, holds a ſmall cord to guide thedog that leads the reft. They are faſtened to the fledge by a foft rope, which is tiedabout their middle, and paffes through between their hind legs. I have been ſurpriſedto fee the weight that theſe creatures are able to draw; for travellers must carry alongwith them provifions for both themſelves and the dogs. Theſe watchful animals knowthetime of fetting out in the morning; and make a difmal howling, till they are fed, andpurſue their journey. This way of travelling would not, I believe, fuit every conftitution; the very fight of it fatisfied my curiofity. Thus, however, theſe people proceedfor near three weeks, till they arrive at fome villages on the Lena, where, leaving thedogs, they procure horfes, with which they travel to the town of Yakutsky. Thisplace has its name from a rivulet, called Yakut, which empties itſelf into the Lena.I have been, perhaps, too particular in defcribing the method of travelling withfnow-fhoes and dogs; but as theſe things are known to few Europeans, I concluded anaccount of them would not be difa*greeable. I have feen feveral Swediſh officers whohave travelled to Yakutſky in this manner. I tried the fnow-fhoes myſelf, and foundthem very fatiguing; but time and practice make them eaſy and familiar.There is a more agreeable road from Elimſky to Yakutſky than that I have mentioned, which is by water, down the river Lena; but this route will not agree with thetime and circumftances of every traveller. Thoſe who travel from Irkutsky by thiscourfe go by land to a place called Vercholeníky Oftrogue, fituated near the fource ofthe Lena, where they embark, and fall down the ſtream. Thoſe who go from Elimfky,croſs the country directly, about two days journey, to the firſt convenient place uponthe Lena, where they procure veffels, and fail down the river to Yakutíky, or anyother.344 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.other place; but in this pailage by water they are peſtered with numbers of large gnatsand mufkitoes, which leffen the pleaſure of the voyage.Before I proceed to the northward, it will not be improper to give a fhort defcriptionof the famous river Lena; which, for the length of its courfe and quantity of water,maybe compared to any of the largest rivers in the world.The Lena rifes at a fmall diftance northward from the Baykall lake, and runs to thenorth, with a little variation, till it difcharges itfelf into the Northern Ocean. I compute the length of it from the fource to the ocean, to be about two thoufand five hundred English miles, though it is much more by common report. It is navigable duringthis whole courfe, having no cataracts fo great as to prevent the paffa*ge of vellels ofconfiderable burden. It receives many great rivers, moft of which come from the eaft.It may be cafily imagined, that the Lena cannot fail of being ſtored with various kinds ofexcellent fith , when the other rivers in Siberia afford fuch plenty and variety. Thebanks are generally overgrown with tall thick woods, wherein are abundance of game,and wild beafts. The country between its fource and the Baykall lake is well peopled,abounding with many Rufs villages and corn- fields along the banks of the river.Having formerly mentioned Yakutsky and Kamtzatfky, I fhall add a few obfervations.on theſe two provinces.The town of Yakutfky, capital of the province of that name, is fituated on the weftbank ofthe river Lena, and governed by a commandant; whofe office is reckoned verylucrative, as many fables and other valuable furs are found in that province.The winter here is very long, and the froft fo violent that it is never out of the earth,in the month of June, beyond two feet and a half below the furface. When the inhabitants bury their dead three feet deep, they are laid in frozen earth; for the heatof the fun never penetrates above two feet, or two feet and an half; fo that I am informed all the dead bodies remain in the earth unconfumed, and will do fo till the dayof judgment.The town and many villages in its neighbourhood are inhabited by Ruffians, whohave horſes and cows, but no ſheep nor corn. They are plentifully ſupplied with cornfrom the fouthern parts of the country, by water- carriage along the Lena. And, inſummer, they make hay enough to feed their cattle in winter.The province of Yakutfky is inhabited by a numerous tribe of Tartars, by which namethe Ruffians call the whole of the natives of this country, however they differ from oneanother in religion, language, and manners. Thofe of this province are named Yakuty.They occupy a great fpace of territory round this place, eſpecially to the caft, where theyborder with the extenfive province of Kamtzatfky.The Yakuty differ little from the Tongufians, either in their perfons or way of life.Their occupation, like that of the other natives, is fifhing and hunting. They haveflattiſh faces, little black eyes, and long black hair plaited, and hanging down their backs.Manyofthe men are marked in the face with charcoal, after the manner ofthe Tongufians. I have, however, feen many of thefe people, both men and women, of goodcomplexions. They often fell their children to the Ruffians, who are very fond ofthem, as they generally make trufty fervants.Thefe people, though otherwife humane and tractable, have among them one verybarbarous cuſtom: when any of their people are infirm through age, or feized withdiftempers reckoned incurable, they make a fmall hut for the patient, near fome river,in which they leave him, with fome provifions, and feldom or never return to vifit him.On fuch occafions they have no regard to father or mother, but fay they do them a goodoffice 7BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 345office in fending them to a better world . Whereby it appears, that even thefe rudeignorant people have a notion of a future ftate.Under Kamtzatiky I include all that vaft tract of land reaching from the river Amoor,along the fhore of the Eaftern or Japaneſe Ocean, called by the Ruffians Tikoe More,or the Calm Sea, to the north-eaft point of the continent. The country along the fhoreis very pleaſant and healthy, eſpecially to the fouth, where the climate is temperate.This part of the country produces grain, and, as I have been informed, even grapes andother fruits. The inhabitants are very humane and hofpitable.When the Ruffians firft entered this province, the Kamtzedans endeavoured to oppofe them. For this purpoſe they affembled great numbers of men armed, after thefashion oftheir country, with bows, arrows, and fhort lances, headed with bone, ſharpenedat the point. Whence it appears, that thefe people knew no more the ufe of iron thanthe Mexicans on the arrival of the Spaniards in America. Their multitudes were foondifperfed by a few Ruflians with fire-arms, which , in thoſe days, had rifled barrels, anda fmall bore, which killed at a great diſtance. The poor Kamtzedans, feeing theirpeople fall without any vifible wound, and aftoniſhed with the fire and noife ofthe gunpowder, left the field in the utmoſt confternation. Their difpofitions now were whollyinclined to peace; and a few of their chief men were fent to the Ruffians in order toobtain it. They proftrated themfelves, in the moft fubmiffive manner, before theleader of the party, and begged ofhim to grant them peace; which he did, on conditionof their paying to His Majefty an annual tribute of fables, or other furs. This conditionthey have punctually performed ever fince.Many parts of Kamtzatfky are hilly and mountainous, particularly to the north, andcovered with tall woods. At Ochotíky is a good harbour, and timber enough to builda royal navy. There are many great and fmall rivers that run through the country,and empty themſelves into the Eaſtern Ocean, among which is a great river calledAnadeer. To the north of this river towards the ocean lies an extenſive tract of land,little known, and inhabited by a fierce and favage people, called bythe Ruffians Anadeertzy, who continue very untractable.I have nothing further to add concerning theſe remote provinces, only I am perfuaded that the iſlands of Japan can be at no great diftance from the fouthern parts ofKamtzatiky. What confirmed me in this opinion is that I faw at St. Petersburg a youngman, a native ofJapan, who, I believe, is yet alive in the Academy of Sciences at thatplace. I asked him, by what accident he was brought fo far from his own country;and he gave me the following account:-That his father and himſelf, with a few perfons more, being at a noted town called Naggifaky, on the weſt coaſt of the iſland,employed about fome affairs of trade, and having finiſhed their buſineſs, intended toreturn to their own habitations on the north fhore, byfailing round the coaft. Therefore went they on board a fmall boat, and began their voyage homeward; but, meeting with a ſtrong gale off the land, they were unfortunately driven out to fea, and in afew days were cast upon the coaſt of Kamtzatiky half ſtarved, and in the greateſt diftrefs. In this condition they met with a Ruffian Officer, who afforded them all thataffiftance which common humanity dictates on fuch occafions. Notwithſtanding all hiscare, feveral ofthe old people died, being quite spent with fatigue, and want ofvictuals.That he and another youth, who was fince dead, were fent to St. Petersburg, where HisMajefty was pleafed to order that they fhould be provided for in the Academy. Thisyoung man could read and write both the Japaneſe and Ruffian languages.We ſet out from Elimíky on the 12th; and next day, in the evening, 'came to afmall village upon the north bank of the river Angara, about eighty verft diftant fromVOL. VIL. Y YElimiky.346BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.Elimfky. During thefe two days, we faw no houfe nor any inhabitants, the whole ofthe country through which we paffed being covered with tall and thick woods. Thereis a narrow road cut for fledges, and the trees on each fide meeting at the top fhade itbyday, and in the night make it very dark, and almoſt difmal.We paſſed the night in this village, where we got freſh horſes; and next morningrepeated our journey almoft due eaft up the river Angara upon the ice. Along thebanks we found many villages well peopled. The face ofthe country had now a different aſpect from what I had feen for feveral months; fometimes we faw a fine champaign country, exhibiting a beautiful and extenfive profpect; at other times, the viewwas agreeably varied with woods and rifing grounds. The north fide of the river ismoſtly overgrown with woods. There are fome openings along the banks where wefound villages, and abundance of cattle and proviſions,The 15th, we arrived at a large village called Balaganſky, fituated on the fouth fide ofthe Angara, near a rivulet running from the fouth called Unga. The fituation of thisplace is very pleaſant, as it ſtands in a fruitful plain, and has many corn-fields and woodsin the neighbourhood.Here we found another tribe ofthe natives of Siberia, who differ in fome particularsfrom all thoſe I have formerly deſcribed. They are called by the Ruffians Bratſky, butby themſelves Buraty. They live in tents all the year, and, having large flocks oftheep,and many cows and horfes, they remove from place to place, as the convenience ofgrazing requires. Their language has a great affinity to that of the Kalmucks; andthey have prieſts among them who can read and write that language. As to their dreſsand manner of life, I could obferve little difference between them and the Kalmucks onthe Volga; and therefore conclude they have both defcended from the fame original.Their faces, however, are not quite fo flat as thofe of the Kalmucks, their noſes beingfomewhat higher, and their countenances more open.The Buraty are ftout active men, but hate all kind of labour: for, though they havethe example of the Ruffians ploughing and fowing their ground, and living plentifully onthe produce of this rich and fertile foil, they chooſe ftill to live in their tents, and tendtheir flocks, on which their fubfiftence entirely depends.The chief exerciſe of the men is hunting and riding. They have a good breed offaddle-horſes, and their horned cattle are very large. Their fheep have broad tails, andtheir mutton is excellent. They have alſo great abundance ofgoats; for all theſe animalsthey make no provifion of fodder, but leave them to feed in the open fields. When thefnow falls to a great depth, which feldom happens in theſe parts, they drive them to thefouthwards to rifing grounds, where little fnow lies.Their arms are bows and arrows, lances, and fabres, all of which are uſed on horfeback; for, likethe Kalmucks, they have no infantry. They are dexterous archers, andfkilful horfemen.Theſe people were formerly fubject to a prince of the Mongals, but now live veryquietly under the Ruffian government. They are at prefent a very numerous people,reaching towards the eaft and fouth of Baykall lake, and are generally reckoned veryhoneft and fincere.As to their dreſs, the men wear a coat, or rather gown, of fheep-fkins, girt about themiddle, in all ſeaſons; a fmail round cap, faced with fur, having a taffel of red filk atthe top, which, together with a pair of drawers and boots, makes up the whole of theirapparel. The women's drefs is nearly the fame, only their gowns are plaited about thewaiſt, and hang down like a petticoat. The married women have their hair hangingin two locks, one on each fide of the head, drawn through two iron rings, to preventI. Iits.BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 347its floating on the breaſt, and looking very like a tye-wig. Round their forehead theywear a hoop of poliſhed iron, made faft behind, and on their head a fmall round cap,faced with fur, and embroidered, in their faſhion, to diſtinguiſh it from thofe of the men.The maids are dreffed in the fame manner, only their hair is all plaited, hanging in feparate locks round their head, and is as black as a raven: fome of them have good complexions. Both the men and women are courteous in their behaviour. I fhould likethem much better if they were a little more cleanly. Both their perfons and tents areextremely nafty, from their ufing only ſkins to preſerve them from the cold; on theſethey fit or hie, round a little fire, in their tents.The religion ofthe Buraty ſeems to be the fame with that of the Kalmucks, which isdownright Paganiſm of the groffeft kind. They talk indeed of an Almighty and goodBeing, who created all things, whom they call Burchun, but feem bewilderedin obfcure and fabulous notions concerning his nature and government. They havetwo high priests, to whom they pay great refpect; one is called Delay-Lama, theother Kutuchtu. Of theſe prieſts I fhall have an opportunity to give fome accountafterwards.In paffing the tents of the Buraty, I often obferved a long pole, whereon was hung, bythe horns, the head and fkin of a fheep. On enquiring the reafon of this appearance, Iwas told that the animal, whoſe head and ſkin theſe were, had been flain, and offered infacrifice to the god who protected their flocks and herds. I could obferve no imagesamong them except fome relicks given them by their priests, which they had from theDelay-Lama; theſe are commonly hung up in a corner of their tents, and fometimesabout their necks, by way ofan amulet, to preſerve them from misfortunes.The 16th, we came to another large village, called Kamenka, fituated on the northbank of the river, where we found many of the Buraty in their tents. This day wehad ſome rain, which melted much fnow, and made it dangerous to travel upon the ice,fo that we were obliged to leave the river, and make the beſt of our way along thebanks; for feveral of our horfes broke through the ice, and were got up again with nofmall difficulty.The 17th, our route lay to the fouth-eaft. The alteration of the weather was nowvery perceptible, the heat ofthe fun was very intenſe, and the fnowfuddenly diſappeared,leaving no marks of winter, except the ice upon the river, which was vaniſhing very faft.Thus, in the fpace of a few days, we paffed from a cold winter to a warm ſpring; andone would almoſt have imagined we had been imperceptibly dropped into another climate.Our fledges, in which we had travelled and lodged, for moſt part, during the winter,could now be of no ufe; and weleft them to be put on wheel-carriages, in order to follow us as fhould be convenient.Having procured fuch horfes and furniture as the place afforded, we proceeded alongthe north bank of the Angara, towards Irkutsky. We were eſcorted byfome Coffacks,and a party of the Buraty, armed with bows and arrows. We hunted all the way aswe travelled; and were not a little furpriſed to fee the Buraty kill many hares withtheir arrows. This exerciſe was very feaſonable, as we had been confined to fledges formore than three months, during our journey from Cazan to this place.On the 18th of March, we arrived at the town of Irkutfky, fo called from the rivulet Irkut, which falls into the Angara near it. It ftands on the north bank of the Angara, in a large plain, to the north of which the grounds are very high, and coveredwith woods. On the fouth fide of the river, towards the Baykall lake, are high hills,rifing to the fouth, and covered with tall trees, among which are many larixes andSiberian cedars. The larix, called in Rufs lifvinitza, is a well known tree in theſeY Y 2 parts;348BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.parts; nearthe root of it grows a famous drug, called agarick, in form of a muſhroom;it fheds its leaf in autumn, and in fummer it looks like a pine; it grows very ftraightand tall, and is reckoned good timber for fhip-building; it bears a cone like the firtree, containing the feed, but not half fo large.What is called the cedar is a large tall tree, which never fheds the leaf; it is whiteand ſmooth, but has not the leaft fmell of cedar. They ufe it chiefly in building houſes,and it makes the fineft white floors, and freeft from knots, of any wood I know. Theleaves are like thofe of a pine, but grow in taffels, very beautiful. The cones arelarge, and, inſtead of feed, like the fir , contain a finall nut with a kernel, of whichthe people in this country are very fond, and eat it by way of a defert, in place ofbetter fruit. It has a pleaſant tafle , like that of raifins, and is eſteemed good for theftomach.The town of Irkutsky is fortified with a ditch, and ftrong pallifades, having towers atcertain diflances. The garrifon confifts of fome regular troops, befides a number ofCoffacks, or the militia of the country. The town contains about two thouſand houſes,and the inhabitants are plentifully fupplied with provifions of all kinds from the neighbouring villages. The adjacent woods abound with variety of game. The river affordsfturgeon, and many other kinds of fish, but no fterlet; becaufe, as I apprehend, theydelight in muddy' ftreams, and the water at this place is fo clear, that, in two fathomsdeep, one may ſee the pebbles at the bottom .At Irkutsky is a good market for furs of all forts, and likewife for many kinds ofChineſe goods. All merchandiſe muſt be entered at the cuſtom-houſe in this place,and pays a duty of 10 per cent. which produces a confiderable revenue to His Majefty.The 25th of March, our baggage arrived, after furmounting many difficulties on theroad. They had been obliged to leave many ofthe fledges, after taking the baggage offthem, and putting it on wheel-carriages.Our defign was to have croffed the Baykall Sea upon the ice, and then proceeded byland to the town of Selinginfky, but we came too late for that purpoſe. The feafonwas fo far advanced, that before our carriages arrived, the river was almoft free of ice:We were informed, indeed, that the ice upon the lake was fufficiently ſtrong to bearhorfes, but, upon confidering the matter, it was thought moſt advifeable to remain here;till the ice in the fea was alfo melted, that we might go by water to Selinginfky; andorders were immediately given that veffels fhould be prepared for this purpoſe.April 1ft, we croffed the river, accompanied by Mr. Rakitin the commandant, inorder to take a view of the country towards the fouth. We rode through fine woodsof ſtately oaks, and other trees, formerly mentioned. We hunted all the way, andfound abundance of game. At last we came to a fmall Ruffian village, in a fruitfulvalley, encompaffed with hills covered with woods, where we lodged. Next day wewent ten or a dozen miles farther, in fearch of wild beafts, but, finding none, we returned to the fame village, and the day following to Irkutsky.The oth, we were entertained with a famous Buratíky Shaman, who was alfo Lama,or prieft, and was brought from a great diftance. As theſe fhamans make a greatnoiſe in this part of the world, and are believed bythe ignorant vulgar to be infpired, Ifhall give fome account of the behaviour of this one, in particular, by which it will appear that the whole is an impofition.He was introduced to the ambaffador by the commandant, accompanied by ſeveralchiefs of his own tribe, who treat him with great refpect. He was a man of aboutthirty years of age, of a grave afpect and deportment. At his introduction he had acup of brandy prefented to him, which he drank, but refufed any more.AfterBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 349After fome converfation, he was defired to exhibit fome fpecimen of his art; but hereplied, he could do nothing in a Ruffian houſe, becauſe there were fome images of faintswhich prevented his fuccefs. The performance was therefore adjourned to a Buratíkytentinthefuburbs. Accordingly, in the evening, we went to the place appointed, wherewe found the ſhaman, with feveral of his companions, round a little fire, fmoking tobacco, but no women among them. We placed ourſelves on one fide of the tent,leaving the other for him and his countrymen. After fitting about half an hour, thefhaman placed himſelf crofs- legged upon the floor, cloſe by a few burning coals uponthe hearth, with his face towards his companions; then he took two fticks about fourfeet long each, one in each hand, and began to fing a diſmal tune, beating time withthe ſticks; all his followers joined in the chorus. During this part of the performance,he turned and diftorted his body into many different poltures, till at last he wroughthimſelf up to fuch a degree of fury, that he foamed at the mouth, and his eyes lookedred and flaring. He now ſtarted up on his legs, and fell a dancing, like one diſtracted,till he trode out the fire with his bare feet. Thefe unnatural motions were by the vulgar attributed to the operations of a divinity; and, in truth, one would almoſt haveimagined him poffeffed by fome demon. After being quite ſpent with dancing, he retired to the door of the tent, and gave three dreadful fhrieks, by which his companionsfaid he called the demon, to direct him in anfwering fuch queftions as fhould be propofed. He then returned, and fat down in great compofure, telling he was ready torefolve any queflion that might be afked. Several of our people put queſtions inabundance; all which he anſwered readily, but in fuch ambiguous terms that nothingcould be made of them. He now performed feveral legerdemain tricks, fuch as ftab.bing himſelf with a knife, and bringing it up at his mouth, running himſelf throughwith a fword, and many others too trifling to mention . In fhort, nothing is moreevident than that theſe fhamans are a parcel of jugglers, who impofe on the ignorantand credulous vulgar.The 6th of April, we went to a monaftery, about five miles to the eastward of thisplace, where we dined with the Archbishop of Tobolíky. This prelate had lately comehither to vifit fome monafteries, and in his way had baptifed a number of Ofteaks andother heathens. From this time till the 8th of Maylittle material happened. Wewaited patiently for the diffolving ofthe ice on the Baykall lake, of which we expectedto receive the moſt certain knowledge, by means of the floating ice on the Angara;for, when this happens, that river is filled with floating cakes, which are driven alongwith great fury by the wind and current.The 11th, the river was now clear of ice. Our baggage was ſhipped on boardlarge flat-bottomed boats, and drawn up the ſtream; the wind being foutherly, madethe progreſs of the boats very flow. The ambaffador therefore refolved to remain atthis place, till he heard they had nearly reached the lake, which is about forty verſtfrom Irkutsky.Before we left this place, Mr. Kremeníky, our interpreter for the Latin tongue,died of a hectic diforder. He was a Poliſh gentleman, and had laboured under thisdiftemper for fome years.CHAP. V. -From Irkutsky, cross the Lake Baykall, to Selinginfby, ―Some Account ofthe Kutuchtu, &c.THE 15th of May, the weather being very hot, we did not fet out till after dinner,when we left Irkutsky, accompanied by the commandant and fome other officers oftheplace.350 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.place. We rode along the north bank of the river, through pleafant woods, and fomeopen fields, till we came, about midnight, to a few fiſhermen's huts, where we haltedfor a few hours, and repeated our journey early next morning.At noon, we arrived at a ſmall chapel, dedicated to St. Nicolas, where travellersufually pay their devotions, and pray for a profperous paffa*ge over the lake. Aboutthis religious houſe there are a few fiſhermen's huts. Two monks conftantly attend,to put people in mind of their duty, and receive a fmall gratuity from the paſſengers.Here we found our boats waiting for us below the falls of the Angara. From henceyou can ſee the lake, burfting out betwixt two high rocks, and tumbling down overhuge ſtones, that lie quite croſs the river, which I reckon to be about an Engliſh milebroad. The whole channel of the river is covered with theſe rocks, from the mouthof the lake down to the Chapel of St. Nicolas, about the diſtance of an Engliſh mile.There is no paffa*ge for the ſmalleſt boats, except along the eaft fhore, through anarrow ftrait, between the rocks and the land. In the moſt ſhallow places, there isabout five or fix feet water, and breadth all the way fufficient for any fingle veffel . Butif, by ſtreſs of weather, or any other accident, a boat fhould have the misfortune tomifs this opening, and be thrown upon the rocks, fhe muft immediately be daſhed topieces, and the whole crew inevitably perifh. The waters, daſhing upon the ftones,make a noiſe like the roaring of the fea, ſo that people near them can ſcarce hear oneanother ſpeak. I cannot expreſs the awfulneſs with which one is ftruck, at the fight ofſuch aſtoniſhing ſcenes of nature as appear round this place, and which I believe arenot to be equalled in the known world. The pilots and failors who navigate the lakeſpeak of it with much reverence, calling it the Holy Sea, and the mountains about it,the Holy Mountains; and are highly diſpleaſed with any perfon who fpeaks of it withdifrefpect, or calls it a lake. They tell a ſtory of a certain pilot who always gave itthat appellation, but was feverely puniſhed for his contempt. Being on a voyage inautumn, he and his crew were toffed from fide to fide of the lake, till they were halfſtarved, and in great danger of periſhing. Neceffity, at laft, forced this hardy marinerto comply with the prevailing cuftom, and pray to the Holy Sea and Mountains to havecompaffion on him in fuch diftrefs. His prayers were effectual; and he arrived fafeto land; but was obſerved, ever after, to ſpeak of the fea with the greateſt reſpect.The afternoon was ſpent in adjuſting the tackle, and preparing the barks for beingdrawn up the ſtrong narrow current.The 17th, the wind being contrary, and blowing pretty frefh, the pilots would notventure out. I, and three more of our company, took this opportunity of walking upto the top ofthe mountains, where we had a full view of the fea, and the land to thefouth on the other fide of it, and alfo to the weft, as far as it extends. The land onthe fouth fide of the lake rifes gradually, till it terminates in hills moftly covered withwood; but, on the western fhore, there are very high mountains, feveral whereof areoverſpread with deep fnow, which we could eaſily difcern, though at a great diftance.The Baykall Sea, oppofite to the mouth of the Selinga, is reckoned about fifty Englifh miles broad, though it is much broader in fome other places, and about three hundred miles in length. It is wholly freſh water, and is fupplied by the Selinga, andmany other rivers, from the fouth, and by the higher Angara from the eaſt. Thecourſe of the fea is from fouth-weſt to north-eaſt, and has very few fhelves or rocks.There is only one large iſland, near the middle of it, called Olchon. It is bounded onthe north by a ridge of high rocks, which run from one end of it to the other. Theonly opening by which it diſcharges itfelf is that into the Angara, which, though it is anatural paffa*ge, appears as if cut through the rocks by art. In my opinion, one cannotimagineBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 351imagine a more beautiful proſpect of nature than is feen from the top of theſe mountains, which may eafily be perceived from the fhort and imperfect ſketch I have drawnofit . The woods on the fummit of the rocks are fhort and thinly fcattered; but, ontheir declivity towards the north, and in the valleys, the trees become gradually bothtaller and larger. There is abundance of game and wild beaſts in theſe woods, particularly the wild boar, which was the firſt of that ſpecies we found in this country; acertain fign of a temperate climate; for thefe animals cannot endure the exceffive coldin more northerly parts. The hunting of theſe animals being a dangerous kind offport, we carefully avoided their haunts. In the evening, we returned to our barks atthe chapel of St. Nicolas.The Baykall is abundantly furniſhed with various kinds of excellent fish, particularlyfturgeon, and a fifh called omully, in fhape and tafte refembling a herring, but broaderand larger. The fea produces alfo great numbers of feals, whofe fkins are preferredin quality to thofe of feals caught in falt-water. I am of opinion, that both the fealsand fiſh inthe Baykall came originally from the Northern Ocean, as the communicationbetween them is open, though the diſtance be very great.The feals are generally caught in winter, by strong nets hung under the ice. Themethod they ufe is to cut many holes in the ice, at certain diftances from one another,fo that the fiſhermen can, with long poles, ftretch their nets from one hole to another,and thus continue them to any diſtance. The feals, not being able to bear long confinement under the ice, for want of air, feek thefe holes for relief, and thus entangle themfelves in the nets. Thefe creatures, indeed, commonly make many holes for themfelves, at the fetting in of the froft. In this manner, they catch not only feals, but fiſhof all kinds, in winter.The 18th, the wind being favourable, we put off from St. Nicolas's. As we hadworkmen enough, we left part of them on board, to affift the pilot, by fetting poles,while the reft were employed on fhore in towing the barks againſt a ſtrong current.In about the ſpace of three hours we got clear of the current, and all hands came onboard. We were now quite becalmed, and obliged to take to our oars. We rowedalong ſhore to the eastward till about noon, when we had an eafy breeze, which ſooncarried us two thirds over the fea, under our main-fail. The wind now choppedabout to the eaſt, and blew fo freſh, that we could not make the river Selinga, whichwas the port where we intended to land. As thefe barks cannot turn to windward,we were drove about ten miles to the weftward of the Poffolíky monaſtery, whichftands about fix miles to the weftward of the Selinga, in a pleaſant and fruitful plain,furniſhing an extenfive view in all directions; where, endeavouring to get to land atany rate, we fteered into a bay in which we fancied we faw the fhore covered withco*ckle-fhells or white fand. On a nearer approach, our miſtake appeared. For whatſeemed fhells or ſand, at a diſtance, was only great and ſmall cakes of ice, beating withthe waves againſt the main body of the ice, which lay firm, and covered the whole bay.Our people, on diftinguiſhing the ice, immediately ftruck fail, and were in no fmallconfufion. But Mr. Ifmaeloff ordered the fail to be again fet, and to fteer directly forthe ice. In the mean time, all hands were employed in hanging boards about thebow of the veffel, to prevent the cutting of the planks, and in fetting poles to push offthe large cakes. At laft we came among the ice, which made a terrible rattling atfirft; but the farther we advanced, the eafier our bark lay, till we came to the mainbody of the ice, where the remained as unmoved as if he had been in a mill pond,.though it ftill continued to blow hard. We now quitted the fhip, and walked aboutupon the ice, which was yet ſtrong enough to carry horſes. By this time the fun wasfet,352 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA,fet, which prevented our defign ofgoing afhore, for the diflance was at leaſt five Engliſhmiles; and there was a great gap in the ice near the place where we lay.About midnight, the wind turned wefterly, and, at break of day, we left our ftation,and failed to the eastward, and, about noon, entered the river Selinga, where we foundour other three barks. They having been two or three miles before us the precedingnight, had time enough to reach anchoring ground, and, by this means, efcaped theice, fo little expected at this feafon of the year. We ourſelves, before entering thebay, had founded, in order to diſcover whether we could come to an anchor; but nobottom could be found, though we joined feveral lead-lines together, amounting toabove one hundred and fifty fathoms.The mouth of the Selinga is furrounded with tall reeds, and contains feveral iſlands.The entry into it is very difficult, except the wind be fair, becaufe of many flats andfand-banks, thrown up by the current of the river. Here we found great flocks of allkinds of water-fowl, particularly fnipes.The wind continuing fair, we failed up the river to a finall oratory, dedicated alfo toSt. Nicolas, where all hands went afhore to return thanks for their fafe paffa*ge. Theprior of the Poffolfky monaftery came to this place to falute the ambaſſador, andbrought a prefent of fifh, and fuch other provifions as thefe religious houfes afford .In the evening, we proceeded up the river, till night overtook us, when we hauledour boats clofe to the bank, and lay till next morning, which was the 20th of May.This day being calm , the bark was towed up the river; and we walked along thebanks, hunting all the way in a very pleafant country. At night, we lay by, asformerly.The 21ft, the weather was very hot. We continued our voyage in the fame manneras before.The 22d, the wind being fair, we hoifted fails; and in the evening arrived at a largevillage, well built and peopled, called Kabbanſky Oftrogue. This place is pleafandlyfituated, on arifing ground upon the weft bank of the river, furrounded with manycorn-fields and much pafturage. Here we took new hands on board our barks, anddifmiffed the former to return in open boats to Irkutsky.The 25th, we reached another large village, called Bolfhoy Zaimka, fituated in afertile country . In the neighbourhood is a mall monaftery, and many leffer villages.Many of the Buraty were encamped, with their flocks and herds, on both fides of theriver.The climate on this fide of the Baykall lake is much more temperate than on thenorth fide. The land produces rich crops of wheat, rye, barley, oats, buck-wheat,and peafe, befides kitchen roots, and other garden ftuff. The inhabitants have not yetbegun to plant any kind of fruit-trees, which I am perfuaded would thrive exceedingly,as the winters are fhort, and the fnow does not lie above fix weeks or two months.The banks of the river appeared very pleaſant, being finely varied with plains andwoods.The 26th, we came to a large town, called Udinſky, from the rivulet Uda, whichruns into the Selinga, on the eaft bank. This place alſo ſtands in a fertile plain, having hills covered with woods towards the eaſt. In theſe hills are found ſeveral richcres, particularly of lead; in digging which many hands are now employed. Theminers fay it is of too hard a quality; however, they have extracted confiderable quantities of filver from it; and I have been informed that they alſo found fome veins offilver ore. As thefe works are but lately begun, it is not doubted that they are capable of great improvement, at an eafy charge, as the metal lies fo near the furface.8SamplesBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 353tSamples of theſe ores have been fent to St. Petersburg; and, I am informed, His Majefty has engaged fome German miners to make experiments upon them.Both here and on the Angara iron is to be found in great abundance at the very furface but as the diftance is too great for exportation, it is not worth the labour. Toſupply the common confumption of the country, the fmith takes his bellows, goes tothe mine, and finelts and works as much iron as he needs. I have feen fome of thisiron of an excellent, foft, and pliable quality.Befides the above mentioned, there are at this place very rich mines of copper. Ihave ſeen ſome of the ore with large veins of pure copper running through it. I makeno doubt but time and future difcoveries will bring theſe mines to perfection, to thegreat emolument of the Ruffian empire.All this country is under the jurifdiction of the commandant of Irkutsky, who fendsdeputies to all the towns of this extenfive province, to adminifter juſtice, and take careof His Majefty's revenues. The power of nominating fub-governors and commandants,is vefted by His Majefty in the governor of Siberia, which gives him an authority equalto a fovereign prince.The ambaffador, finding the progrefs of the boats againſt the ſtream very flow andtedious, being befides much peftered with gnats and mufkitoes, refolved to go by landthe rest of the way to Selinginfky: for which purpoſe, the ſuperintendant of this placeordered horſes, and a proper efcort, to be got ready againſt next morning on the otherfide of the river, the road on this fide being interrupted by thick woods and deeprivers.The 27th, having fent off our barks, we croffed the river, and, having no baggage,we foon mounted. The road lay through a fine plain, covered with excellent grafs.In the evening, we came to a fountain of pure water, where we lodged in the tents ofthe Buraty, and ſlept on bull- hides.The 28th, early, we proceeded, travelling over fome pretty high hills overgrownwith wood. About noon, we came to a river called Orongoy, which we croffed, on atall camel, it being too deep for horfes. At this place, we found a number of the Buraty encamped, with their flocks grazing in the neighbourhood.Our horfes having fwam the river, we went into one of the Buratfky tents till theywere dried. The hofpitable landlady immediately fet her kettle on the fire to makeus fome tea; the extraordinary cookery of which I cannot help defcribing. Afterplacing a large iron kettle over the fire, fhe took care to wipe it very clean with ahorfe's tail, that hung in a corner of the tent for that purpofe; then the water was putinto it, and foon after fome coarſe bohea tea, which is got from China, and a little falt.When near boiling, fhe took a large braſs ladle, and toffed the tea till the liquor turnedvery brown. It was now taken off the fire, and, after fubfiding a little, was pouredclear into another place. The kettle being wiped clean with the horſe's tail as before,was again fet upon the fire. The miſtreſs now prepared a pafte, of meal and freſhbutter, that hung in a fkin near the horfe's tail, which was put into the tea-kettle andfried. Upon this paſte the tea was again poured, to which was added fome good thickcream , taken out of a clean fheep's fkin, which hung upon a peg among other things.The ladle was again employed, for the ſpace of fix minutes, when the tea, being removed from the fire, was allowed to ftand a while in order to cool. The landlady nowtook fome wooden cups, which held about half a pint each, and ferved her tea to all thecompany. The principal advantage of this tea, is, that it both fatisfies hunger andquenches thirst. I thought it not difa*greeable; but fhould have liked it much betterhad it been prepared in a manner a little more cleanly. Our bountiful hoſteſs, howVOL. VII. 22 ever,354 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.ever, gave us a hearty welcome; and as thefe people know not the ufe of money,there was nothing to pay for our entertainment. We only made her a prefent of alittle tobacco to fioke, of which thefe people are very fond. I have given this receiptwith a viewthat fome European ladies may improve upon it.After this fhort repaft, we mounted again; and, in the evening, came to a neat Ruffian village, on the front of a pleaſant hill covered with wood. This place is furroundedwith extenfive valleys and fine pafturage, and our accommodation was better than thepreceding night. Here we met Mr. Firfoff, colonel of the coffacks, or militia of Selinginfky, with a fquadron of horfe, armed with bows and arrows, and fome firelocks,who came to efcort the ambaſſador to that place.The 29th of May, we mounted early, and, by means of our coffacks , hunted andranged the woods, as we went along, in the manner of this country, called oblave inthe Ruffian language. Their method is to form a femi- circle of horsem*n, armedwith bows and arrows, in order to inclofe the game. Within the femi-circle a fewyoung men are placed, who give notice when the game is fprung; thofe only are permitted to purſue, the others being confined to keep their ranks. Our coffacks withtheir arrows, killed three deers, and feveral hares: and, if killing harmleſs animals canbe called diverfion, this may properly be reckoned one of the fineft. After this faſhionthey hunt bears, wolves, foxes, and wild boars.Ábout noon, we came to a village on the Selinga, where we halted a few hours, andthen croffed the river in boats, which was near a mile broad at this place. Our coffacks, however, fought no boats, except one to tranfport their arms, cloaths, andLaddies; which being done, all of them mounted their horfes, and plunged into theriver without the leaft concern. As foon as the horfes were fet a fwimming, for eaſeto them the men difmounted, and laying hold of the mane with one hand, guided themgently by the bridle with the other. This is the common method in this country oftranfporting men and horfes, which I look upon to be both fafe and eafy, provided thehorfe is managed with a gentle hand, without checking him with fudden jerks of thebridle..We halted a little, after croffing the river, till the horfes were dried; after which we'mounted, and, in the evening, arrived at the town of Selinginfky, where we intendedto wait for our barks, and the reft of our people.Selinginfky is fituated on the eaft bank of the noble river Selinga, in a deep, barren ,fandy foil, that produces almost nothing. The choice of this fituation was extremelyinjudicious; for, had the founders gone but half a mile further down, to the placewhere now the inhabitants have their gardens, they would have had a fituation, inevery refpect, preferable to the prefent.This place confifts of about two hundred houſes and two churches, which are all ofthem built with wood. It is defended by a fortification of ſtrong pallifades, on whichare mounted fome cannon.About a mile eastward of the town is a ridge of high hills, quite covered with wood.Onthe other fide of the river the country is open, dry, and fomewhat barren, but affords excellent paſture, particularly for theep, whereof the Buraty, the inhabitants,have large flocks. They are of that kind which hath broad tails; and their mutton isvery good. Theſe people have, befides, a large fort of horned cattle, and abundanceof horfes and camels, wherein all their riches confift. Here ends the tribe of the Buraty; and the nation ofthe Mongalls begins.The Mongalls are a numerous people, and occupy a large extent of country, fromthis place to the Kallgan, which fignifies the Everlafting Wall, or the great wall ofChina.BELL'S TRAVEL'S IN ASIA.355China. From this wall, they ftretch themfelves northward, as far as the river Amoor,and fromthe Amoor weftward to the Baykall Sea, where they border with the territoriesof the Kontayfha, or prince of the Black Kalmucks. On the fouth; they are boundedby a nation called Tonguts, among whom the Delay-Lama has his refidence. Onemay eaſily imagine, from the vast tract of land which the Mongalls occupy, that theymuſt be very numerous, efpecially when it is confidered that they live in a healthy climate, and have been engaged in no wars fince they were conquered, partly bythe Ruffians on the weft, and partly by the Chineſe onthe eaft; to whom all theſe people arenow tributaries. In former times, the Mongalls were troublefome neighbours to theChineſe, againſt whofe incurfions the great wall was built.Kamhi, the prefent Emperor of China, was the first who fubdued thefe hardy Tartars, which he effected more by kind ufa*ge and humanity than by his fword; for thefepeople are great lovers of liberty. The fame gentle treatment hath been obferved bythe Ruffians towards thofe of them who are their fubjects. And they themfelves confefs, that, under the protection of thefe two mighty Emperors, they enjoy more liberty,and live more at eafe, than they formerly did under their own princes.The prefent prince of Mongalia is called Tufh-du-Chan, and refides about fix daysjourney to the fouth-eaft from Selinginfky. The place is called Urga, and is near towhere the Kutuchtu or high- prieſt inhabits. Whenthe Mongalls fubmitted themſelvesto the Emperor of China, it was agreed, that the Tufh- du - Chan fhould ſtill maintainthe name and authority of a prince over his people, but undertake no war nor expedition without the confent of the Emperor; which has ftrictly been obferved ever fince.It is very remarkable, that in all the vaſt dominions of Mongalia, there is not fomuch as a fingle houfe to be feen. All the people, even the prince and high-priest,live conftantly in tents; and remove with their cattle from place to place, as conveniency requires.Theſe people do not trouble themſelves with plowing or digging the ground in anyfaſhion, but are content with the produce of their flocks. Satisfied with neceffaries,without aiming at fuperfluities, they purfue the moſt ancient and ſimple manner of life,which, I must confefs, I think very pleaſant in fuch a mild and dry climate.From the river Volga to the wall of China there are three great Tartar princes, theAyuka-Chan, the Kontayfha, and the Tufh-du- Chan. Theſe three mighty nationshave almoſt the ſame features, religion, and language, and live in the fame manner. Itwill eafily be perceived, by cafting an eye onthe map, what an extent of territory theſeprinces poffefs, whofe fubjects go by the general name of Kalmucks. Few languagescan carry a traveller over a greater extent of country than that of the Kalmucks. Withthe Arabic, indeed, a perfon may travel through many places of the eaſt, from Egyptto the court ofthe great Mogul; but with the Illyric he can travel much further thanwith either of the former, viz. from the Gulf of Venice to the utmoſt boundaries ofKamtzatſka; for the Ruffian is a dialect of the Illyric.The greateſt part of Mongalia is one continued waſte, except the places along theAmoor, and towards the Ruffian borders on the weft. The foil alſo to the fouth fromSelinginſky, is exceedingly fine, and capable, by proper culture, of producing grain offeveral forts.Since I have mentioned the Amoor, I prefume this will be no improper place to givefome account of that river. It is called by the Tartars Shaggalynoulla, or the BlackDragon, I fuppofe from the colour of its waters, and the windings of its courfe. It isformed of two large rivers, whofe fources are in the defert, far to the eastward of thisplace. One is called Argun, which iffues from a lake named Delay; the other isZ z 2 Ingoda,356 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.Ingoda, on the north bank of which ſtands the famous Ruffian town Nertziníky. Theconflux of theſe rivers produces the Amoor, which runs towards the eaſt, augmenting daily by means of the many great and ſmall ſtreams it receives, till it becomesone of the largest rivers in this part of the world, and , after a long courſe, diſchargesitſelf into the Eaſtern or Chineſe ocean. It is remarkable, that from Cazan to theſeparts, the Amoor is the only river that runs eaſtward. Moft, if not all, of the greatrivers in Siberia have their courfes to the north and north-west.Our barks arrived at Selinginſky on the 4th of June. After we had taken out ofthem what neceffaries we wanted, they were diſpatched with the reft of the baggage,for their greater fecurity, to His Majefty's ftore-houfe at Strealka, about four milesup the river, where the caravan for China then lay.In the mean time, the ambaſſador wrote a letter to the Allegada, or prime minifter,at the imperial court of Pekin, to notify his arrival, and defire his excellency wouldgive orders for his reception on the borders. This letter was fent to the prince ofMongalia, to be by him forwarded to court; for no ftrangers are allowed to travelthrough his territories to China without his permiffion. The officer who carried theletter to the prince, was treated with great civility, and his letter immediately fent tocourt by an exprefs. A few days after, the prince fent two gentlemen, one of whomwas a lama, to congratulate the ambaffador on his arrival in theſe parts. They wereinvited to dine with the ambaffador, and behaved very decently.The fame officer, who carried the ambaffador's letter to the prince of Mongalia atUrga, was ordered to preſent his compliments to the Kutuchtu, or high priest, who isa near relation of the prince. He received the officer in a very friendly manner, defired him to fit down in his prefence; an honour granted to very few, except ambaffadors and pilgrims from remote countries; and, at his departure, gave him a prefent offome inconfiderable things, particularly a few pieces of Chineſe filks.I cannot leave this venerable perfonage, without taking fome notice of him. I fhalltherefore relate a few things concerning him, among thouſands more ridiculous, whichthe people in this country tell and believe.This extraordinary man affumes to himſelf the character of omniſcience, which is theinterpretation of the word Kutuchtu; and the people are taught to believe that hereally knows all things paſt , preſent, and future. As his intelligence, by means of hislamas, is very extenfive, he is eafily able to impofe on the vulgar in this particular.They alſo believe that he is immortal, not that his body lives always, but that his foul,the decay of an old one, immediately tranſmigrates into fome young human body,which, by certain marks, the lamas difcover to be animated by the foul ofthe Kutuchtu,and he is accordingly treated as high prieſt.uponWhen the fpirit of the Kutuchtu has taken poffeffion of a new body, that is, inplain Engliſh, when he is dead, the lamas are immediately employed to diſcover in whatpart of the world this wonderful perſon is regenerated, or born again, as they exprefsit. They need, however, go to no great diftance to find him; for, the affair beingpreviouſly concerted among the chief lamas, they foon determine the choice of a fucceffor, who generally happens to be a young boy, that has been well inſtructed how tobehave on that occafion. When a fucceffor is pretended to be found, a company oflamas are fent to examine the matter, who carry along with them many toys, fuch asfmall filver bells, and things of that nature, which belonged to the former Kutuchtu,intermixed with others that did not. All theſe are laid before the child, who picksout fuch things as belonged to his predeceffor, and difcovers the greateſt fondneſsfor them, but rejects with difguft whatever is not genuine. Befides this trial,fomeBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 357 .fome queſtions are put to him relative to wars or remarkable events in his former flate,all which are anfwered to the fatisfaction ofthe conclave; whereupon he is unanimouslydeclared to be the felf-fame Kutuchtu, is conducted with great pomp and ceremony toUrga, and lodged in the tent of the high prieſt.Till the new Kutuchtu arrives at a certain age, he is entirely under the government ofthe lamas, and few are permitted to fee him, except at a great diftance, and even then itis not eafy to get accefs to him. It mayfeem furprifing , that in fo numerous an affemblyof lamas no intrigues fhould be carried on, nor difputes ariſe among the electors. All isconducted without noife or contention. It is, however, imagined that the authority ofthe prince greatly contributes to their unanimity.The Mongalls relate that their Kutuchtu now has lived fourteen generations, and renews his age every moon; for at the new moon he appears like a youth; whenfhe is full, like a full grown man; but when near the change, he is an old man withgray hairs.•What they call the Urga is the court, or the place where the prince and high prieſtrefide, who are always encamped at no great diftance from one another. They havefeveral thouſand tents about them, which are removed from time to time. The Urgais much frequented by merchants from China and Ruffia, and other places, where alltrade is carried on by barter, without money of any kind. The Chineſe bring hitheringots ofgold, damaſks, and other filk and cotton ftuffs, tea, and fome porcelain, whichare generally of an inferior quality, and proper for fuch a market. The Ruffian commodities are chiefly furs of all forts. Rhubarb is the principal article which is exchangedfor theſe goods, great quantities whereof are produced in this country without any culture. The Mongalls gather and dry it in autumn, and bring it to this market, whereit is bought up at an eaſy rate, both by the Ruffian and Chineſe merchants.Th eKutuchtu and his lama are all clothed in yellow, and no layman is allowed to:wear this colour except the prince. This mark of diſtinction makes them known andrefpected every where. They alfo wear about their neck a ftring of beads, which areufed in faying their prayers. The Mongalls believe in and worship one AlmightyCreator of all things. They hold that the Kutuchtu is God's vicegerent on earth, andthat there will be a ſtate offuture rewards and puniſhments.The following relation which I had from a Ruffian merchant, to whom the thinghappened, will fhew the methods taken by thefe lamas to maintain the dignity and character of their mighty high prieft. This merchant had gone to the Urga, with an intention to trade with the Chineſe. While he was at this place, fome pieces of damafkwere ftolen out of his tent. He made a complaint to fome of the lamas with whom hewas acquainted, and the matter was foon brought before the Kutuchtu, who immediatelyordered proper fteps to be taken with a view to find out the thief. The affair wasconducted in this uncommon manner: one ofthe lamas took a bench with four feet,which feems to have been of the conjuring kind; after turning it feveral times in different directions, at laſt it pointed directly to the tent where the ftolen goods lay concealed. The lama now mounted aſtride the bench, and foon carried it , or, as was commonly believed, it carried him, to the very tent, where he ordered the damaſk to beproduced. The demand was directly complied with: for it is in vain, in ſuch caſes, tooffer any excufe.I fhall now fubjoin a few obſervations on the Delay-Lama, or prieft of the defert, whois reckoned ftill fuperior to the Kutuchtu. He lives about a month's journey to thefouth-east of this place, among a people called the Tonguts, who uſe a different languagefrom the Kalmucks. I am informed, that the religion of the Tonguts is the fame with5that358BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.that of the Mongalls; that they hold the fame opinions with refpect to the tranfmigration of the Delay- Lama, as the Mongalls do about the Kutuchtu, and that he is electedin the fame manner. What appears moft furprifing is, that thefe two mighty lamaskeep a good correfpondence, and never encroach on one another's privileges. Theword Delay fignifies either the fea, or a great plain, fuch as this pricft inhabits.CHAP. VI.--- Occurrences at Selinginfky; feveral Partics of Hunting; and Journey continued to Saratzyn, the Boundary between the Ruffian and Chinefe Territories.THE Tonguts are a feparate people, governed by a prince whom they call LazinChan. One of their princes was lately killed in an engagement with the Kontayfha,King of the Black Kalmucks. The Delay-Lama himſelf narrowly eſcaped being takenprifoner, notwithſtanding all his forefight. The Lama threatened the Kontayfha withmany difafters, as the confequences of fuch proceedings. The Kontayfha, however, regarded them very little, till he had attained his ends; after which he generouſly reinflated both the Prince and the Delay- Lama in their former dignity. The Kontayfha isof the fame profeffion with the Delay-Lama, and acknowledges his authority in religious matters .I am informed there is a third lama, called Bogdu-Pantzin, of ſtill greater authoritythan either of the former. But as he lives at a great diſtance, near the frontiers of theGreat Mogul, he is little known in theſe parts. Though I am unwilling to throw theleaft reflection on any fociety of men inftituted for the promotion of religion and virtue,from all I can collect concerning thefe lamas, they are little better than fhamans of fuperior dignity.The anfwer to the letter which the ambaffador had written to Pekin was not yet arrived. Inthe mean time we were obliged to remain at Selinginſky, where we entertained ourfelves in the beſt manner we could.June the 12th, walking along the bank of the river, I was a little furpriſed at thefigure and drefs of a man, ftanding among a number of boys who were angling for fmallfishes. The perfon bought all the fiſhes alive, and immediately let them go again intothe river, which he did very gently one by one. The boys were very civil to him, thoughthey looked upon him as diftracted, on account of his behaviour. During this ceremony he took little notice of me, though I fpoke to him feveral times. I foon perceived,by his dreſs, and the ſtreak of ſaffron on his forehead, that he was one of the Brachmans from India.After fetting all the fifh a-fwimming, he feemed much pleaſed; and, having learneda little of the Ruffian language, and a fmattering of the Portugueſe, began to converfewith me. I carried him to my lodgings, and offered to entertain him with a dram, buthe would taſte nothing; for he ſaid it was againſt the rules of his religion to eat or drinkwith ſtrangers. I afked him the reafon why he bought the fifh to let them go again?He told me, that perhaps the fouls of fome of his deceaſed friends or relations had takenpoffeffion of thefe fifhes; and, upon that fuppofition, it was his duty to relieve them;that, according to their law, no animal whatever ought to be killed or eaten; and theyalways lived on vegetables.After this interview we became fo familiar, that he came every day to vifit me. Hewas a cheerful man, about ſeventy years of age. He had a buſh of hair growing onhis forehead very much matted, and at leaſt fix feet in length. When it hung looſe ittrailed upon the ground behind him; but he commonly wore it wrapped about his 8 headBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 359head in form of a turban. The hair was not all his own, but collected as relics of hisfriends, and others of his profeffion, reputed faints; all which he had intermixed andmatted with his natural hair. Perfons of this character are called Faquers, and efteemed facred every where.He told me he was a native of Indoftan, and had often been at Madras, which hecalled Chinpatan, and faid it belonged to the English. This circumftance, added tofeveral others, made me believe he was no impoftor, but an innocent kind of creature,as are most of that fect. He came to this country in company with fome others of hiscountrymen, on a pilgrimage, in order to pay their devotions to the Kutuchtu and DelayLama. They had been twelve months on their journey, and had travelled all the wayon foot, over many high mountains and waſte deferts, where they were obliged to carrytheir provifions, and even water, on their backs. I fhewed him a map of Afia, whereon he pointed out the courfe of his journey, but found many errors in the geography;and no wonder, fince few Europeans would have had the refolution to undertake fuch ajourney as this man had done.The 14th, a chief named Tayſha, of thofe Mongalls who are fubjects of His Majefty,came to pay his refpects to the ambaffador, who gave him a friendly reception, andkept him to dinner. He was a merry old man, near fourfcore, but fo vigorous that hecould mount a horfe with as much agility as many young men. He was accompaniedwith five fons, and many attendants, who treated him with equal refpect as a king, andeven his fons would not fit down in his prefence till he defired them. I confefs it gaveme great pleaſure to fee the decency with which they behaved. One of our company, apretty fat man, afked the Tayfha what he fhould do in order to be as lean as he was?The old man replied in thefe words, " Eat lefs, and work more:" a faying worthy ofHippocrates himself. In his youth he had been engaged in many battles with theChineſe, whom he held in great contempt. As he was a keen ſportſman, the ambaffador made an appointment with him for a grand hunting match. After which he and hisretinue returned to their tents.The 15th, we dined at Strealka with the commiffary, Mr. Stepnikoff, of the caravangoing to China. Strealka is fituated, as I formerly obferved, about three or four milesup the river from Selinginſky, in a fruitful plain of a triangular figure, formed by theconflux of two fine rivers; the Strealka running from the eaft, and the Selinga fromthe fouth. This would have been the ſtrongeſt and moſt beautiful fituation of any inthis province, for the town of Selinginfky. I am informed that the founders had aview to this delightful place, but the choice was determined against them by fuperftitious lots, to which it was referred. This method of choofing fituations by lot has hurtmany noble cities, and rendered the work of ages ineffectual to remedy the error.The fame evening we returned by water to Selinginfky, and next day went a huntingto the weft of the Selinga. We had about two hundred Coffacks along with us, whofollowed the common method of ranging the woods, mentioned above. We killed fixroe-bucks, and many hares. In the evening we pitched our tents about a fountain,and feafted on venifon.The 16th, early, we left the woods to our right, and defcended into a barren plain,where we found great flocks of antelopes. Our people killed about twenty of them.Thefe animals avoid the woods, and frequent the open plains and deferts. They areexceedingly fwift and watchful; and fo far refemble fheep, that if one breaks throughthe circle, the whole flock follows, though an hundred horfemen were in the way,which proves the deftruction of many of thefe creatures .of . The noife of the arrows withwhich they are hunted, contributes much to their confufion. The heads of thefe arrows360 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.rows are broad, and fixed in a round bit of bone, with two holes in it, which makes themwhiſtle as they fly through the air.1At noon we fet up our tents near a lake of brackish water called Solonoy-ofera, orthe falt lake. Round the edge lies a thick fcurf of falt, as white as fnow, which theinhabitants gather for ufe. Here we found great flocks of water-fowl, fuch as fwans,geefe, ducks. The weather being very hot, we remained till next day.The 17th, we hunted along the fame wafte plain, directing our courfe to the fouth,towards the river Selinga. This day alfo we had very good fport. In the afternoonwe pitched our tents near a fpring of freſh water, which is no fmall rarity in theſeparched deferts, and is as much regarded here as a good inn would be in other parts ofthe world. I found at this place a prickly ſhrub about three feet high, with a beautifulfmooth bark as yellow as gold.The 18th, in the morning, we had terrible flaſhes of lightning, accompanied withthunder, and heavy fhowers of hail and rain, which determined us to leave the plains,and return by the fhorteft road to Selinginfky. Befides the game already mentioned,we found many large buſtards, which haunt the open country. As it is a very largebird, and riſes ſlowly, our light horſemen killed ſeveral of them with their arrows.The 24th, arrived an officer from the court of Pekin, fent on purpoſe to diſcover thenumber and quality of the embaffy. This gentleman, whofe name was Tuluſhin, was aMantfhu Tartar by birth, and a member of the tribunal for weſtern affairs, with whichhe was very well acquainted. Thefe officers are called Surgutfky by the Mongalls, andby the Europeans Mandarin, a Portugueſe word derived from mando. He had formerly been in this country, and had learned the Ruffian language. He pretended tohave been employed on fome buſineſs with the Tuſh- du- Chan at Urga, and, hearing ofthe ambaſſador's arrival, had come to pay his refpects to him. It was, however, wellknown, that he was fent to enquire whether the ambaſſador came on a friendly errand.He was received very kindly, and, after he had ftaid three days and made his obfervations, returned very well fatisfied. At his departure, he told the ambaffador that orderswould foon be given for his reception on the frontiers; but thefe could not be iffuedtill his arrival at court, becauſe on his report the whole affair depended. This wifeand cautious nation, jealous of all the world, fuffer none to enter their territories butfuch as bring friendly meffa*ges. By this circumftance we were confined fome timelonger at Selinginſky.I fhall now give a defcription of the courfe of the Selinga, according to the beſt information I could procure from thoſe who had been at its fource. The Selinga isformed of two other rivers, called the Idyr and the Tzolato, coming from the mountains of Kungay, far to the fouthward of this place. It is afterwards joined by two inconfiderable rivers, the Orchon from the ſouth- eaſt, and the Tzida from the fouth-weſt,and laftly by the Strealka from the eaft, a little above the town of Selinginſky. At thisplace it is at leaſt twice the breadth of the river Thames, and is navigable a great wayabove it. The courſe now is due north, till it diſcharges itſelf into the Baykall lake.The fource ofthis river is eſtimated at the diſtance of ten or twelve days journey aboveSelinginfky, which is the common method of computation in this country. It is plentifully furnished with variety of excellent fifh. 1 he omuly, which I formerly defcribed,come in vaft fhoals from the Baykall in autumn up this river to fpawn; after whichthey return to the ſea ſo weak that many of them are carried down floating on the furface of the ftream. During the progrefs of the omuly up the river, the inhabitants ofthe adjacent villages affemble with their nets, and catch as many ofthem as they pleaſe.On this occafion the poor take what they can ufe, and the reft are left upon the banks.ThefeBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 361Thefe fishes advance up the river about ten miles a-day. On their first appearance thereport is foon fpread over the country, and in two or three hours the people catch asmany as they need, either for prefent ufe or winter provifions. The fifh is very agreeable food, either freſh or falted. It is obferved, they are much better and fatter thenearer they are caught to the fea; a plain argument that, were they caught in the fea,they would ftill be preferable to any caught in the river. I have often thought, whatineftimable treaſure thefe omuly would produce in other parts of the world, whereashere, the confumption being fmall, they are little valued. It is remarkable, that theomuly are not to be found at any ſeaſon in the Angara, or other rivers to the north ofthe Baykall.July 5th, the Tayfha-Batyr arrived, in confequence of his appointment with the ambaffador, and brought along with him three hundred men, well mounted for the chace.This old gentleman had the appellation of Batyr; a title of great refpect among theMongalls. It fignifies a hero; and is conferred only on thofe who have fignalizedthemfelves by their courage and conduct in the field of battle. Befides thefe Mongalls, we carried with us fifty of our Coffacks and our tents, as we propofed to beabroad fome days.Early on the 6th, we took our way to the eastward, over high hills, and through tallwoods, having almoſt no underwood to incommode the horfes, or interrupt our view,which made it very pleafant. After riding a few miles, the Tayſha, being maſter ofthechace, ordered his men to extend their lines. The Tayfha and we were in the center,and often faw the game pafs us, purſued by the horſemen at full fpeed, without theleaft noife, but the whiftling of arrows. The horſes, being accuftomed to this kind offport, follow the game as a greyhound does a hare; fo that the riders lay the bridleson their necks, and attend to nothing but their bows and arrows. One may eafilyimagine the exquifite entertainment, in feeing feveral of thefe horſemen in purſuit of anelk or ftag through the valleys. When the animal is driven from the woods, it fliesfor fafety to the neareſt rocks. Some of theſe creatures are nearly as large and ſtrongas the horſes that hunt them. The flags are of two kinds; one called zuber, thefame with the German crownhirfh, but fomewhat larger. The zuber is large andbeautiful, and carries its head almoft upright as it runs, which prevents its horns beingentangled with branches of trees. There are none of them in Ruffia, nor even in Siberia, except about the Baykall lake and eastward fromit; the places farther to the northbeing too cold for them. The elk is larger than the ſtag, and ftronger made, havingalfo long branchy horns, but a little flat.Tired with ſport, we left the hills in the afternoon , and came down into a fine valley,where we pitched our tents near a pure brook. The Tayfha then ordered all the deadgame to be brought before him, and ranged in proper order. We found that this daywe killed no lefs than five large elks, four ftags, a dozen roe-bucks, feveral wolves andfoxes, befides fawns and hares.The Tayfha caufed the game to be divided among the huntfmen, who began immediately to dreſs it, fome ofthem by boiling, others by broiling, and eat it without eitherbread or falt. The tails ofthe ftags, which by thefe people are reckoned very delicate,,fell tothe Tayfha's fhare. He cut them into flices, and eat them raw. I eat a bit of one ofthem, and thought it very palatable. The tafte refembled nothing fo much as that offresh caviare. After we had feafted on variety of excellent venifon, for we had noother proviſions, we went to reft, well fatisfied with the diverfion of the day.July 7th, early in the morning, we left the plains, and directed our courfe eastward,in the fame order we obferved the preceding day. As our fport was much the fame, I3 A VOL. VII. need362BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.need not mention the particulars . About noon we pitched our tents near a ſpring offreſh water, in a valley where the grafs was about two feet long. This circumſtance isa proof of the goodnefs of the foil , which in myopinion cannot fail, if properly cultivated, to produce any kind of grain. As the weather was exceffively hot, we ftaid inthis place till next day.July 8th, we continued our fport in the woods till noon, when we came into anextenfive plain, in which we fet up our tents, near a fpring of brackish water. Inthis place we obferved feveral flocks of antelopes, which we referved for next day'shunting.In the morning our Tayfha difpatched fome of his horfemen to the tops of the hills,in order to diſcover where the antelopes were feeding; which, as I formerly obferved,are the moſt watchful, and, at the fame time, the fwifteft animals in the world. Whenthey returned we extended our wings to a great diftance, that we might furround thefecreatures with the greater eafe, and before noon our people killed above twenty of them.After which, we returned to our tents that were left ſtanding in the morning.July 10th, we took leave of the Tayfha, whofe tents were to the caft of this place, andreturned next day to Selinginſky.During this fhort excurfion I could not enough admire the beauty of the countrythrough which we paffed. The gentle rifing ofthe hills, many ofwhich have their topsonly covered with wood, and the fertility of the vales, contribute to form one of themoft delightful landfcapes the world can afford. To this may be added the temperatureand drynefs of the climate, in which refpect this far exceeds any country with which Iam acquainted. After midfummer there is almoft no rain till December, when thefnow falls, and in fuch moderate quantities, that it does not hinder the cattle from lying abroad all the winter.In furveying thefe fertile plains and pleafant woods, I have often entertained myſelfwith painting, in myown imagination, the neat villages, country-feats, and farm-houſes,which, in procefs of time, may be erected on the banks of the rivers, and brows of thehills. There is here wafte land enough to maintain, with eafy labour, feveral Europeannations, who are at prefent confined to barren and ungrateful foils; and with regard tothe Mongalls, whofe honeſty and fimplicity of manners are not unamiable, I fhould likethem very well for neighbours.From what I have read of North America, I am of opinion, that this country reſembles none ſo much as fome of our colonies in that quarter of the world, particularlythe inland parts of Pennfylvania and Maryland. Both countries lie nearly in the famelatitude; in one we find great lakes and mighty rivers; in the other, the Baykall Seaand rivers, which for the length of their courfe and quantity of water, may be rankedwith any in the western world.Having refted ourfelves a few days after our fatigue, on the 16th of July, we fet outon another hunting-match, attended by our own Coffacks, and a few of the neighbouringMongalls. We went on this occafion farther northward, and nearer to the Baykalllake than in our former expedition. Our fport was almoft of the fame kind as alreadydefcribed. I fhall only add, that both the flag and elk fhed their horns once a year;at which time they retire to thickets and folitary places till their horns begin to fpringagain. It is furprifing that animals fo large, with fuch prodigious weight of branchyhorns, fhould run with almoft incredible fpeed through the thickeft woods, withoutentangling them:felves: but, to avoid this misfortune, they point their nofes alwaysparallel to the horizon. When either the elk or ftag are clofely attacked, they makeà vigorous defence both with horns and hoofs. At rutting-time efpecially, thefe creaturesBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.363fo very furious, that it is extremely dangerous for any perfon to approach theirhaunts; they will then run at a man full fpeed, and, if he efcapes being wounded bytheir horns, will trample him to death with their fharp hoofs. As the weather was exceffively hot, we kept the field only two days, and then returned to Selinginfky.July 20th, another Mandarin arrived from Pekin, accompanied by an officer fromArga, who brought a letter to the ambaſſador from the Tufh-du- Chan, acquainting him,thathe might foon expect a perfon, properly authoriſed , to conduct him to the imperialcity. No news could be more agreeable. We hoped now to be foon releafed fromthis folitary place, and arrive at the end of our journey. We were indeed well enoughlodged, and wanted neither the neceffaries nor conveniencies of life. The abundanceof rural diverfions which this place afforded, coinciding happily with the genius ofmoſt of our gentlemen, and the harmony that fubfifted among the retinue, thoughcompofed of people from moft nations in Europe, and fome from Afia, contributed nota little to our pailing the time very agreeably. Notwithstanding thefe advantages, andthe affability and courteous behaviour of the ambaffador, which heightened them all, wewere uneafy at being detained fo long on the frontiers. We were apprehenfive thatfome accident might happen to prevent our journey, eſpecially as it was reported amongthe Mongalls, that the Emperor of China, being far advanced in years, was fometimesfick, and not difpofed to receive foreign minifters.The 24th, there fell fuch a fhower of hail-ftones as no man then alive had ever feen.It was happy for us we were not then abroad, as the open field affords no kind offhelter.The hail lay fome days in the woods and cooled the air, which before that time hadbeen exceffively hot. This day the Kutuchtu fent two lamas to compliment the ambaffador, to wish him a good journey, and a happy fight of the Emperor, or Boghdoy.chan, as he is called by theſe people.Auguſt 9th, a courier arrived from Pekin, who told the ambaſſador that he had paffedour conductor on the road, and that we ſhould now prepare for our journey to the capital, as that gentleman would arrive in a few days.On the 24th, our conductor, called Lomy, at laſt arrived. He was by birth a MantſhuTartar, and a member ofthe court for the weſtern department. After remaining withus for fome days, he returned to Yolla, a place upon the border, in order to procurehorfes and camels for our journey.September 8th, we fent our baggage by water to Strealka, and next day we followedit. We lived in tents while we ſtaid at this place, till horfes and camels were got ready.In the mean time, our people were employed in packing up the baggage into properloads for camels. Strealka, I formerly obferved , is the place where His Majefty's commiffary of the caravan has his abode, and the government of Siberia their ftorchoufes.I imagine, therefore, it will not be improper, before we proceed, to give fome accountof the trade carried on from this place.Formerly the fur trade was free to all His Majefty's fubjects, both Ruffians and Tartars. The merchants repaired to Siberia at the proper feafons, where they bought atcheap rates, all the rich furs they could find, and difpofed of them in Perfia, Turkey,and Poland, at a price much below the real value. The government of Siberia perceived a very confiderable diminution ofthe revenue in that country, and foon difcoveredthe true cauſe of it; which was, that a great part of the furs belonging to His Majeftyremained unfold. Upon inquiry, it appeared that this was owing to the foreign inarkets being fupplied with thefe commodities at low rates, by the fubjects, before thegoods belonging to the government could be expofed to fale. The government of Siberia reprefented to His Majefty the lofs of fo confiderable a branch of his revenue; in3A 2confequence364BELL'S TRAVELSIN ASIA.confequence of which, an order was immediately iffued, prohibiting all private perfonsfor the future to export fables in particular. Since this regulation took place, the go.vernment have fent their own furs, generally once in three years, by caravans to China.The value of one of theſe caravans is reckoned to amount to four or five thousandroubles, and yields a return of at leaſt double that fum. The Emperor of China, fromregard to the friendſhip and good neighbourhood of His Majefty, gives the caravans freequarters, and liberty to difpofe of their goods, and buy others, without exacting anyimpoft. At first, the Emperor not only gave the caravan free quarters, but alſo maintained, at his own charge, both men and horſes during their ſtay in Pekin. This laſt expreffion of His Majefty's bounty is, however, now withdrawn.September 15th, our conductor having acquainted the ambaffador that the horfesand camels were ready, our baggage was difpatched to the frontiers, eſcorted by ourown foldiers and fome Coffacks; though indeed there was no great occafion for anyguard, as the Mongalls feem to have little ufe for any thing that belonged to us.After dining with the commiffary ofthe caravan at Strealka, on the 18th, we left thatplace in the evening, accompanied with the commiffary and moft ofthe officers at Selinginfky. After we had travelled about twenty Engliſh miles to the fouth- eaft, throughfine plains covered with exceeding long grafs, we arrived at the end of the firft ftagecalled Kolludtzy, where we found our tents, which had been fent off in the morning,ready for our reception. This day we faw fome fcattered tents of Mongalians withtheir flocks.Next day, we travelled about twenty miles farther to a fingle houfe, built by thecommiffaryfor a fhade to his cattle in winter. Wehunted all the way through a pleafant country, interfperfed with little hills covered with wood, but faw as few inhabitantsas the day before.The 20th, about noon, we reached a place called Saratzyn, or the NewMoon, fituated on the bank of a rivulet of the fame name. This rivulet is the boundary betweenthe Ruffian and Chinefe territories, and feparates two of the moſt mighty monarchies inthe world. The diftance between Selinginfky and this place is computed to be aboutone hundred and four verft, nearly feventy English miles."The conductor was encamped on the eaft fide of the rivulet, and we pitched ourtents on the other. The ground on both fides rifes a little, and the foil feems to beextremely good. The grafs is rank and thick, and, as the feafon is very dry, would,with little labour, make excellent hay. This grafs is often fet on fire by the Mongallsin the fpring during high winds. At fuch times it burns moſt furioufly, running likewild-fire, and fpreading its flames to the diſtance of perhaps ten or twenty miles, till itsprogrefs is interrupted by fome river or barren hill. The impetuofity of thefe flames,their fmoke and crackling noife, cannot eafily be conceived by thoſe who have not feenthem. When any perfon finds himſelf to the leeward of them, the only method bywhich he can fave himſelffrom their fury, is to kindle immediately the grafs where heftands, and follow his own fire. For this purpofe, every perfon is provided with flints,fteel, and tinder. The reaſon why the Mongalls fet fire to the grafs, is to procureearly pafture for their cattle. The afhes left upon the ground fink into the earth atthe melting of the fnow, and prove an excellent manure; fo that the grafs in thefpring rifes on the lands, which have been prepared in this manner, as thick as afield of wheat. Caravans, travellers with merchandiſe, but eſpecially armies, neverencamp upon this rank graſs. And there are feveral inftances of confiderablebodies of men being put in confufion, and even defeated, by the enemy's fetting fire tothe grafs,BeforeBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 365Before I leave the Ruffian territories, I fhall give fome account of the marches between theſe two famous empires. The frontier, according to the beft information I couldprocure, begins a great way weftward of this place, near the fource of the river Dzida;from thence it proceeds to the eaft, croffing the Selinga, and runs along the tops of thehills, inclining fometimes to the north, and fometimes to the fouth, till it meets with therivulet Saratzyn. It runs then in a very irregular line, varying its direction accordingto the courſe of the rivers and brooks, or from the top of one hill to fome other remarkable point in view, pointing in general towards the north-eaft , till it ends at theriver Argun, which, together with the Ingoda, forms the Amoor. This boundary includes a vast tract of excellent land on the Ruffian fide; and that part of the Mongallswho inhabit it, being ſtout men, and living much at eafe, will in time become a numerous people.The marches were fettled upon the prefent footing about twenty-five years ago, onthe following occafion: the Mongalls, on the Chineſe fide, alledged that their countrymen, fubjects of Ruffia, encroached on their borders, which created fome difputes between the two nations. The caufes of this miſunderſtanding being repreſented to thetwo courts, it was agreed to fend minifters, with full powers, to terminate the affair in an amicable manner. His Majefty's minifter, Theodore Alexiovitz Golovin, met theChinefe plenipotentiaries on the frontiers, in the neighbourhood of Nertfhinſky, a confiderable town belonging to Ruffia, near the river Amoor. All matters were foonaccommodated to the mutual fatisfaction of both parties, on the footing of uti poffidetis; i. e. each of the parties retaining the people and territories that then belonged to them.This determination kept all quiet for fome time. The Chinefe, however, foon appeared to be diffatisfied with the decifion, and want to have the marches reviewed; towhich, in my opinion, the Ruffians will not eafily affent.The 21ft, the conductor came to congratulate the ambaffador on his arrival at theborders, and acquainted him, that the horfes and camels being ready, he might proceed when he pleafed. I cannot omit an inconfiderable circumftance that happened atthis place, as it ſtrongly reprefents the caution and prudence of the Chineſe. Our conductor having feen fome women walking in the fields, aſked the ambaſſador who theywere, and whither they were going? He was told they belonged to the retinue, andwere going along with it to China.He replied, they had women enough in Pekin already; and as there never had beenan European woman in China, he could not be anfwerable for introducing the firft,without a fpecial order from the Emperor. But if his Excellency would wait for ananfwer, he would difpatch a courier to court for that purpoſe. The return of this meffenger could not be fooner than fix weeks; it was therefore thought more expedient tofend back the women to Selinginfky, with the waggons that brought our baggage tothis place.CHAP. VII. - From paffing the Saratzyn, and entering the Chinese Territories, to ourArrival at the Wall ofChina.THE 22d of September, having loaded the camels with our baggage, and procuredcarriages for the boxes that contained His Majefty's prefents to the Emperor, whichwere too large for camels to bear, we mounted and paffed the Saratzyn, and foon entered the Chineſe territories. We travelled fifteen miles, when we arrived, about evening, at the river Orchon, running with a ſmooth ſtream to the north. The carriages retarded our progrefs greatly, as the horfes were fprightly, and unaccustomed to draught.This366 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.This day we commenced guests of the Emperor of China, who entertains all ambaffadors, and bears their expences, from the day they enter his dominions, till the timethey quit them again. Our retinue confifted of about one hundred perfons, who wereallowed fifteen fheep every day. The overplus of this large allowance was given to theMongalls who drove the camels. Befides mutton and beef, there is no other kind ofprovifion to be found, till you come within the wall of China. The mutton is of amiddle fize; but, I must confefs, exceeding fine. The conductor was attended by anofficer from the Tufhdu-Chan, who procured, from the Mongalls encamped neareſt ourroad, what ſheep we wanted. The camels were very tractable and ſtooped to take ontheir loads. But the horfes were at firft very unmanageable. Many of them hadnever before been employed for any ufe, and were faddled with great difficulty, butmounted with much more; for the very fmell of our clothes, which they perceived tobe different from that of the Mongalls, their mafters, made them fnort and fpringwith great fury. They were eafily managed notwithſtanding, when we got upon theirbacks.Our road this day lay through fine plains and vallies , covered with rank graſs; butnot a fingle tent was to be feen. I inquired why fuch a fine foil was without inhabitants, and was told, that the Chineſe had forbid the Mongalls to encamp fo near theRuffian borders, for fear of being allured to pafs over to their territories, as many hadformerly done. Theſe fruitful vallies are furrounded with pleaſant hills, of eafy afcent, whofe fummits are covered with tufts of trees. Many of theſe tufts being of acircular figure, and having no underwood, appear as if they had been planted andpruned by art; others are irregular, and fometimes a ridge of trees runs from one hillto another. Thefe objects afford a profpect fo pleafing to the eye, and fo feldom tobe found, that one cannot help being charmed. And this pleaſure is ftill heightened bythe gentle-flowing rivulets, abounding with fish, and plenty of game in thevallies, and among the trees.The 23d, we fet out early, and came to a rivulet called Ira, running to the northweft, till it falls into the Orchon, which we paffed, and pitched our tents on the otherfide. The rank grafs by accident took fire, and had not water been at hand to extinguifh it, and the weather very calm, the confequences might have been fatal. Wetravelled farther this day than the former, as fewer inconveniences aroſe from thereftituefs of the horſes.The 24th, we continued our journey towards the fouth- eaft, along ſmooth roads,through a pleafant country; and, at evening, reached a rivulet called Shora, or theyellow rivulet, on the banks of which we fet up our tents. The vallies now were morecontracted, and lefs wood uponthe hills than formerly.The 25th, we came to a rivulet called Kara, or the black rivulet, from the colour ofthe water, which is tinged by the richness of the foil .The 26th, we proceeded. The country retained much the fame appearance, and theweather was very fine; but not a fingle inhabitant was yet to be feen. In the evening,I walked from our tents, with fome of our company, to the top of a neighbouring hill,where I found many plants of excellent rhubarb; and, by the help of a ſtick, dug upas much as I wanted.On theſe hills are a great number of animals called marmots, of a brownish colour,having feet like a badger, and nearly of the fame fize. They make deep burrows onthe declivities of the hills; and it is faid, that in winter they continue in thefe holes, fora certain time, even without food. At this feafon, however, they fit or lie near theirburrows, keeping a ſtrict watch; and, at the approach of danger, rear themſelves upon .theirBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASTA. 367their hind feet, giving a loud whiſtle like a man, to call in the ftragglers; and thendrop into their holes in a moment.I ſhould not have mentioned an animal fo well known as the marmot, had it notbeen on account of the rhubarb. Wherever you fee ten or twenty plants growing,you are fure of finding feveral burrows under the fhades of their broad fpreadingleaves. Perhaps they may fometimes eat the leaves and roots of this plant. However, it is probable the manure they leave about the roots contributes not a little to itsincreaſe; and their cafting up the earth, makes it ſhoot out young buds and multiply.This plant does not run and fpread itfelf like docks, and others ofthe fame fpecies, butgrows in tufts at uncertain diftances, as if the feeds had been dropped with defign. Itappears that the Mongalls never accounted it worth cultivating, but that the worldis obliged to the inarmots for the quantities fcattered at randon in many parts of thiscountry; for whatever part of the ripe feed happens to be blown among the thickgrafs, can very feldom reach the ground, but muft there wither and die; whereas,fhould it fall among the looſe earth, thrown up by the marmots, it immediately takesroot, and produces a new plant.After digging and gathering the rhubarb, the Mongalls cut the large roots into ſmallpieces, in order to make them dry more readily. In the middle of every piece theyfcoop a hole, through which a cord is drawn, in order to fufpend then in any convenient place. They hang them, for moſt part, about their tents, and fometimes on thehorns of their fheep. This is a moft pernicious custom, as it deftroys fome of the beſtpart of the root; for all about the hole is rotten and ufelefs; whereas, were peoplerightly informed how to dig and dry this plant, there would not be one pound of refufe in an hundred, which would fave a great deal of trouble and expence, that muchdiminiſh the profits on this commodity. At prefent, the dealers in this article thinkthefe improvements not worthy of their attention, as their gains are more confiderableon this than on any other branch of trade. Perhaps the government may hereafterthink it proper to make fome regulations with regard to this matter.I have been more particular in defcribing the growth and management of the rhu--barb, becauſe I never met with an author or perfon who could give a fatisfactory account, where, or how it grows. I am perfuaded, that, in fuch a dry climate as this, itmight eafily be fo cultivated as to produce any quantity that could be wanted.I omit any computation of the diſtances of places along this road, as the whole of it,from the borders to Pekin, has been meaſured by a wheel, or machine, given to thecaravan by the governor of Siberia, for that purpofe. I fhall afterwards fubjoin theexact distances taken from this meaſurement.The 27th and 28th, we purſued the fame road, over hills and through vallies; for,though few travel this way, the caravans, with their heavy carriages, leave fuch marksas are not foon effaced. It is only of late that the caravans travelled this road. Formerly they went farther to the north, by a Ruffian town called Nertzinſky, and thenceto a Chineſe city called Naun. That road is more convenient than the prefent, as itlies through places better inhabited; but the prefent is fhorter, and therefore taken bymoft travellers.The 29th, we reached a river called Buroy, where we lodged. At this dry feafonall thefe rivers are fordable; and they abound with fturgeon and other fish. Nextmorning, Mr. Venant, our chief cook, dropped down, as he was coming out of histent, and immediately expired, notwithſtanding all poflible care was taken for his recovery. We interred him as decently as time and circumftances would admit; andproceeded to a river called Borgualty, where we pitched our tents for this night.ΙΟ October368BELL'S TRAVELSIN ASIA.October ift, after a long day's journey, we reached a rivulet called Koyra. The faceofthe country appeared nearly the fame as formerly.The 2d, after another long march, we came to the banks ofthe river Tola, the largeſtwe had feen fince we left the Selinga.Next day we croffed the Tola, at a pretty deep ford, where the river was in breadthabout the flight of an arrow at point blank. It was noon before our camels got over,and too late to proceed. We were therefore obliged to fet up our tents on the caftbank ofthe river, which was overgrown with tall oziers.Here our conductor furniſhed us with freſh horfes and camels. From the bordersto this place our ftages were regulated by brooks and rivers, for the conveniency ofgetting water and, for the fame reafon, as there are no rivers nor brooks from henceto the wall of China, fountains and fprings will be our only ftages.On the banks ofthe Tola, we found many Mongalls encamped, with numerous flocksof cattle, being the firſt inhabitants we had feen fince our leaving the border. TheRuffians, and the Mongalls who are fubjects of Ruflia, claim all the country weftwardfrom the Tola, which, they fay, is the natural boundary between the two empires.This would indeed be a confiderable addition to the dominions of Ruffia: but as boththefe mighty monarchs are abundantly provided with a vaft extent of territory, neitherparty think it worth while to diſpute about a few hundred miles of property, which obtained would perhaps not balance the coft, or contribute but little to the advantage ofeither.The appearance of the country was now greatly altered to the worfe. We faw nomore pleafant hills and woods; neither could I find one fingle plant of rhubarb. Thefoil was dry and barren, and the grafs not to be compared to what we had alreadypaffed over.The 4th, after every man had drunk his fill of the pure and wholeſome water ofTola, and filled his bottle with it, we departed with fome regret, as we could hope forno more rivers or brooks till we came to the wall of China. We foon entered thedefert, commonly named by the Mongalls the Hungry Defert. How far it defervesthat title, will be feen as we advance.In the evening, we reached fome pits, called Tolatologoy, of brackish water, wherewe pitched our tents. The road ftill pointed to the fouth-eaft, with little variation,over grounds that rofe a little at firft, but afterwards gradually declined . We fawmany Mongalian tents and cattle difperfed along the defert.The 5th, we fet out again; and in the evening, came to fome fountains, calledChelo-tologoy, of pretty frefh water. The country was quite level, and appeared tothe eye as plain as the fea. The foil was dry, barren, and gravelly, and neither treenor bush to be feen; a profpect not very agreeable.The 6th, early in the morning, we proceeded caftward, through the fame fort of flatcountry. The weather was very fine, and the roads excellent. In the evening, wearrived at a pool called Tylack, of brackish water, where we remained the followingnight. This day we faw feveral large flocks of antelopes, and fome Mongalls in theirtents, which was no difa*grecable object in this continued plain. We pafled few ofthefe tents without vifiting them, where we always found an hofpitable reception, andwere entertained with fome zaturan, a kind of tea which I formerly defcribed. And,if we happened to ſtay till our baggage was gone out of fight, the landlord conductedus by the ſhorteſt way to the fprings that terminated the next ſtage.The next day, we came to the wells called Gachun. Our bifcuit being now ſpent,we were reduced to live on mutton only, during the rest of our journey through this8defert;BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 369defert; which we accounted no great hardship as it was extremely fine. It is not alittle furpriſing, that, notwithſtanding the barren appearance of this unfheltered plain,the cattle are in good condition, but particularly the fheep. The fhort grafs, though inmany places thinly ſcattered, muſt be of a very nouriſhing quality. This will naturallyproceed from the climate, and the foil, which every where partakes of a nitrous quality, as plainly appears from the fcurf of falt round the edges of the lakes and ponds,and the taſte of the water, generally brackish in the fprings and pits.The 8th, our conductor furniſhed us with a freſh ſet of cattle, which detained uslater than our ufual time of fetting out. This day, the foil was very much inclined togravel, containing a number of red and yellow pebbles, many of which, being tranfparent, made a fine appearance while the fun fhone. We were informed there werefometimes ftones of value found here, which fo much excited our curiofity, that eachof us, every day, picked up a confiderable quantity. On examination, moſt of themwere thrown away, as altogether uſeleſs , the few we thought proper to retain werewrought into very good feals. A man might gather a bufhel of fuch ftones every dayin this defert. One of our people, a Grecian by birth, who underſtood fomething of the,nature of ftones, found one that he called a yellow fapphire, and valued it at fiftycrowns. Perhaps thefe pebbles might be of that kind which the lapidaries call cornelian; for they are fufficiently hard, and take a fine poliſh.The 9th, we fet out early, and travelled to a pool named Oko-toulgu. This day, alama from the Kutuchtu, going to Pekin, joined our company, who, by his habit andequipage, feemed to be a perſon of eminence. In marching along the tedious defert,the converfation turned on a terrible earthquake, which happened during the month ofJuly laſt in China, between the long wall and Pekin, and had laid in ruins ſeveral villages and walled towns, and buried many people in their ruins. The lama inquiredwhat was the opinion of the learned men in Europe concerning the cauſe of this phenomenon. Wetold him, it was commonly reckoned to be fubterraneous fire; and thenaſked, in our turn, to what caufe fuch extraordinary appearances were imputed byhscountrymen he replied, that fome of their learned lamas had written, that God, afterhe had formed the earth, placed it on a golden frog; and, whenever this prodigious.frog had occafion to fcratch its head, or ftretch out its foot, that part of the earth immediately above was fhaken. There was no reaſoning on a notion fo fantaſtical; wetherefore left the lama to pleaſe himſelf with his hypothefis, and turned the diſcourſeto fome otherfubject.The 10th, we came to the fprings called Korpartu. The appearance of things thisday were almoſt the fame as on the preceding days. The foil appeared fo barren,that none of the common methods of improvement could make it bear any kind ofgrain, or even alter its prefent condition. The difpofitions of its inhabitants, the Mongalls, feem wonderfully fuited to their fituation, as they appear more contented withtheir condition than thoſe who poffefs the moſt fruitful countries.In the evening of the 11th, we arrived at Khododu, where we found the water clearand pretty freſh, bursting in a ſtrong fpring, from the gravelly earth, and running in aftream to a confiderable distance, till it lofes itfelf in the fand. This was the firſt running water we had feen fince we left Tola. And we were as happy, while fitting roundthis fountain, and broiling our mutton-chops, as others at a table plentifully furnishedwith Burgundy and Champaign. Our appetites were indeed very keen; to whichdaily exerciſe, the coldneſs of the air, and drinking nothing but water, greatly contributed.VOL. VII.3 B Next370 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA..Next morning, being the 12th, there was a little froft upon the ground. Severalflocks of gray plovers came to drink at the fpring, of which our people killed as manyas our prefent circumſtances required . Thefe poor harmleſs birds feemed infenfible ofdanger; and, perhaps, they had never before heard the report of a gun; for, nofooner was the piece fired, than they took a fhort flight round the fountain, whiſtlingas they flew, and immediately alighted to drink again. The plover is a pretty bird,and pleaſant to eat; and the foles of its feet are as hard as ſo much horn, which prevent its being hurt by the ftones or gravel. In the evening, we came to the wellscalled Bouk-horlike, without any thing material happening, or any difference on theface ofthe country.The 13th, we continued our journey to the wells of Burduruy, where we wereagain furniſhed with freſh horſes and camels.The 14th, we came to a place called Kadan- Kachu, where we were obliged to dig apit four feet deep, in order to procure water, which was very bad, having both a difa*greeable fmell, and bitter tafte; but was drinkable, when boiled with fome tea. Wecould, however, get none for our cattle, as the high wind filled the pits with fand asfaft as we could dig them. The fand is of a whitiſh colour, and fo light and dry, thatit is driven by the winds into your face and eyes, and becomes very difa*greeable. Moſtof our people, indeed, were provided with a piece of net-work, made of horſe-hair,which covered their eyes, and is very uſeful in drifts, either of fand or fnow.The 15th, we travelled over deep fands; and in the evening, arrived at otherfprings, called Tzaganteggerick. The wind continuing high, it was with much difficulty we fet up our tents. It is to be obſerved that, on thefe deep and light fands, ourEuropean tents are of little ufe, as there is no earth in which the tent-pins can befaftened. The Tartar tents are much preferable; for, their figure being round andtaper, like a bee-hive, the wind takes but little hold of them, and they ftand equallywell on a fandy, or any other furface. They are, befides, warmer, more eafily erected,taken down, and tranfported.The 16th, we left the deep fand, and travelled along the fame fort of dry gravellyground as formerly. In the evening, we pitched our tents at the fprings called Sadjin.The variety of objects, in this dreary wafte, are ſo few, that in this, as well as in otherrefpects, it much reſembles the fea. Here one can fee no farther than if he was placedon the furface ofthe water, out of fight of land; the rounding of the globe, in bothcafes, being the fame. Sometimes, in the morning, I have been agreeably ſurpriſed infancying I faw, at a fmall diftance, a fine river, having rows of trees growing upon itsbanks; but this was only a deception of the fight, proceeding from the vapours magnifying fome ſcattered fhrubs into great trees.The 17th, we came to fome wells of very bad water, called Oudey, where we foundfreſh horſes and camels waiting for us. Our conductor refolved to lofe no time, beingapprehenfive that we might be overtaken in the defert by the froft and deep fnow,which uſually happens at this feafon. Such an event would have retarded our march,and incommoded us not a little in many refpects. We therefore travelled as longftages as the convenience of water, and the ftrength of our cattle, would permit.The 18th, after a long day's journey, we came to the wells called Ulan-kala. Wefound, almoft every day, Mongalls in their tents, which ſtood like fo many hives, difperfed through this folitary plain.The 19th, we mounted again, and travelled to the fprings named Tzilan- teggerick.This day we faw feveral flocks of antelopes; and, indeed, few days paffed in which wedid not fee fome of theſe animals.TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.. 371The 20th, we came to a place called Ourandabu. The weather ſtill continued fair,the ſky clear, and the mornings frofty. The water at this place was tolerable; but wewere obliged to dig for it. When it happened that we had a long ftage from onefpring to another, for fear of coming too late, we ufually fent a couple of men beforeus, in order to gather fewel, and to dig pits, that the water might have time to fettlebefore our arrival.The 21ft, we proceeded, and in the evening arrived at a lake of falt water. Afterdigging, however, we found fome freſher. Were it not that theſe lakes and pits arefcattered through this defert, it muſt have been altogether uninhabited, either by manor beaft. This confideration, among many others, has often led me to admire the infinite wifdom of Almighty God, in the difpenfations of his providence, for the fupportof all his creatures.In my opinion, thefe fprings are produced by the rains and melted fnow, in thefpring; for the water, finking in the fand, is thereby prevented from being exhaled,in fummer, by the heat of the fun, which muſt be very ſcorching in this defert, inwhich there is not the leaft fhade to be found.The 22d, we quitted the falt lake, in a cold frofty morning, and a ſtrong northerlywind, which was very difa*greeable. At evening, we reached the wells of Kulat. Thefepits take their names fromthe quality of the water, as falt, four, fweet, bitter, or fromthe different tribes of people who inhabit the country in the neighbourhood.In the midſt of our fatigues, we had the fatisfaction to be among a friendly people,who did every thing in their power to leffen our wants.Next day, we reached the wells of Mingat. The weather, though cold, was not unpleaſant; and, the 24th, having got freſh horſes and camels, we came, in the evening,to a pond of brackish water, called Korunteer, upon the extremity of a difmal bank offand, running acroſs our road.The day following, we entered on the fand-bank, along a narrow and crooked paffa*ge between two hillocks. Every one prayed for calm weather while we travelledover the fand; which put me in mind of being at fea. We continued our journeythrough deep fand till about noon, when all our horfes and camels being tired, wehalted in a hollow place, where we dug, and found very bad water. We remainedhere till next morning.Our cattle being a little refreſhed, though they had been very indifferently fed amongthe fand, where nothing was to be feen but fome tufts of withered grafs, we fet outagain. Along this bank there is not the leaft track or path of any kind; for thefmalleft blaft of wind immediately effaces it, and renders all the furface fmooth.We had gone but a few miles, when moſt of our people were obliged to alight, andwalk on foot, the horſes being quite tired with the deepnefs of the fand; which madeour progrefs extremely flow. The weather, fortunately, was ftill very calm. Aboutnoon, we pitched our tents in a hollow place, encompaffed with high hillocks of fand.I obferved that, in the open defert, we had already paffed, the profpect was much confined; but here it was quite ftraitened; for, if you afcended one of theſe mounts, youcould fee nothing but mount rifing above mount, like fo many fugar-loaves, or ratherlike fo many cupolas.In the evening, it began to blow a little at north-eaft, which drove about the lightfand like fnow; but, about midnight, the wind rofe to fuch an height, that all our tentswere overſet at once, and our beds filled with fand. As it was near morning, wethought it not worth while to pitch them again. We therefore prepared ourfelves tofet out at dawn, in hopes of getting over the fand-bank before night; which by riding3 B 2and372 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.and walking by turns, in order to haften our progrefs, we happily effected; and,in the evening, reached the fprings of Kocatu.At the place where we paffed the fand, it was not above twenty Engliſh milesin breadth, which took us up three days. We could have travelled four timesthat diſtance on the plain, with more eafe both to ourſelves and cattle. I am informed this bank of fand runs a great way fouthward, and, in fome places,is above thirty leagues broad. They, whofe bufinefs calls them often to crofs thefands, havethin leather coats made on purpofe, and round pieces of glafs tied before their eyes.This fand-bank appears like the waves of the fea; for the hillocks, fome ofwhich are about twenty feet of perpendicular height, are of fo light a nature, thatthe wind carries them from place to place, levelling one, and forming another:-and hence it is eafy to conceive, that a weary traveller, lying down or the leefide of one of thefe hillocks, might, in a few hours, be buried in the fand; whichis reported to have often happened in this and other fandy deferts.The 28th, we proceeded along the plain to the fprings called Chabertu. I cannot but take notice of the uncommon manner the people here have of killingtheir fheep. They make a flit with a knife between two ribs, through which theyput their hand, and fqueeze the heart till the creature expires; by this methodall the blood remains in the carcafe. When the fheep is dead, and hungry people cannot wait till the flesh is regularly dreffed, they generally cut the brisketand rump, wool and all, and broil them on the coals; then fcrape off the fingedwool and eat them. This I have found by experience to be no difa*greeable morfel,even without any kind of fauce.The next day, we travelled another ftage to the wells of Saminfa, where wefound better water than ufual. The length and thickneſs of the graſs ſhowedthat the foil now began to mend. This day there fell fome fnow, and the windwas cold and northerly.The 30th, we got freſh horſes, and proceeded to the fprings of Krema. Fromthe appearance of the grafs one would conclude, that the foil at this place wasvery fine. We faw great numbers of horfes belonging to the Emperor turned outto graze. Notwithſtanding all the hafte we had hitherto made, we were this dayovertaken by a fall of fnow, which proved very inconvenient, not fo much on account of the cold, but it covered all fewel, fo that we could find none to dreſsour victuals.The 31ft, we came to a place called Naringkaruffu, where, to our great fatisfaction, we found a ſmall brook of freſh water, and fome Mongalian huts. I obſerved, that, from the fand-bank eastward, the foil becomes gradually better everyday. This was now the fortieth day fince we left the border; during which time wehad not halted one day, nor feen a fingle houſe, and the twentieth and eight fromthe time we quitted the river Tola, and entered the defert, in which we had neitherfeen river, tree, bush, nor mountain. Though we were obliged now and then tofetch a compafs, on account of the watering places, yet in general our courfe deviated but little from the fouth-eaſt point.The ift of November, we halted at this place, that we might have time to putthings in order before we paffed the long wall, which was now at no great diftance.Next day, we proceeded; and about noon we could perceive the famous wall,running along the tops of the mountains, towards the north-eaft. One of ourpeopleBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 373people cried out LAND, as if we had been all this while at fea. It was now, nearly asI can compute, about forty Engliſh miles from us, and appeared white at this diſtance.We could not this night reach the paffa*ge through the mountains, and thereforepitched our tents in the open plain as ufual. We now began to feel the effects of thecold; for the fnow, continuing to lie upon the defert, proved very inconvenient onmany accounts, but particularly by retarding the progrefs of our heavy and cumberfome baggage. But we comforted ourſelves with the hopes of foon feeing an end of allour toils, and arriving in a rich and inhabited country; for, though all of our peoplewere in good health, they began to be very weary of the defert, and no wonder, asmany of them had lain in the open field ever fince we left Selinginíky.November 3d, after travelling about an hour, we paffed the veftiges of a camp,which feemed to have been regularly defigned. I was informed that the Emperor encamped here, when he led his troops against the Mongalls, called by the miffionaries inChina the Weſtern Tartars.The nearer we came to the mountains we were the more ſurpriſed at the fight of thefo much celebrated wall of China, commonly called for its length the endleſs wall.The appearance of it, running from one high rock to another, with ſquare towers atcertain intervals, even at this diſtance, is moft magnificent.About noon, we quitted the plain, and entered an opening between two mountains.To the left, the mountains are very high. On the right, they decline, as far as theyare within view; but, I am told, they rife again to a great height.Wedefcended by a narrow path about eight feet broad, between the mountains, tillwe came to a fmall Chineſe monaftery, fituated on the declivity of a ſteep rock. Curiofity led us to vifit this folitary place: but the road being impaffable to horſes, wealighted, and walked thither. On our arrival near the place, the monks came out tomeet us, with the ufual friendly falutation of the country, which is performed by layingone of their hands on the other, and then ſhaking them, and pronouncing theſe wordsCho-loy-cho. The compliment being returned, they conducted us into the apartmentsof their little chapel, and treated us with a difh of green tea, which was very agreeable.In the chapel was a fort of altar-piece, on which were placed feveral fmall brafs images;and, in one of the corners, I obferved a fack filled with wheat. The habit of the monkswas a long gown with wide fleeves. On their heads was a ſmall cap, and their longlank hair hung down over their fhoulders. They had very few hairs in their beards.This being the firſt Chineſe houfe we met with, I have on that account been more particular in defcribing it. Every thing now appeared to us as if we had arrived in anotherworld. We felt eſpecially a fenfible alteration in the weather; for, inftead of the coldbleak wind in the defert, we had here a warm and pleaſant air.We again proceeded along the narrow path, but of breadth fufficient for a wheelcarriage. The road being fteep, and in many places rugged, we walked downthe hill, and in half an hour came to the foot of it, where we found ourſelves furroundedon all fides by high rocky mountains. Our route now lay along the fouth fide of arivulet, full of great ftones, which had fallen from the rocks in rainy weather. In thecliffs of the rocks, you fee little fcattered cottages, with fpots of cultivated ground,much reſembling thofe romantic figures of landſcapes which are painted on the Chinaware, and other manufactures of this country. Theſe are accounted fanciful by moftEuropeans, but are really natural.After we had travelled about feven or eight miles,came in the evening to a Chineſe village, at the footlodged in clean rooms, with warm fires of charcoal.along the bank of the brook, weof a high mountain, where weThere were no chimneys in therooms;374 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.rooms; but, inſtead of thefe, the charcoal was put into a portable grate of braſs oriron, and allowed to burn clear in the open air; after which it was brought into theapartment. Though the defert is one continued plain, it lies much higher than theplains and villages of China; for, when we entered the defile, the afcent was very inconfiderable when compared with the defcent on the other fide.Here we began to tafte of the fine fruits of China; for foon after our arrival in thevillage, our conductor fent a preſent to the ambaſſador of ſome baſkets of fruits, confifting of water-melons, mufk-melons, fweet and bitter oranges, peaches, apples, walnuts, chefnuts, and feveral other forts which I never faw before, together with a jar ofChineſe arrack, provifions of feveral forts, and fome Chineſe bread, called bobon, madeof wheaten flour, and baked over a pot with the fteam of boiling water.It is verylight, and not difa*greeable in taſte; at leaſt it feemed fo to us, who had feen no breadfor a month before.Next day we halted to refresh ourſelves after our long fatigue. I took this opportunity to walk up to the top of the mountain, in order to view the adjacent country, butcould only fee a continuation of the chain of mountains, rifing one above another, andto the northward fome glimpfes of the long wall as it runs along them.The 5th, we proceeded eaftward down the fouth bank of the river, whofe channelwas covered with great ftones. The road is cut out of the rock for a confiderablelength at thofe places where there is no natural paffa*ge between the rocks and theriver, which muſt have been a work of great labour. This river cannot fail to be acomplete torrent in time of great rains.Having travelled about fix or eight miles, we arrived at the famous wall of China.We entered at a great gate, which is fhut every night, and always guarded by a thouſandmen, under the command of two officers of diftinction, one a Chineſe, and the other aMantzur Tartar; for it is an eſtabliſhed cuftom in China, and has prevailed ever fincethe conqueft of the Tartars, that in all places of public truft there muſt be a Chineſeand a Tartar inveſted with equal power. This rule is obferved both in civil and military affairs. The Chineſe pretend, that two in an office are a fort of ſpies upon oneanother's actions, and thereby many fraudulent practices are either prevented ordetected.CHAP. VIII. From the Wall ofChina to Pekin; our Entry into that City.AS foon as we had entered the gate, thefe two officers, and many fubalterns, cameto compliment the ambaffador on his fafe arrival; and afked the favour of him to walkinto the guard-room and drink a difh oftea. We accordingly difmounted, and wentinto a ſpacious hall on the fouth fide of the gate. This apartment was very clean, having benches all around, and is kept on purpoſe for the reception of perfons of diftinction. We were entertained with a variety of fruits and confections, and ſeveral forts ofAfter ſtaying about half an hour, the ambaffador took leave of the gentlemen,and we proceeded on our journey. We travelled about four miles farther, and cameto a confiderable town named Kalgan. At fome diſtance from the place, we were metbythe commandant, and the Mandarie Tulifhin, who had paid us a vifit at Selinginfky.They accompanied the ambaffador to his lodgings, which were in houſes apart from thereft of the town; and provifions were fent us in great plenty.From the wall to this place the country to the north begins to open, and containsfome villages, corn-fields, and gardens.TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 375The fame evening, the ambaffador and the gentlemen of the retinue were invited tofup at the commandant's houſe, and horfes were fent to carry us thither. We alightedin the outer-court, where the commandant in perfon waited for us, and conducted usthrough a neat inner- court into a hall, in the middle of which ſtood a large braſs chaffing-diſh, in ſhape of an urn, with a fire of charcoal in it. The floor was covered withmats, and the room quite fet round with chairs, and little ſquare japanned tables. Theambaffador fat at a table by himſelf, and the reſt ofthe company at feparate tables, by twoand two. We were firſt entertained with tea, and a dram of hot arrack; after whichfupper was brought, and placed on the tables, without either table cloth, napkins,knives, or forks. Inftead of forks were laid down to every perfon a couple of ivorypins, with which the Chineſe take up their meat. The difhes were fmall, and placedupon the table in the moſt regular manner, the vacancies being filled with faucers, containing pickles and bitter herbs. The entertainment confifted of pork, mutton, fowls,and two roafted pigs. The carver fits upon the floor, and executes his office withgreat dexterity. He cuts the flesh into fuch ſmall bits as may eaſily be taken up by thegueſts, without further trouble: The meat being cut up is given to the footmen, whofupply the empty diſhes on the tables. The whole is ferved in China-ware, and neithergold nor filver is to be feen. All the fervants perform their duty with the utmoſt regularity, and without the leaſt noiſe. I must confefs, I was never better pleaſed withany entertainment.The victuals being removed, the defert was placed on the tables in the fame order,and confifted of a variety of fruits and confections. In the mean time a band of muficwas called in, which confifted of ten or twelve performers, on various but chiefly windinftruments, fo different from thofe of that clafs in Europe, that I fhall not pretend todefcribe them. The mufic was accompanied with dancing, which was very entertaining. The dancers were nearly as numerous as the muſicians. Their performanceswere only a kind of gefticulation, confifting of many ridiculous poftures; for theyfeldom moved from the fame place. The evening being pretty far ſpent, we tookleave, and returned to our lodgings.The 6th, a great fall of fnow, and a cold frofty wind, obliged us to halt at this .place.Next day, the froft and fnow ftill continued; notwithſtanding, we fet out, and paffedover a ſtone-bridge near this place, paved, not with ſmall ſtones, but with large, fquare,free ftones, neatly joined. After travelling eastward about thirty Englifh miles, wereached a large and populous city called Siangfu. We were met without the gate byfome of the principal inhabitants, and conducted to our lodgings.When we arrived, the governor was out a-hunting with one of the Emperor's fons.As foon as he returned in the evening, he waited on the ambaffador, and complimentedhim in a very polite manner, excufing himfelf for not waiting on him fooner. At thefame time, he gave His Excellency a formal invitation to fupper; for it is appointedby the court that foreign ambaffadors fhould be magnificently entertained in all thetowns through which they pafs: but the ambaffador, being fomewhat indiſpoſed, defired to be excufed.Our route this day was through a fine champaign country, well cultivated, but containing very few trees. Wepaffed feveral fmall towns, and many villages, well built,and inclofed with walls. The roads were well made, and in good order, runningalways in ftraight lines where the ground will allow. I had heard a great deal of theorder and œconomy of theſe people, but found myinformation far fhort of what I dailyfaw in all their works and actions. The ſtreets of every village run in ſtraight lines.Upon375BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.Upon the road we met with many turrets, called poft-houfes, erected at certain diftances from one another, with a flag-ftaff, on which is hoifted the imperial pendant.Thefe places are guarded by a few foldiers, who run a-foot from one poft to anotherwith great ſpeed, carrying letters or diſpatches that concern the Emperor. The turretsare fo contrived as to be in fight of one another; and, by fignals, they can convey intelligence of any remarkable event. By this means the court is informed, in thefpeedieft manner imaginable, of whatever difturbance may happen in the moſt remoteprovinces of the empire. Thefe pofts are alſo very uſeful by keeping the country freeof highwaymen; for fhould a perfon efcape at one houfe, on a fignal being made, hewould certainly be ſtopped at the next. The diſtance of one poft-houfe from anotheris ufually five Chineſe li, or miles, each li confifting of five hundred bow lengths. Icompute five of their miles to be about two and a half Engliſh.The 8th, we halted at this place. As we could not be prefent at the entertainmentto which we were invited laſt night by the governor, he had refolved that the delicaciesprepared on that occafion fhould not be loft, and therefore fent into our court twelvetables, whereon were placed, by a number of people, all the victuals that were dreffedthe preceding night, with the defert and feveral forts of tea. The whole was afterwardsbrought into the hall, and there placed in form upon the tables. When this was done,an officer of diſtinction came to defire the ambaffador to tafte of His Imperial Majefty'sbounty. We accordingly fat down at the tables in great order. Every thing was verygood, but moſtly cold, having been carried through the streets to fome diftance. Afterwe had removed from the table, the perſon who had the direction of the entertainmentcalled to our fervants, and ordered them to fit down at the tables and eat. This produced a very diverting fcene; but, had it not been complied with, the governor wouldhave thought himſelf highly affronted.In the evening, the Emperor's third fon went through the city, on his way towardsthe capital. He was carried upon men's fhoulders in a palankin, a vehicle very eaſy forthe traveller, and well known in European fettlements in India . The Emperor's fonshave no other names than thoſe of firſt, fecond, third, &c. This prince had only afmall retinue of a few horſemen.Our new conductor, Tulifhin , invited the ambaffador and his retinue to paſs theevening at his lodgings. His excellency excufed himſelf, as he had not been at thegovernor's. All the gentlemen, however, accepted the invitation . The entertainmentwas elegant, and fomething like that I formerly defcribed, accompanied with dancingand mufic and quail-fighting. It is furpriſing to fee how thefe little birds fly at oneanother as ſoon as they are fet upon the table, and fight, like game- co*cks, to death.The Chineſe are very fond of this diverfion, and bet as high on their quails as theEngliſh do on co*cks. They are alfo great lovers of co*ck-fighting; but it is reckonedamong the vulgar fports. The quails are generally parted before they hurt one anothertoo much, and referved in cages till another occafion .The 9th, having fent off the baggage in the morning, the ambaffador returned thegovernor's vifit. We only ftaid to drink tea; after which we immediately mounted,and purſued our journey to a ſmall town called Juny, where we arrived in the evening.Near this place is a ſteep rock, ftanding on a plain, inacceffible on all fides, except tothe weſt, where a narrow winding path is cut in the rock, which leads to a Pagan templeand nunnery built upon the top of it. Thefe edifices make a pretty appearance fromtheplain; and, as the ftory goes, were built from the foundation in one night, by a lady,on the following occafion: This lady was very beauiiful, virtuous, and rich, and hadmany powerful princes for her fuitors. She told them, the intended to build a temple6 andBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 377and a monaftery of certain dimenfions, with her own hands, in one night, on the top ofthis rock; and whoever would undertake to build a ftone-bridge over a river in theneighbourhood, in the fame ſpace of time, him the promiſed to accept for a hutband.All the lovers having heard the difficult task impoſed on them, returned to their refpective dominions, except one ftranger, who undertook to perform the hard condition.The lover and the lady began their labour at the fame time, and the lady completed herpart before the light appeared; but as foon as the fun was rifen, the faw from the topof the rock, that her lover had not half finiſhed his bridge, having raiſed only the pillarsfor the arches. Failing, therefore, in his part of the performance, he was alfo obligedto depart to his own country; and the lady paffed the remainder of her days in herown monaſtery.The river is about a quarter of a mile from the rock, and the pillars ſtill remainabout five or fix feet above the water; they are fix or eight in number, and good fubſtantial work. This tale I relate as a ſpecimen of many fabulous ſtories, which I heardevery day, and the people firmly believe. In the monaftery there are at prefent many monks and nuns.The chain of mountains running to the north, which bound this plain to the weſt,are very high, rugged, and barren. Their breadth, from the defert to the plain habitable country of China, I compute not to exceed fifteen or twenty miles, and in manyplaces it is much lefs. But their length, I am informed, is above one thoufand Englishmiles. They encompaſs all, or the greatest part, of the empire of China, to the northand weft. Theſe impregnable bulwarks, together with the almoft impaffable deferts,have, in my opinion, fo long preferved this nation from being over-run by the wefternheroes. One would imagine, that a country, fo fortified by nature, had little need ofſuch a ſtrong wall for its defence; for if all the paffes of the mountains are as narrowand difficult as that where we entered, a fmall number of men might defend it againſt amighty army.Junyis but a fmall place; it fuffered greatly by the earthquake that happened in themonth of July the preceding year, above one half of it being thereby laid in ruins. Indeed, more than one half ofthe towns and villages through which we travelled this day,had fuffered much on the fame occafion, and vaft numbers of people had been buriedin the ruins. I muſt confeſs, it was a diſmal ſcene to fee every where fuch heaps ofrubbiſh.All the beſt houſes being thrown down by the earthquake, we were lodged in theprieft's apartments of a temple, which had efcaped the general devaftation. Our conductor treated the monks with very little ceremony, and defired them to feek otherlodgings for themſelves. Theſe priefts were not all fuperftitious, as appeared fufficientlyfrom the little reverence they paid to their idols, and ftatues of reputed faints. Theyconducted us into the temple, and feveral apartments adjoining, where ſtood manyimages of faints, fome of which were monftrous figures of ftone and plafter. One ofthe priests gave us the hiſtory of ſome of them, which I thought too abfurd to be inferted. We then returned into the temple, which was a fmall but neat building. Inone end of it we faw an altar, rifing by ſteps to the cieling, on which were placed anumber of ſmall images, caft chiefly in brafs, reſembling men and women, birds andbeaſts. We were entertained in the temple with tea, till the prieſts had removed theirbeds. At the entrance is hung a large bell, attended by a prieſt, who tolls it on feeing.paffengers, in order to invite them to fay their prayers; which having done, they generally leave a ſmall gratuity to the temple.VOL. VII. 36 In378BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.In the night, we were a little alarmed with the fhock of an earthquake, whichawakened all our people, but did no damage.Next day, our conductor notified to the ambaffador, that he could proceed no farthertill he received an anſwer to fome difpatches he had fent to court. Thefe news werenot altogether agreeable, as we apprehended another ſhock of an earthquake. Nothing,however, of that kind happened during the two days we were obliged to remain atthis place.The 12th, we continued our journey to a little town, where we lodged. This, andmoſt of the towns and villages through which we paffed to-day, had fuffered greatly bythe earthquake; particularly one confiderable walled town, where very few houſes remained, and the walls were levelled with the ground.About noon, next day, we came to a large, populous, and well built city, with broadftreets, as ſtraight as a line. Near this place runs a fine river, which appears navigable,having acroſs it a noble ſtone bridge, of feveral arches, and paved with large fquareftones. In the evening, we arrived at a fmall town, after paffing through a very plea- fant and fruitful country.On the 14th, we halted at this little town: but our baggage, and His Majeſty's prefents, advanced a ſtage farther. Theſe, by order of the Mandarin, our conductor, werecarried on men's fhoulders, covered with pieces of yellow filk, as every thing is whichhath any connection with the court. Whatever is diſtinguiſhed by this badge is lookedon as facred; and he who has the care of any thing belonging to the Emperor, needs noother protection; fuch is the reverence paid him all over the empire. The yellowcolour is chofen by the Emperor, becauſe, among the Chineſe, it is the emblem of thefun, to which he is compared.The following day, our road, lying over fome rocks, was very rugged. In fomeplaces it was cut, for a confiderable length, above twenty feet deep, through the folid rock,which appears to have been a work of great labour and expence. But no people I everfaw take fuch pains to make their ſtreets and highways eafy to travellers as the Chineſe.In fome places of the rocks were cut out images of Chineſe faints; but the workmanſhip very mean.Near this place, we paffed through fix or eight ſtrong femicular walls within one another, which have the endlefs wall for their common diameter, and take in a greatcompaſs. In all theſe walls there are large well built gates, guarded by a conſtantwatch, both in times of peace and war. At one of them, the ambaffador was falutedwith three great guns, from a tower over the gateway. Thefe walls feem to be of thefame materials and architecture with the long wall, having fquare towers at the diftanceof a bow-ſhot from each other. While we ſtopped at one of the gates to refresh ourfelves, I took the opportunity to walk into one of theſe towers, where I faw fome hundreds of old iron cannon thrown together as ufelefs. On examination , I found themto be compofed of three or four pieces of hammered iron, joined and faſtened togetherwith hoops of the fame metal. The Chineſe have, however, now learned to caft asfine braſs cannon as are any where to be found. From this tower I was led, by a broadſtone ſtair, to the top of the wall, which is above twenty feet in breadth, and paved withlarge fquare ftones, cloſely joined , and cemented with ftrong mortar.I walked alongthis flat till I came to a rock, where I found a high ſtair of above a thouſand ſteps, thewhole breadth of the wall, which led to a tower on the fummit, from whence I couldfee like a ſtair, on the other fide, forming a defcent to a narrow paffa*ge between tworocks. I obferved alſo, that the wall was neither fo high nor broad where it was carriedoverBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 379over another rock to the fouth-weft, as at the place where I ftood. But time notallowing meto go farther, I returned bythe fame way to our company; and, after ſtayinga few hours, we proceeded this afternoon to the town of Zulinguang, where we lodged.The next day, after travelling about two hours, we came to the laſt femicircularwall. Here ended all the hills and mountains. Our road now lay through a finechampaign country, interfperfed with many fmall towns and villages. In the evening,we reached a large neat city, called Zang-pin-jew. In the market-place ſtood a triumphal arch, whereon were hung a number offtreamers, and filken pendants, ofvariouscolours. The streets were clean, ftraight, and broad; in fome places covered with gravel, in others, paved with flat fquare ftones.As foon as we reached our lodgings, the governor of the place came to falute theambaffador, and invited him to an entertainment, prepared by order of His Majeſty.The invitation was accepted, and we immediately went to the governor's palace.The entertainment was very magnificent, fomewhat of the fame kind with that I formerly deſcribed, and accompanied with mufic and dancing. This place is ſituated in afruitful plain, about thirty Engliſh miles northward of Pekin.The 17th, after travelling about a dozen of miles, we came to a ſmall town calledShach. The weather being very fine and warm, the governor came to meet the ambaffador, and defired him to refreſh himſelf a little, by drinking tea. Here we haltedabout an hour, and then proceeded fix or eight miles farther, to a ſmall village, aboutfour miles from the capital, where we lodged.Next morning, two mandarins came from court, to congratulate the ambaſſador onhis arival, and brought fome horfes, on which he and his retinue were to make theirentry. The furniture of the horſes was very fimple, and far inferior to the coſtly trappings ofthe Perfians.My lodgings in this village happened to be at a cook's houfe, which gave me an opportunity of obferving the ingenuity of theſe people, even on trifling occafions. Mylandlord being in his fhop, I paid him a vifit, where I found fix kettles, placed in a rowon furnaces, having a feparate opening under each of them for receiving the fuel, whichconfifted of a few ſmall ſticks and ftraw. On his pulling a thong, he blew a pair ofbellows, which made all his kettles boil in a very ſhort time. They are indeed verythin, and made of caft iron, being extremely ſmooth, both within and without. Theſcarcity of fuel near fuch a populous city, prompts people to contrive the eafieft methods of dreffing their victuals, and keeping themfelves warm during the winter, whichis fevere for two months.About ten of the clock, we mounted, and proceeded towards the city, in the following order:An officer, with his fword drawn,Three foldiers.One kettle-drummer.Twenty-four foldiers, three in rank.The fteward.Twelve footmen.Two pages.Three interpreters.The ambaffador, and a mandarin of diftinction.Two fecretaries.Six gentlemen, two and two.Servants and attendants.3 C 2The380BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.The whole retinue was dreffed in their beft apparel. The foldiers in uniform, carrying their muſkets like horſemen ſtanding centry; drawn fwords being refuſed by ourconductor, the officer only had that privilege.We travelled from the village along a fine road, through a cloud of duft, and multitudes of fpectators; and, in two hours, entered the city at the great north gate; whichopened into a fpacious ftreet, perfectly ftraight, as far as the eyefight could reach.We found it all fprinkled with water, which was very refreſhing, after the duft we hadpaffed through.A guard of five hundred Chineſe horfemen was appointed to clear the way; notwithſtanding which, we found it very difficult to get through the crowd. One wouldhave imagined all the people in Pekin were affembled to fee us; though I was informedthat only a fmall part of the inhabitants of the city were prefent. I obferved alfo greatcrowds of women unveiled; but they kept in the windows, doors, and in corners ofthe ſtreet. The foldiers did not behave with roughnefs to the people, as in fome otherplaces of the eaft , but treated them with great mildnefs and humanity. Indeed, thepeople of themſelves made as much way as was poffible for them, confidering theirnumbers. After a march of two hours, from the gate where we entered, we at laftcame to our lodgings, in that part of the city called the Tartar's town, which is nearthe center of Pekin, and not far from the Emperor's palace.We lodged in what is called the Ruffia-houſe. It was allotted, by the preſent Emperor, for the accommodation of the caravans from Mofcovy, and is furrounded with ahigh wall of brick, which inclofes three courts. The firſt from the ſtreet is appointedfor the guard of Chineſe foldiers. The fecond is a fpacious fquare, on the fides whereofare apartments for fervants. The third is divided from the fecond by a high brickwall, through which you enter by a great gate. Oppofite to this gate is the great hall,which rifes a few fteps above the level of the court. The floor is neatly paved withwhite and black marble; and, on the fame floor, to the right and left of the hall, aretwo ſmall bed- chambers. This hall was occupied by the ambaffador. In the fame courtare two large houfes, divided into apartments, in which the retinue was lodged. Alltheſe ſtructures are but of one ſtory, with large windows of lattice-work, on which ispafted white paper. The cielings are very flight and airy, confifting only of ſtronglaths, with reeds laid acroſs them, and done over the infide with paper. The roofsproject confiderably over the walls, and are covered with fine light glazed tiles, which,as far as I could learn, are of a quality to laft ages. The bed- chambers only of the hallare neatly finiſhed with lath and plaſter.The fame evening, the maſter of the ceremonies came to compliment the ambaffador.He, in the Emperor's name, inquired into the chief fubject of his commiffion, and,having received a fatisfactory anfwer, retired.This gentleman, named Aloy, was by birth a Mongall Tartar, and a great favouriteof the Emperor. He was a perfon of great politenefs, and a good friend to the Chriftians, eſpecially the miffionaries, who received freſh marks of his kindneſs every day.In his youth, he converfed much with the Jefuits, who taught him geography, andfome other branches of ſcience; which contributed not a little to raiſe his characteramong the Chineſe, and recommend him to the notice and favour of the Emperor.Thus we happily arrived at the famous and long- wifhed-for city of Pekin, the capitalof this mighty empire, after a tedious journey of exactly fixteen months. It is indeedvery long, yet may be performed in much leſs time. I am of opinion that travellersmight go from St. Peterſburgh to Pekin, and return, in the ſpace of fix months, which,were it neceffary, I think I could eaſily demonſtrate.I AfterBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA: 381After the departure ofthe maſter of the ceremonies, the aleggada, or prime miniſter,fent an officer to falute the ambaffador, and excufe himſelf for not paying him a vifitimmediately, as it was then late in the night, but promiſed to fee him next day. Atthefame time, he fent a great variety of fruits and proviſions, as a mark of reſpect, notwithſtanding we were abundantly fupplied with theſe things by thofe appointed forthat purpoſe.At ten of the clock at night, the officer on guard in the outer court locked our gate,and fealed it with the Emperor's feal, that no perfon might go out or come in duringthe night. The ambaflador, not approving of this proceeding, as foon as the gate wasopened in the morning, fent his fecretary and interpreter to the prime minifter, to complain of his being confined. The aleggada faid he was altogether ignorant of what hadhappened, but exprefsly forbid any fuch behaviour for the future. In Perſia, indeed,and fome other nations of the eaſt, it is the custom to reſtrain foreign minifters fromconverfing with the inhabitants, till they have had an audience of the prince.CHAP. IX. - Occurrences at Pekin; Audience ofthe Ambaſſador, &c.THE 19th, the prime minifter, accompanied with the maſter of the ceremonies, andfive Jefuits, came to compliment the ambaſſador. As foon as they entered the gate, twoof their attendants walked before them, at ſome diſtance, making a humming noiſe, theufual fign that fome perfon of diſtinction is coming. Aloy defired the ambaffador wouldgive him a copy of his credentials; which was not eaſily complied with, till theſe minifters abfolutely infifted on; alleging that the Emperor never received any letters fromhis beſt friends, among whom he reckoned His Czarifh Majefty the chief, withoutknowing the contents. The Latin copy was at laft produced, the original being in theRuffian language; and the maſter of the ceremonies and the miffionaries having tranflated it into Chineſe, took their leave. But the aleggada remained for the ſpace ofthree hours, talking on different fubjects. This minifter, it ſeems, was a great ſportſman. He aſked to fee the ambaffador's dogs, which were a few greyhounds, and fomeFrench buck-hounds. He was defired to receive, in a prefent, any of them whichpleafed him beft; but he would accept only a couple of greyhounds..In the mean time, the Emperor fent an officer to enquire after the ambaffador'shealth; who brought along with him a table, carried by four men, and covered withyellow filk, on which was placed variety of fruits and confections, and, in the middle, alarge piece of excellent mutton. The officer acquainted the ambaffador that theſe.provifions were brought from the Emperor's own table, and therefore hoped hewould eat of them. This circumftance was accounted a fingular mark of the Emperor's favour.The day following, the ambaffador had a vifit from the prefident of the council forweſtern affairs, called Affchinoma, accompanied by four miffionaries, two of which wereMeffrs. Paranim and Fridelii. The converfation turned chiefly on the ceremonial ofthe ambaffador's introduction to the Emperor, which was a matter not eafily fettled.The principal points, infifted on by the ambaffador, were, that he might deliver hiscredentials into the Emperor's own hands, and be excufed from bowing thrice threetimes on entering His Majeſty's preſence; to which cuſtom all muft fubmit who appearbefore the Emperor. The prefident, on the contrary, afferted, that the conftant practice in China, for many ages paft, was directly oppoſite to theſe demands; that theirEmperors never received letters of credence with their own hands; that the cuſtomPwas382 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.was for the ambaffador to lay them on a table, at ſome diſtance from the throne, or theplace where the Emperor may happen to fit; after which they were delivered to theEmperor bythe officer appointed for that purpoſe.At the fame time, the prefident invited the ambaffador to an entertainment, to begiven at a palace in the city, where he ſaid the Emperor would be prefent, and ſpeakwith him. His Excellency replied, he would accept of the invitation, provided hemight on that occafion deliver the Czar his maſter's letter. He was told, this wasneither a proper place nor time for that purpoſe; but that the Emperor intended togive him a public audience very foon, and receive his credentials in form.The ambaffador was apprehenfive that the Emperor, having already feen a copy ofhis credentials, fhould he alſo fee himſelf at the entertainment, his public audiencemight thereby be retarded; and therefore declined the invitation . It appeared, however, afterwards, that this fufpicion was without foundation, and that the Emperor intended nothing more than to do honour to the ambaſſador.The 21ft, the aleggada paid a fecond vifit. His fervants brought tea ready made,fome jars of arrack, with fruits and confections. From this day little material happened,except daily meffa*ges from court relating to the ceremonial, till the 27th, when thisaffair was at laft adjusted, on the following terms: " That the ambaffador fhould comply with the eſtabliſhed cuftoms of the court of China; and when the Emperor fent aminifter to Ruffia, he ſhould have inftructions to conform himſelf, in every reſpect, tothe ceremonies in ufe at that court. " This affair gave the miniſtry at Pekin muchtrouble; and, I must confefs, the miffionaries took great pains to foften matters onboth fides.On the 28th, the day appointed for the ambaſſador's public audience ofthe Emperor,horfes were brought to our lodgings for the ambaffador and his retinue; the Emperorbeing then at a country-houfe called Tzan- fhu-yang, about fix miles weftward from Pekin.We mounted at eight in the morning, and about ten arrived at court, where we alightedat the gate, which was guarded by a ſtrong party of foldiers. The commanding officersconducted us into a large room, where we drank tea, and ftaid about half an hour, tillthe Emperor was ready to receive us. We then entered a fpacious court, incloſed withhigh brick walls, and regularly planted with feveral rows of foreft-trees, about eightinches diameter, which I took to be limes. The walks are ſpread with ſmall gravel;and the great walk is terminated by the hall of audience, behind which are the Emperor's private apartments. On each fide of the great walk are fine flower- pots and canals.As we advanced, we found all the minifters of ftate, and officers belonging to the court,feated upon fur-cufhions, cross-legged, before the hall, in the open air; among theſe,places were appointed for the ambaffador and his retinue; and in this fituation we remained in a cold froſty morning, till the Emperor came into the hall. During this interval, there were only two or three fervants in the hall, and not the leaſt noiſe was heardfrom any quarter. The entry to the hall is by feven marble fteps, the whole length ofthe building. The floor is finely paved with a neat checker-work of white and blackmarble. The edifice is quite open to the fouth; and the roof fupported by a row ofhandfome wooden pillars, octangular and finely polifhed; before which is hung a largecanvafs, as a fhelter from the heat ofthe fun, or inclemencies of the weather.After we had waited about a quarter of an hour, the Emperor entered the hall at aback-door, and feated himſelf upon the throne; upon which all the company ſtood.The mafter of the ceremonies now defired the ambaffador, who was at fome diftancefrom the reft, to walk into the hall, and conducted him by one hand, while he held hiscredentials in the other. Having afcended the ſteps, the letter was laid on a table placed2 forBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 383for that purpoſe, as had been previouſly agreed; but the Emperor beckoned to theambaffador, and directed him to approach; which he no fooner perceived, than he took up the credentials, and, attended by Aloy, walked up to the throne, and, kneeling, laid them before the Emperor, who touched them with his hand, and inquiredafter His Czariſh Majefty's health. He then told the ambaffador, that the love andfriendſhip he entertained for His Majefty were fuch, that he had even difpenſed with aneſtabliſhed cuſtom ofthe empire in receiving his letter.During this part of the ceremony, which was not long, the retinue continued ſtanding without the hall, and we imagined, the letter being delivered, all was over. Butthe maſter of the ceremonies brought back the ambaflador, and then ordered all thecompany to kneel, and make obeifance nine times to the Emperor. At every thirdtime we flood up and kneeled again. Great pains were taken to avoid this piece ofhomage, but without fuccefs. The mafter of the ceremonies ftood by, and deliveredhis orders in the Tartar language, by pronouncing the words morgu and bofs; the firſtmeaning to bow, and the other to ftand; two words which I cannot foon forget.This piece of formality being ended, the maſter of the ceremonies conducted theambaffador and the fix gentlemen of the retinue, with one interpreter, into the hall.Our clerks, inferior officers, and ſervants, remained ftill without, together with manycourtiers and officers of diftinction. We were feated on our own cuſhions, in a rowupon the floor, to the right of the throne, about fix yards diftance; and, immediatelybehind us fat three miffionaries, dreffed in Chineſe habits, who conftantly attend thecourt. On this occafion they ferved by turns as interpreters.Soon after we were admitted, the Emperor called the ambaffador to him, took himby the hand, and talked very familiarly on various fubjects. Among other things, hetold him, that he was informed His Czariſh Majefty expofed his perfon to many dangers, particularly by water, at which he was much furpriſed, but defired he would takethe advice of an old man, and not hazard his life, by committing himſelf to the rageof the merciless waves and winds, where no valour could avail. We were near enoughto hear this piece of friendly and wholeſome advice.This converfation being finiſhed, the Emperor gave the ambaſſador, with his ownhand, a gold cupful of warm taraffun, a fweet fermented liquor, made of various fortsof grain, as pure and ſtrong as Canary wine, of a difa*greeable fmell, though not unpleaſant to the taſte. This cup was brought about to the gentlemen, and all of usdrank the Emperor's health, who obferved, that this liquor would warm us that coldmorning. His Majefty alfo found many faults with our drefs, as improper for a coldclimate; and I must confefs, I thought him in the right.On the left fide of the throne fat five princes, fons to the Emperor, together with allthe miniſters and grandees of the court. The taraffun, however, was handed about tonone but ourſelves, and the Jefuits behind us. Eight or ten ofthe Emperor's grandfons now entered the hall. Theywere very handfome, and plainlydreffed, having nothingto diſtinguiſh them, but the dragon with five claws, woven into their outer garments,and a yellow tunic of fatin, bearing the fame device, with little caps on their heads facedwith fable. After them came the muſicians carrying their inftruments. By this timethe hall was pretty full; and, what is furpriſing, there was not the leaft noiſe, hurry, orconfufion. Every one perfectly knowshis own bufinefs; and the thick paper foles of theChineſe boots prevent any noiſe from their walking on the floor. By theſe means everything goes on with great regularity, but at the fame time with wonderful quickness.In fhort, the characteriſtic of the court of Pekin is order and decency, rather thangrandeur and magnificence.The384 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.The Emperor fat crofs- legged on his throne. He was dreffed in a fhort loofe coatof fable, having the fur outward, lined with lamb-fkin, under which he wore a longtunic of yellow filk, interwoven with figures of golden dragons with five claws; whichdevice no perfon is allowed to bear except the imperial family. On his head was alittle round cap, faced with black fox-fkin; on the top of which I obferved a largebeautiful pearl, in the fhape of a pear, which, together with a taffel of red filk tied below the pearl, was all the ornament I faw about this mighty monarch. The throne alfowas very fimple, being made ofwood, but of neat workmanſhip. It is raifed five eaſyfteps fromthe floor, is open towards the company, but has a large japanned fcreen oneach fide, to defend it from the wind.The mafter of the ceremonies, and a few officers of the houshold, were dreffed inrobes of ftate, of gold and filver ftuffs, with monftrous dragons on their backs andbreafts. Moft of the minifters of ftate were dreffed very plain, having nothing likeornaments about them; a few only had large rubies, fapphires, and emeralds. Theſeprecious ftones are cut into the fhape of pears, through which a hole is drilled, to fixthem onthe top of their bonnets. Thefe holes diminiſh the value of the ftones, onehalf at leaſt, at an European market. I once faw, however, one of theſe rubies, with ahole drilled through it, which was bought at Pekin for a trifle, valued at ten thouſandpounds fterling in Europe. But fuch bargains are rarely to be met with, this being aftone of the firſt claſs for bignefs and purity. As for diamonds, the Chineſe, it ſeems,do not much efteem them; for few diamonds are found in China, and thefe very rudelycut and fhaped, and fo indeed are all their coloured ftones.It was now about noon, at which time our entertainment began to be ferved up, ofwhich I alfo give fome account. There were firſt brought neat little tables coveredwith variety of fruits and confections, and placed before all the company. It ſeems tobe the faſhion of this country to bring the defert firft, at leaſt that was the cafe at all theentertainments where I was prefent. In this, as in many other things, the behaviour ofthe Chineſe is quite contrary to that of the Europeans. Soon after the fruits, the victualswere ferved in the fanie manner, and placed on fmall tables before the gueſts. They-confifted of fowls, mutton, and pork, all very good of their kinds; and the whole waseither boiled or ftewed with pickles, but nothing roafted. The Emperor ſent ſeveraldiſhes from his own table to the ambaffador, particularly fome boiled pheaſants, whichwere very agreeable.The mufic played all the time of dinner. The chief inftruments were flutes, harps,and lutes, all tuned to the Chineſe tafte. There was alfo fome vocal mufic; an oldTartar, in particular, fung a warlike fong, to which he beat time, by ſtriking, with twoivory rods, upon a chime of little bells that hung before him. A young Tartar fung acall to war, dancing at the fame time, and keeping time by drawing the head of an ararrow acroſs his fhield. Then entered two little girls, who danced and fung while theinftruments played. After them came tumblers, who performed various feats of activityin the court before the hall. Theſe were fucceeded by wreftlers, fencers, and otherperformers ofthe fame fpecies. The Emperor fent frequently to the ambaffador, to afkhow he liked the mufic, dancing, and other entertainments. He alſo enquired aboutfeveral princes and ſtates of Europe, with whoſe power by land and fea he was not unacquainted. But, above all, he wondered howthe King of Sweden could hold out folong againſt fo great a power as that of Ruffia. After this converfation, the Emperorinformed the ambaffador, that he would foon fend for him again; but, as the nightwas cold, he would detain him no longer at prefent, and immediately ſtept from histhrone, and returned to his private apartments by the fame paffa*ge he left them. WealfoBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.385alfo mounted, and repaired to our lodgings in the city, fo well fatisfied with thegracious and friendly reception of the Emperor, that all our former hardſhips werealmoſt forgot.The 29th, the Mandarin Tulifhin came to our lodgings with two clerks, and took alift ofthe prefents fent by the Czar to the Emperor. Thefe confifted of various richfurs, clocks, repeating watches fet in diamonds, mirrors; and the battle of Po't va,nicely turned in ivory, done by His Czariſh Majeſty's own hands, and fet in a curiousframe. The ambaſſador at the ſame time, delivered to the Mandarin, as a prefent fromhimſelf to the Emperor, feveral toys of value, a fine managed horſe, fome greyhounds,and large buck- hounds.Every thing was entered in a book very exactly, even the names and qualities of eachparticular dog. There was alfo tied about the neck of each dog, a yellow filk cord,drawn through a hole in a little bit of wood which hung from the dog's neck, as amark of it belonging to the court. The Chinefe, in general, are very fond of littleharlequin dogs that play monkey tricks. Afervant of ours had one of that kind,which he fold for an hundred ounces of filver.The fame day, all the fruits and confections of the entertainment given at the audience which remained, were fent to the ambaffador's lodgings. They were carried ingreat ſtate through the ftreets, covered with yellow filk; and an officer of the courtwalked before the proceffion.Next day, the Emperor fent to our lodgings feveral large difhes of maffive gold, containing a kind of delicate fifh, called mu, already dreffed, but in fuch a manner that Idid not knowto what to compare it. Alfo fome bowls filled with excellent vermicelli,and a fort ofpaſtry-puffs, baked over the ſteam of boiling water, exceeding in whiteneſsany thing of that kind I ever faw. All theſe things were fent from His Majesty's owntable; an honour which he grants but ſeldom. It ſeems he was refolved we fhouldhave proviſions in abundance; for, befides all theſe, we received our daily allowance,in which we were by no means ſtinted.After dinner, the mafter of the ceremonies, accompanied with the captain of theeunuchs, and three Jefuits, came to vifit the ambaffador. This eunuch was a great favourite of the Emperor, on account of the knowledge he had acquired in mathematicsand mechanics. He made the ambaſſador a prefent of a fmail enamelled gold watch,and a wind-gun, both of his own making. The Emperor himſelf is a great lover ofthearts, fo far, that whoever diſtinguiſhes himſelf in any uſeful branch ofthem, is fure tomeet with proper encouragement. The eunuch alfo made a prefent to the ambaſſadorof a ſteel to ftrike fire, and then defired to fee the prefents, which was granted. Attaking leave, Aloy told the ambaffador, that the Emperor intended to give him a Chinefe dreſs, which was more convenient and warmer than the European.December the firft, Merin-Sanguin, a general officer, and brother to the firſt miniſterof ſtate, came to vifit the ambaffador. Notwithſtanding the high rank of this militarygentlemen, he had no ſword about him; for at Pekin, no perfon, not even officers andfoldiers, except when on duty, wears a fword, or any other weapon in the city.The day following, the ambaffador had a fecond audience of the Emperor at thefame palace. On this occafion, the Czar's prefents were carried to court, by a numberof people fent for that purpoſe. The Emperor viewed them all at a diſtance; afterwhich they were delivered to an officer appointed by His Majefty to receive them. Thisaudience was held in a private hall within the inner- court, where only the officers ofthe houfhold, and the gentlemen of the retinue were prefent. We were entertained inthe fame manner as before. The Emperor converfed very familiarly with the ambaf.3 Dfador VOL. VIĮ.386 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.1fador on various fubjects, and talked of peace and war in particular, in the ftyle of aphilofopher. In the evening, we returned to the city, in a cold north-wind, whichblew the duft about in clouds. Scarcely had we arrived, when fruits and confections,according to cuftom , were fent to our lodgings.This evening, one ofthe Emperor's grandfons came to vifit the ambaffador. Hewas a genteel youth, about fourteen years of age, and had not above half a dozen ofattendants.Next day, the weather continued cold and frofty. The fky was clear, and a ſtrongwind at north-weft, blowing the duſt about. I obſerved that the north-weft winds arethe coldest in this place; as they come over the vast tracts of ice and fnow inSiberia.The 4th, there was a fall of fnow, to the deepnefs of feven or eight inches, whichwas immediately thrown into heaps, and the ftreets clean fwept. This day the miffionaries fent a prefent to the ambaffador, confifting of ſeveral forts of veniſon and wildfowl, and a greater variety of fine fruits and confections than I ever faw in any country,together with a couple of jars of wine made by themfelves. Among the fruits therewere ſome ſpecies which I had never before feen, particularly a fort of apple, about thefize of a common orange, with a ſmooth ſkin, of a yellowish colour, very foft andfweet, or rather luſcious; alfo a fruit about the bignefs of a walnut, but quite round, refembling intaſte a prune, but far more delicious: it contains a ſmooth hard ftone, andthe whole is covered with a thin brownifh fhell, fo brittle, that it is eafily broken between the finger and thumb. Some of thefe fhells are rough, and others fmooth.They ſerve to prevent.the tender fruit from being devoured by birds, and from flyingduft; and, what is ſomething uncommon, the fruit does not adhere to the ſhell, but afmall vacuity is left between them. It is not only pleaſant to the taſte, but is accountedvery wholefome.The 5th, the ambaffador had a third audience of the Emperor, in the palace at Pekin. As fome affairs relating to the two empires were to be difcuffed, the ſecretaryonly, M. de Lange, accompanied the ambaffador. After he was introduced, the Emperor told him, he had given orders to the tribunal for weſtern affairs to hear the fubject of his commiffion, and then retired to his own apartments, leaving his miniſters totranfact the buſineſs, which was foon finiſhed on this occafion; and the ambaſſador returned to his lodgings.The 6th, being St. Nicolas's day, a great feſtival in the Greek church, the ambaffador went to the Ruffian chapel in Pekin to hear divine fervice. This houfe ftandswithin the city, under the eaſt wall, and was built by the bounty of the preſent Emperor Kamhi, on the following occafion.About the year 1688, there happened a difference betwixt the government of Siberiaand the Chineſe, about a ſmall fort called Albazin, which the Ruffians had built uponthe banks of the river Amoor. The Chineſe alleged the fort was erected on their territories; and, jealous of the approach of fuch powerful neighbours, made ſeveral fruitleſs repreſentations to the governor of Siberia to have it demoliſhed. The Emperor, atlaft, impatient of longer delay, fent an army of above one hundred thoufand men, to doby force what could not be accompliſhed by negotiation. They inveſted the place onall fides, and raiſed batteries againſt it. After a vigorous defence, the garrifon, confiſting of about three or four hundred Coffacks, was obliged to furrender for want ofvifions. No terms could be obtained; and all the Ruffians were made priſoners ofwar. In confequence of which they were carried to Pekin, where the Emperor generouſly affigned them houſes apart from the reſt of the inhabitants, permitted the free5proexerciſeBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 387exerciſe oftheir religion, and gave them a daily allowance equal with his own foldiers.By this mild treatment they were enabled to build the little chapel which they ſtillpoffefs. The defcendants of theſe prifoners are pretty numerous, and ufeful to theircountrymen, the Ruffians, as interpreters. I formerly mentioned that theſe diſputeswere ended on the following terms; the prifoners on both fides were to remain unexchanged, and the fort of Albazin to be deftroyed; fince which time, the two empireshave continued in good correfpondence. The inhabitants of Siberia, indeed, regretmuch the lofs of their fort, as it ftood in a fine climate, gave them poffeffion of a largeextent of country northward from the Amoor; and, befides, opening a paffa*ge downthat river to the Japaneſe Ocean. It was, however, the occafion of eſtabliſhing theGreek church in China, which ſtill continues to flourish, though its members are notvery numerous. As one prieſt dies, another from Siberia fucceeds him, who mindschiefly his own fmall flock, and thinks very little of making converts. This circumftance prevents their being obnoxious to the Roman miffionaries, who can have no fufpicion of their interfering with the interefts of their church. Thefe miflionaries areconftantly employed in making profelytes, and their endeavours have been attendedwith fome fuccefs.The 7th, we dined at the alleggada's, where we were magnificently entertained.There was no other company but ourſelves, and we ftaid the whole day. This was themoft elegant and complete entertainment of any I faw in China.About ten o'clock in the morning, chairs were fent for the ambaffa lor and gentlemen of the retinue, and horfes for the fervants, though the prime minifter's houfe wasvery near our lodgings. The chairs were carried through two courts, and fet down atthe entry into a hall, where the alleggada waited to receive the ambaffador. After entering the hall, we were feated on neat cane chairs, with japanned frames, inlaid withmother of pearl. The apartment itſelf was very fimple, open to the fouth, and theroof ſupported on that fide by a row of well-turned wooden pillars. It had no ceiling,but the rafters appeared finely polifhed, and perfectly clean. The floor was paved witha checker- work of white and black marble; and in the middle of it ſtood a large braſschafing-diſh, in fhape of an urn, full of charcoal. At the entry were placed two largeChina cifterns, filled with pure water, in which played fome ſcores of ſmall fiſhes, catching at crumbs of bread thrown into the water. Theſe fiſhes are about the fize of aminnow, but of a different fhape, and beautifully varied with red, white, and yellowfpots, and therefore called the gold and filver fifh. I never faw any of them out ofthis country, though, I imagine, they might eaſily be brought to Europe, as they areby no means of the tender kind. I had about twenty of them ftanding in a window atmy lodgings; in a morning, after a frofty night, I found all the water frozen, moft ofthe fiſhes ſtiff, and ſeemingly dead; but, on putting them into cold freſh water, they allrecovered, except two or three.After we had drunk a difh of tea, a collation of broths and victuals were placed onthe tables, intermixed with a variety of fruits and confections. Every perfon had atable apart, and all were ferved in the fame manner. This repaft, it feems, was onlybreakfaſt, though it might well have paffed for dinner.After this entertainment, the alleggada carried us firft to fee his dogs, of which hehad great variety. I formerly obferved that this gentleman was a great ſportſman. Hetook greater pleaſure in talking of hounds than politics; though, at the fame time, hehad the character of a very able miniſter and an honeſt man.We were now conducted through all the different apartments of his houfe, excepting only thofe of the ladies, to which none have accefs but himſelf, and the eunuchs3D 2who388 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.who attend them. We faw a noble collection of many curiofities, both natural andartificial; particularly a large quantity of old porcelain or China ware, made in Chinaand Japan, and at prefent to be found only in the cabinets of the curious. They conAfted chiefly of a great number of jars of different fizes. He took much pleaſure intelling when and where they were manufactured; and, as far as I can remember, manyofthem were above two thouſand years old. He added, that, both in China and Japan,they had loft the art of making porcelain in that perfection they did in former times;and the fault, in his opinion, lay in the preparation of the materials. Theſe curiofitieswere piled up on firelves to the very roof of the houſe, and in fuch order and ſymmetryas had a pretty effect.From the houſe we went into a little garden, inclofed with a high brick-wall. Inthe middle of it ſtood a ſmall bafon, full of water, furrounded with feveral old crookedtrees and ſhrubs; among which I faw that which produces the famous tea. The climate about Pekin being too cold for this fhrub, there are only a few bufhes of it to befound in the gardens of the curious. I fhall not at prefent enlarge on this uſeful plant,which appeared like a currant-buſh, as an opportunity will occur of giving a fuller account of it before I leave this place. There was a walk round the garden, which, together with that in the middle, was covered with ſmall gravel. At each end of themiddle walk was a piece of artificial rock-work, with water running under it, throughholes fo natural, they looked as if made by the current of the ſtream. The rocks wereabout ſeven feet high, and fhaded with fome old bended trees. This garden, andmany others in China, difplay the taſte ofthe inhabitants for imitating nature.From the garden we were called to dinner, where we found a plentiful and elegantentertainment, ſet out in the fineſt order, far exceeding any thing of that kind we hadfeen before. We had no mufic nor dancing; and the whole was conducted with furprifing decency and regularity. The entertainment lafted about two hours, after whichwe returned to our lodgings.This day, our gates were opened to people of all characters, and merchants andothers allowed to go in and out at pleaſure. Though all communication was not prohibited before this time, it was, however, difficult, and not to be obtained without permiffion ofthe proper officer.The 8th, we dined at the fouth convent, where the Italian miffionaries generally refide. Here all the Jefuits in the place, to the number of ten or twelve, were affembled. We met with a friendly reception, and a moft fplendid entertainment.This convent ſtands within the city, upon a piece of ground given to the fathers bythe Emperor. He gave alfo ten thouſand ounces of filver towards building andadorning the chapel, which is indeed very neat, and handfomely decorated with pictures of faints, and fcripture-pieces, by the beft hands. An account of this remarkable benefaction of the Emperor Kamhi is cut out, in the Chineſe language, in lettersof gold, and fixed above the great gate, which makes the place more refpected. Whenwe arrived, one ofthe priests was officiating in the chapel, where were affembled aboutone hundred Chineſe converts. At dinner we had a few bottles of wine, made in theconvent; but I cannot fay it was good, though the grapes were fine, and of an agreeabletaſte.After dinner, we were conducted to the Emperor's ftables, where the elephants arekept. The keeper aſked the ambaffador to walk into his apartments till they wereequipped; then we went into the court, and faw thefe huge animals richly caparifoned in gold and filver ftuffs. Each had a rider on his back, who held in theirhands ſmall battle-axes, with a fharp pike at one end, to drive and guide them. WeftoodBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 389ſtood about an hour admiring thoſe fa*gacious animals; fome of them very large, who,paffing before us at equal diſtances, returned again behind the ſtables, and fo on roundand round, till there feemed to be no end ofthe proceffion. The plot, however, wasat laft diſcovered bythe features and drefs of the riders; and the chief keeper told usthere were only fixty ofthem. The climate about Pekin is too cold for them to breed;and all theſe were brought from warmer countries. The Emperor keeps them onlyfor fhow, and makes no uſe of them, at leaſt in thefe northern parts. Some ofthemwere brought near to the place where we fat, and made obeifance to us, by kneeling andmaking a dreadful noife; others f*cked up water from veffels and ſpouted it throughtheir trunks among the mob, or wherever the rider directed. The fa*gacity of theſeanimals is moſt furprifing, and approaches fo near to reafon, that, in this refpect, theyfurpaſs all the brute creation. After this fhow, we took leave of the Jefuits, who hadaccompanied us hither, and returned to our lodgings.Next day, all the gentlemen dined at the palace ofthe Emperor's ninth fon, in confequence of an invitation from his chief eunuch, who is a great friend to the Ruffiahoufe. As the invitation was not from the prince, the ambaffador would not accept ofit. Our entertainment was very magnificent, and accompanied with mufic, dancing,and a kind of comedy, which lafted moſt part ofthe day. The comedians were ofbothſexes; if the women's parts were not performed by boys dreffed like actreſſes. As theplay was in the Chineſe language, I could underſtand nothing of it, except from thegefture and action of the performers. It feemed to be a parcel of detached diffimilarinterludes, without any principal end, or unity of defign. I fhall, therefore, only mention one ſcene, which appeared to me the moſt extraordinary. There entered on theſtage feven warriors, all in armour, with different weapons in their hands, and terriblevizards on their faces. After they had taken a few turns about the ſtage, and furveyedeach other's armour, they at laſt fell a quarrelling; and, in the encounter, one of theheroes was flain. Then an angel defcended from the clouds, in a flaſh oflightning,with a monftrous fword in his hand, and foon parted the combatants, by driving themall off the ſtage; which done, he afcended in the fame manner he came down, in acloud of fire and fmoke. This fcene was fucceeded by feveral comical farces, which tome ſeemed very diverting, though in a language I did not underſtand. The laſt character that appeared on the ftage was an European gentleman, completely dreffed, havingall his clothes bedaubed with gold and filver lace. He pulled off his hat, and made aprofound reverence to all that paffed him. I fhall leave it to any one to imagine, whatan awkward figure a Chineſe muſt make in this ridiculous habit. This fcene was interrupted, and the performers difmiffed, by the maſter of the feaſt, from a ſuſpicion thathis gueſts might take offence. The play being finiſhed , we were entertained with jugglers, who exhibited a variety of legerdemain tricks with great dexterity.The banquet was prolonged the whole day, excepting the time ſpent in theſe interludes. No fooner was one courſe carried off, than another was inftantly placed uponthe tables, and the whole concluded with deferts of fruits and fweetmeats. One wouldfcarce have imagined, that luxury had made fuch progrefs among the fober and induftrious Chineſe. It muſt indeed be obferved, that there is almoſt no drinking at theirentertainments, as they ufe no liquor on theſe occafions but tea, and now and then adram of hot arrack. The Chineſe handle the two ivory or wooden pins, which theyufe inſtead of forks, with fuch dexterity, that they can even take up needles with them.In place of napkins they fometimes employ a few ſquare pieces of paper.CHAP.390 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.CHAP. X.- Continuation of Occurrences at Pekin, &c.THE day following, the ambaſſador had a fourth audience of the Emperor, at thepalace in the city. This interview was alfo private, and the ambaffador was attendedonly by his fecretary. The Emperor repeated the affurances of his friendſhip for HisCzarish Majefty, talked ftrongly on the vanity and uncertainty of all human affairs,adding, that he was now an old man, and, by the courfe of nature, could not live long,and defired to die in peace with God and all mankind. At taking leave, each of themwas prefented with a complete Chineſe fuit of cloaths, made of ſtrong ſilk, interwovenwith dragons claws, and lined with fable.The 12th, we dined at the French or weſtern convent, where we again found all themiffionaries. The chapel, and other edifices, are handfome, but not fo grand as the Italianconvent. Father Paranim is prefident of this convent; he is a man of parts and addrefs,and ingreat favour with the Emperor. I was informed this entertainment was given at theexpence ofthe court, and had fome reafon to believe it was fo, as it far exceeded whatmight reaſonably be expected from the Jefuits. The Emperor's band of mufic playedall the time of dinner; after which we had jugglers and tumblers of great activity.Among the many feats and tricks performed by theſe people, I fhall only mention twoor three, which ſeemed moſt uncommon. The roof of the room where we fat wasfupported by wooden pillars. Thejuggler took a gemlet, with which he bored one ofthe pillars, and aſked, whether we chofe red or white wine? The queſtion being anfwered, he pulled out the gemlet, and put a quill in the hole, through which run, asfrom a cafk, the wine demanded. After the fame manner, he extracted ſeveral ſorts ofliquors, all which I had the curiofity to tafte, and found them good of their kinds.Another of theſe expert youths took three long fharp-pointed knives, and throwingthem up by turns, kept one always in each hand, and the third in the air. This hecontinued to perform for a confiderable time, catching conftantly the falling knife bythe handle, without ever allowing it to touch the floor. The knives were exceedingfharp, fo that had he miffed laying hold of the handles, he muſt infallibly have loft fomeof his fingers.The fame perfon took a wooden ball, fomewhat lefs than thoſe commonly uſed inbowling-greens, with a hole through the middle of it, and a rod two feet long, aboutthe fize of a walking ſtaff, pointed at the extremity, to fit the hole in the ball. He thentoffed the ball above a yard high, and caught it again upon the point of the rod, not inthe hole ofthe ball, but wherever it happened to meet the point; and, in this manner,he continued to throw up and catch the ball for a confiderable time. He now placedthe ball upon the point ofthe rod, taking no notice of the hole, and twirled it roundHike a top fo quickly, that the motion could not be obferved. This feemed extremelydexterous, for all the while he played with the ball in appearance; and, when the motion began to flacken, gave it a freſh twirl with his hand, as if the rod and ball had beenfaftened to each other.This perfon alfo placed a large earthen diſh, above eighteen inches diameter, uponthe point of the fame rod, and twirled it round in the fame manner as he did theball. During this fwift motion, he did not always keep the point in the centre of theveffel; on the contrary, he often held it within three inches of the brim. I fhall onlymention one inftance more.There were placed erect, upon the pavement of the floor, two bamboos, which are akind of cane. The length of them was about twenty-five feet; at the lower end, Ireckon-BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 391reckon them to be near five inches diameter, and at the top about the breadth of acrown-piece. They were ſtraight, light, and fmooth, and each fupported by two men.Two boys then climbed up the poles, without the leaft affiftance; and, having reachedthe top, ſtood upright, fometimes on one foot, and fometimes on the other, and thenupon their heads. This being done, they laid one hand on the top of the pole, andftretched out their bodies almoft at right angles to it. In this pofture they continuedfor a confiderable time, and even fhifted hands. I obferved that much depended on themen who held the poles; one of the two at each pole having it fixed to his girdle, andthey kept a ſteady eye on the motions of the boys. There were about twenty or thirtyof theſe performers, who all belong to the Emperor, and never diſplay their art withouthis permiffion. I am fully perfuaded that, in tricks and feats of dexterity, few nationscan equal, and none excel, the Chineſe.After theſe diverfions, we were conducted to the Emperor's glafs-houfe, which HisImperial Majeſty often vifits with pleaſure. It was erected by himſelf, and is the firſtmanufactory of the kind that ever was in China. The perfon employed to fuperintendand carry on this defign was Kilian Stumpff, a German father, lately deceaſed; a manin great favour with the Emperor, and well known in China for his ingenuity and literature. His Majeſty is ſo fond ofthis glafs-work that he fent feveral of the moſt curiousof its productions in a prefent to His Čzariſh Majefty. It is furpriſing that the Chineſe,who have been conftantly employed for fo many ages in the manufacture of Chinaware, ſhould never have ftumbled upon that of glaſs. This fhews evidently, that thedegree of heat neceffary in their ovens must not be very great, or their materials freefrom fand; for it is certain, they had no knowledge of glaſs of any kind till this houſewas erected. I was informed, that, not long ago, fome Europeans brought to Cantona parcel of prifms, or triangular glaffes, which the Chineſe took for natural productionsof rock cryſtal, and bought them at the rate of one hundred ounces of filver a-piece:But, from the quantity imported, they foon diſcovered their miſtake.On the evening of the 14th, an officer came from court, defiring the ambaffador towait on the Emperor at his palace of Tzangfuang, and bring his muſicians, along withhim. Theſe confifted of performers on violins, trumpets, and kettle-drums.Next day, we arrived at the palace about ten of the clock, and had immediate admit--tance to the Emperor's private apartments, few being prefent but the officers of thehouſehold and Father Paranim. After a fhort conference, the mufic was ordered toplay. There were in the room ten or twelve of the Emperor's grandfons, who feemedmuch entertained with the inftruments. I aſked an elderly gentleman who ſtood byme, how he liked the mufic? He faid it was very good, but their own was better.No ladies were to be ſeen, though, I believe, feveral of them were behind a ſcreen, at the other end of the room.The mufic being over, the Emperor ordered one of the princes to conduct the ambaffador into the gardens belonging to the palace; into which we entered along a drawbridge, over a canal of pure water. They abounded with fhaded walks, arbours, andfifh-ponds, in the Chineſe taſte. The young princes entertained themſelves by fhooting with bows and arrows. Some of them diſplayed great dexterity, being accuftomed from their infancy to this exerciſe, which is accounted both genteel and healthy;as the drawing of the bow extends and ftrengthens the muſcles both of the breaſt andarms. One of the princes fhewed us a bow and arrows uſed by the Emperor whenyoung, by which it appeared that hehad been a perfon of extraordinary bodily ftrength.After we had furveyed the gardens in every quarter, we took leave of the princes, andreturned to the city.This392 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.This day, arrived in Pekin Signior Mezzobarba, ambaſſador from his Holineſs thePope to the Emperor. This gentleman was a cardinal, and patriarch of Alexandria. His retinue was compofed of ecclefiaftics of different orders, and a few fervants, who were all lodged in the Italian convent. They came from Europe toMacao in a Portugueſe fhip, from thence to Canton, and then by land to thisplace.The defign of this embaffy was to inquire into the diſputes and miſunderſtanding thathad lately ariſen in this country between the Jefuits and Dominicans, relating to certainrites annually performed by the Chineſe Chriftians, at the tombs oftheir deceafed parents,or other relations. This cuftom feems to be the fame with that of the parentalia anciently in uſe among the Greeks and Romans. It is univerfal in China, from the Emperor to the meaneft peafant. It ſeems the Jefuits permitted their converts to vifit thetombs oftheir relations; alleging, that, without ſuch indulgence, no perfon would embrace Chriſtianity, and that time would wean them from fuch fuperftitious ceremonies.The Dominicans, on the other hand, affirmed that it was next to idolatry, and declaredit unlawful to allow any fuch cuſtom, ftrictly prohibiting all conformity in their converts.Theſe differences, in all probability, will not foon be determined. The Emperor himfelf tried to make the parties compromiſe matters; but, finding his endeavours ineffectual, he left them to agree or diſpute according to their pleaſure. He inclined, indeed, to favour the opinion ofthe Jefuits, which he thought moſt reaſonable. At anyrate, it muſt be acknowledged an inftance of uncommon condefcenfion, for an heathenEmperor to intereſt himſelf ſo much in the peace of a Chriſtian church.The 16th, Mr. De Lange and I paid a viſit to the Fathers Fridelly and Keaggler, atthe Oriental or German convent. This place is large enough; but neither the chapelnor buildings are near fo magnificent as thoſe ofthe other two convents. It is called oriental, becauſe fituated in the eaſtern diſtrict ofthe city. Both theſe Fathers, and ſeveralother ecclefiaftics of inferior rank in this convent, are Germans. One of the Fatherswas a clock- maker; and, by fuch means, they frequently infinuate themſelves into acquaintance with people of diftinction, who protect them in times of danger. For, inChina, they have ſtill a great number of enemies, who would gladly fee both them andtheir religion extirpated; but the favour of the preſent Emperor hath hitherto preventedor diſappointed the defign of fuch perfons.•The 17th, I fent to inform the captain of the Chineſe guard, that I intended to take aturn through the city, who immediately gave orders for a foldier to attend me. Whenwe paffed through the gate, the clerk marked our names in his book, and dafhed themout at our return . I went into ſeveral ſhops, where were fold different kinds of merchandiſe; particularly thofe of the goldfmiths, whoſe , buſineſs it is to exchange goldfor filver, or filver for gold. In thefe fhops are found vaſt quantities of thoſe valuablemetals, caft into bars of different fizes, and piled up one upon another; which are foldonly by weight, as there is no current coin in this country; except one ſmall roundpiece of braſs, with a ſquare hole in the middle, through which may be run a ftring, forthe convenience of carrying them to market. This coin, called Jofs by the Chineſe, isabout the value of one tenth of a penny fterling, and is extremely uſeful among thecommon people. With one of them a man can buy a difh of hot tea, a pipe of tobacco,or a dram of brandy in the ftreets; and a beggar may dine for three of them. Thereare, indeed, few beggars to be " feen in the city; but, notwithstanding the labour andinduftry of the inhabitants, they are fo numerous, that it is hardly poffible to preventmanyfrom being reduced to the utmoft neceffity. There are cooks fhops, where dogsand cats, and fuch other creatures are dreffed for the entertainment of theſe people.II ThefeBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 393Theſe coins have Kamhi, the name of the Emperor on one fide, and the words TumPao, or the univerfal price, on the other.When the Chineſe have occafion to buy any thing above the value of fixpence, theycut off a piece of filver, and weigh it, which is done in a trice.Although the want of current coin feems ill calculated for the diſpatch of bufinefs,the Chineſe find no inconvenience on that account. It is in fo far preferable to money,that it lofes little by wearing in the circulation, which coin does perhaps more than isgenerally imagined.In moſt of the fhops I found both men and women unveiled . They were extremelycomplaifant, and gave me a diſh of tea in every fhop. Theſe people expoſe their goldand filver, and other goods of value, with as much freedom and ſecurity, as the merchants do in London or Amfterdam.The 19th, Lange and I went to the French convent, but not one of the ecclefiafticswere at home, having all gone to attend Signor Mezzobarba at an audience ofthe Emperor, except an old gentleman, Monfieur Bouvett, who had formerly written a fmalltreatife, entitled, Le Portrait de l'Empereur de la Chine, which he had printed inEurope.The 20th, cold and windy.The 21st, froft and fnow, which ſoftened the air, and laid the duſt.Next day, the ambalador, with Secretary Lange, went to the council appointed forweſtern affairs, and had a conference on the fubject of his embaffy.The winter here lafts only about two months, but is very fharp and piercing, whilethe wind is northerly, If the wind, indeed, is foutherly, the air is mild and pleafant,and the ſky clear. I mentioned above, that the Chineſe have a method of keepingthemſelves warm during the cold, which I fhall now defcribe as diftinctly as I can.In building a houſe, they make two ſtove-holes, one in each fide-wall, about threefeet from the gable-end. The holes are a foot fquare; one ferves for receiving thefuel, and the other to let out the fmoke, when the ftove is finiſhed. There is a partition of brick, which runs from one fide of the houſe to the other, about five or fix feetfrom the gable, and only eighteen inches high, which I fhall call the front of the ftovebench. Between this and the gable are built feveral other thin partitions of brick, in adirection at right angles to the firft, having a ſmall opening at the extremity of each.Forexample, fuppofe the paffa*ge in the firſt partition to the right hand, and in the ſecondto the left, and fo on, alternately, to the laft , which communicates with the hole, on theother fide of the room, for letting out the ſmoke. Theſe divifions being made, thewhole is arched, or otherwiſe covered with brick; above which is laid a layer of clay,or plafter, to prevent the fmoke from rfing through the furface. It is plain that belowthis bench there will be a winding channel for the fmoke, from one fide of the roomto the other. A few handfuls of brush-wood, ftraw, or any kind of fuel, will warmthe bench, as much as is neceffary, to work or fleep without feeling cold. It is generally covered with mats, felts, or other thick ftuffs, according to the ability of theowner.The 22d, Father Keaggler came to vifit us. This gentleman had been long in China,and was well acquainted with the language, cuftoms, and manners ofthe country. Intalking of the extent of Pekin, he faid that Nankin is at least three times as large. Atthis rate, Nankin muſt be one of the largeſt cities in the world. He added, that it wasfomewhat diminiſhed fince the court had left that place to refide at Pekin. Nankin isa place of the most extenfive commerce, and contains the greateſt manufactories, of allforts of filk and cotton ſtuffs, of any city in the country, befides thofe of China- ware.VOL. VII. 3 BIt394 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.It is watered by a fine navigable river, on which are employed an incredible numberof boats, in carrying merchandiſe and paffengers.The 23d, cold northerly wind, and ſtrong froft.The 24th, Chriſtmas-eve; the ambaffador heard divine ſervice in the Rufs church.The 25th, the ambaffador, and the whole retinue went to church.The Emperor fent Father Fridelly, accompanied by feveral mandarins, with a prefentto His Czarifh Majefty, of fix large boxes of tiles, made of China-ware, fit for fuchftoves as are uſed in Ruffia for warming rooms. They were very pretty, blue andwhite, and, with due care, may laft for ages.January 1ft, 1721 , the Emperor's general of the artillery, together with Father Fridelly, and a gentleman called Stadlin, an old German, and a watch-maker, dined atthe ambaffador's. He was by birth a Tartar; and, by his converfation, it appeared hewas by no means ignorant in his profeffion, particularly with refpect to the variouscompofitions of gunpowder uſed in artificial fire-works. I aſked him, how long theChineſe had known the ufe of gun-powder? he replied about two thouſand years, infire-works, according to their records, but that its application to the purpoſes of warwas only a late introduction . As the veracity and candour of this gentleman werewell known, there was no room to question the truth of what he advanced on thisfubject.The converfation then turned on printing. He faid he could not then aſcertain precifely the antiquity of this invention; but was abfolutely certain it was much ancienterthan that of gun-powder. It is to be obſerved, that the Chineſe print with ſtamps, inthe manner that cards are made in Europe. Indeed, the connection between ſtampingand printing is fo clofe and obvious, that it is furpriſing the ingenious Greeks andRomans, fo famous for their medals, never difcovered the art of printing.On this occafion, Father Fridelly told me, that feveral of the miffionaries, who hadthe good fortune to be in favour with the Emperor, had often folicited that Prince tobecome Chriſtian, and allow himſelf to be baptifed; but he always excuſed himſelf, byfaying, he worshipped the fame God with the Chriftians; and that ſuch a change ofreligion might occafion fome diſturbance in the empire, which by all means he wouldendeavour to prevent. However this be, it is certain that, on Chriſtmas day, he ſentone of his chief eunuchs to the Italian convent, with orders that prayers fhould beoffered for him; which was accordingly done, and the eunuch remained in church allthe time of divine fervice.Next day, the ambaffador had another private audience of the Emperor, at thepalace of Tzan-fhuyang. The weather being very cold, the hall was warmed withfeveral large chafing diſhes filled with charcoal. We ſtaid above two hours; duringwhich time His Majefty talked very familiarly, on various fubjects, particularly hiſtory;wherein he diſcovered himſelf well acquainted with that ofthe Holy Scriptures, as wellas of his own country. He faid, that the chronology of the Chineſe was far more ancient than that of the Holy Scriptures; but obferved, that it ended back in fabulousaccounts, concerning which nothing certain could be determined.As to Noah's flood, he affirmed, that, at or near the fame time, there was a greatdeluge in China, which deſtroyed all the inhabitants of the plains, but that fuch asefcaped to the mountains were faved.He then diſcourſed of the invention of the loadſtone, which he faid was known inChina above two thouſand years ago; for, it appeared from their records, that a certain ambaſſador, from fome diftant ifland to the court of China, miffing his courſe, in aftorm, was caft on the Chineſe coaft, in the utmoſt diſtreſs. The then Emperor, whofenameBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 395name I have forgot, after entertaining him hofpitably, fent him back to his own country; and, to prevent the like misfortunes in his voyage homeward, gave him a compafs to direct his courſe.The Emperor alfo confirmed moft of the particulars mentioned above, concerningprinting and gunpowder. It is from the Holy Scriptures, moft part of which havebeen tranflated by the miffionaries, that the learned men in China have acquired anyknowledge of the weſtern ancient hiftory. And their own records, they fay, containaccounts of tranfactions of much greater antiquity.At taking leave, the Emperor told the ambaffador, that he liked his converſation.He defired to be excuſed for ſending for him in fuch cold weather, and finiling, ſaid,he knewthe Ruffians were not afraid of cold.I cannot omit taking notice of the good nature and affability of this ancient monarchon all occafions. Though he was now in the eightieth year of his age, and fixtieth ofhis reign, he ſtill retained a found judgment, and fenfes entire; and to me ſeemedmore fprightly than many of the princes his fons.The third, Mr. Secretary Lange and I dined at the French convent, where we foundSignor Mezzobarba. I never had an opportunity of fecing that gentleman at ourlodgings, as nothing paffed between him and our ambaffador but meffa*ges of commoncivility and compliment.The fourth, I rode from our lodgings, through the city, and went out at the northgate, at which we entered on our arrival at Pekin. I proceeded eastward to the end ofthe north wall, and then along the eaſt wall to the ſouth gate, at which I entered, andreturned to our lodgings. This tour took me up about two hours and a half, at apretty round trot; and, at the fame rate, I reckon I could have rode quite round the cityin lefs than five hours; whence a judgment may be formed of the circumference ofthe walls. The fuburbs alfo are very extenfive, efpecially to the eaft and fouth, and,being interfperfed with many burying places, all inclofed with brick-walls, planted withcyprefs, and other ever-greens, contribute much to beautify the neighbourhood of thisgreat city. The Chineſe are extremely attentive to the fencing and ornamenting theſegroves or burying places; a natural confequence of their uncommon reſpect for theirparents and relations while living, and of their extraordinary veneration for them whendead. Annually, on certain days, they refort to thefe groves, carrying proviſions alongwith them, and celebrate a kind of feaſt, in commemoration of their deceaſed relations.I fhall give an example of the filial duty of the Chineſe, in a ſtory I have often heardaffirmed for true. -A youth, finding his parents reduced to extreme poverty, andknowing of no means for their relief, went and fold himſelf as a flave, and, having received the price from his maſter, immediately brought it to his aged parents. Whenthis was ſpent, the boy had no other refource than to run away from his maſter, and fellhimſelfa*gain to another; and this he practiſed for ſeveral times, with the fame view,although he knew the feverity of the law in ſuch caſes.The 6th, while walking through the ſtreet, I obferved an old beggar picking verminfrom his tattered cloaths, and putting them into his mouth; a practice which, it feems,is very common among this clafs of people. When a Chineſe and Tartar are angryat one another, the Tartar, in reproach, calls the Chineſe louſe-eater; and the latter,.in return, calls the other fiſh-ſkin coat; becauſe the Mantzur Tartars, who live nearthe river Amoor, fubfift by fishing, and, in fummer, wear coats made of the ſkins offifhes. But this habit is uſed only in fummer, for in winter they wear furs.The 7th, the Emperor fent us a prefent of various forts of fine fruits, particularlyfome excellent oranges. On this occafion, Father Fridelly told me, that the tree was3 E 2 ftill396BELL'STRAVELSINASIA,ſtill ſtanding at Canton, from which the feed was taken, that the miffionaries firft fentto Portugal, where it has profpered fo wonderfully; and, from the place whence itwas brought, bears the name of the China- orange. I doubt not that with due care,fome others of the rare fruits and plants in this country, even tea itſelf, might be propa.gated in Europe, or in fome of the American colonies.I cannot tell whether the coffee-tree is to be found in China; but I am certain thatnone of its feeds are prepared and drunk there, as among the Perfians, Turks, andEuropeans.The 8th, the weather was much milder, the wind foutherly, with a fmall mizzlingrain, enough to lay the diſagreeable duſt.Next day, Secretary Lange and I rode through the ſtreets, to the eastern convent, toviſit our friend Fridelly. As we paffed, we obferved a juggler diverting a crowd. Onour coming near, he played ſeveral tricks with great dexterity. Hetook an handful offinall pence, formerly mentioned, with holes in the middle of them , and laid them ona table. He then thruſt them into his noftril, one by one, with his finger; and this hecontinued to perform , till the whole was exhauſted. After this, he ſuſpended an ironchain, of round links, about four feet long. He then took a moufe out of a box, andmade it dance upon the table, quite loofe. Then the mouſe, at his order, went in atone link of the chain, and out at another, till it afcended to the top; from whence itcame down again, the contrary way, without miffing fo much as one fingle ring.The 12th, the Emperor came from Tzan-fhu-yang, to his palace in the city.The 13th, the mafter of the ceremonies came to invite the ambaffador to court onthe 15th, the first day of the new moon, and, according to the Chineſe computation,the first day of the new year. This is one of their higheſt feſtivals; and, what addedto the folemnity of the prefent, was its being the beginning of a new feculum or ſpaceof fixty years, obferved by the Chineſe; befides, the Emperor had reigned all the laſtfeculum, and was going to enter on the fecond. On this occafion were to be affembledfeveral Tartar princes, particularly the Kutuchtu, and the Tufh- du- Chan, together withmany perfons of diſtinction from Korea, and all the dominions of China. This feaſtbegins on the firſt day, and continues during the increaſe of the moon.The 15th, we went early to court, and found moſt of the grandees affembled in thecourt-yard, fitting on their cuſhions, and a few of them in the great hall. We enteredthe court at the great gates, which are feldom opened, except on fuch extraordinaryoccafions. The Emperor foon came, and feated himſelf upon his throne, which wasmore magnificent than that at Tzan-fhu-yang, but like it plain and unornamented. HisMajefty was dreffed in the fame manner as at our firſt audience. We were placedwithin the hall on the right of the throne, and Signor Mezzobarba, with the miflionaries, at no great distance from us. In the mean time, all the people of diftinction,who came from diftant places, made their nine bows to the ground without the hall:and, as there was not room in the hall to contain one half of the company, many ofthem remained in the court during the whole time of the audience. Our entertainment was almoft the fame as at our firft audience; which, therefore, I fhall notdefcribe.The Emperor was very cheerful; and fent for feveral of his old acquaintance tofpeak with him. The Tufh-du- Chan, and fome other Tartar princes, were placed onthe left of the throne, with the Emperor's fons and grandfons. In a word, this affemblyexceeded, in number and quality, any thing ofthe kind I ever faw. I was in hopes tohave feen the Kutuchtu on this occafion; but was informed that the Emperor, whofhows great refpect to this venerable prieſt, detained him in his private apartments.16 ThisBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 397This palace occupies a large ſpace of ground, encompaffed with an high brick- wall.There are ſeveral ſtreets for fervants and officers of the houſehold. Many of thehouſes are high, and covered with yellow varniſhed tiles, which appear like gold in thefun. Northward from the palace is a large canal, of an irregular figure, where the imperial family divert themſelves by fifhing. This canal is artificial; and the earth dugout of it has raiſed an high bank, from whence you have a full view of the city, and thecountry adjacent, to a confiderable diftance. This mount rifes to a ridge, which isplanted with trees, refembling the wild and irregular ſcenes of nature that frequentlyprefent themſelves in this country. The canal and mount are of an equal length,which I compute to be about an Engliſh mile. This muſt have been a work of vaftexpence and labour; and, it muſt be confeffed, contributes greatly to the beauty of theplace.The 16th, was fpent in receiving vifits of compliment from the minifters and officersof the court, on occafion of the new year.Next day, the vifits were returned by Mr. Secretary Lange and Glazunoff, in nameofthe ambaffador.The 18th, fome of the retinue, accompanied with a Chineſe friend, went to a greatmarket, held in the fuburbs, about a mile without the city to the fouth-weft. Herewe found a number of toys, and things of value, both new and fecond-hand, expoſed tofale in the open ſtreet.Near this place flood a magnificent temple, the doors of which being open, wewalked into it, and faw, ftanding at the ſouth-end, a monftrous image, about twenty-fivefeet high, carved and gilt, having twelve arms and hands, a frightful vifa*ge, and greatgoggling eyes. By the touch it feemed to be made of a kind ofplafter. This imageis called Fo, which fignifies God in the Chineſe language. Whilft we walked aboutin the temple, many people entered, who kneeled and bowed feveral times to theimage; after which they retired without taking notice of us, or of any body elfe. Inall the leffer temples I had formerly feen , I found a great number of images of inferior deities or reputed faints; but this was occupied by Fo only, without any rival.From the temple we went to a public tea- houſe, where we faw many people drinking tea and fmoking tobacco, from thence to a tavern, where we dined; and in theevening, returned to the city.Next day, I was prefent at the repreſentation of a kind of farce, in the public ſtreet,not far from our lodgings. There were about twenty ftrollers affembled on this occafion, who entertained the crowd with many legerdemain tricks, and unnatural geftures.-The ſtage was covered with filk-ftuffs ofvarious colours.AtDuring the feſtival there are many fuch ftage-plays performed in all the publicftreets. You alfo find often high croffes erected, on which are hoifted a number ofpendants, and ftreamers of party- coloured filks, that make a pretty appearance.this feafon all the fhops are íhut; almoft no bufinefs is done; and the people go about,dreffed in their beſt cloaths, as on holidays in Europe.The 20th, the ambaſſador, and all the gentlemen of the retinue, were invited todine at a public-houſe in the city, by a young Chineſe gentleman. -And all of us accepted the invitation, except the ambaffador. Our friend was fo polite as to fendchairs for his gueſts about ten of the clock; and, at eleven, we, reached the houfe,which was the largeſt of that fort I ever faw, and could eafily contain fix or eight hundred people. The roof was fupported by two rows of wooden pillars. This tavernconfifted only of one apartment, great part of which was filled with long tables, havingbenches on each fide for the accommodation of the company. During the time ofdinner,398BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.dinner, we were entertained with mufic, and after it, by a company of players maintained by the houſe, who daily act plays on a ſtage erected at one fide of the room.None but people of faſhion come to this place.When a perfon intends to treat his friends at one of thefe houſes, he fends previousnotice of his defign, with a note of the company, and the fum to be laid out on each ofthem.-Agreeably to thefe orders, things are executed with the greateft punctuality.The expence on each of our company could not be leſs than three or four ounces offilver, as we ftaid the whole day, and had a fplendid entertainment, confifting of manycourſes and deferts, prepared and ferved in the beſt faſhion of the country.but obferve on this occafion alfo, the order and dexterity with which the fervants performed their parts in fuch a numerous affembly. I fhall not pretend to give any account ofthe play, only that the company feemed highly pleafed; and the performersconfifted of both men and women, well dreffed and of decent behaviour.At feveral tables the people were employed in gaming; fome playing at cards, othersat dice and draughts. I faw no money among them, though I was informed fome ofthe Chineſe play very high. In the evening, we took leave of our hofpitable friend,and returned to our lodgings.The day following, Father Paranim fent us a prefent of a large ſturgeon, and ſomeother fresh fish, brought from the river Amoor. Thefe can only be carried to fuch adiſtance in the coldeft feafon, when they are preferved freſh, by being kept frozenamong the fnow. This method is practifed with fuccefs in the northen countries; for,provided the fifh is immediately expofed to the froft after being caught, it may be carried in fnow for many miles, almoſt as freſh as when taken out of the water.66The 22d, I went along with our new Chineſe friend, named Siafiey, to ſee a manufactory of China-ware, ftanding on the bank of the river Yu, about twelve Engliſh mileseastward ofthe city. After arriving at the place, we paffed through feveral ſhades andhouſes, where I faw a number of people at work. The ovens, in particular, feemedvery curious. But myview was fo curfory and fuperficial, that I could form no judgment of the materials, or manner of making theſe cleanly and beautiful veffels, whichftill remain unrivalled by the fimilar productions of any other nation. I enquired intothe truth ofthe opinion which the Europeans entertain, " that the clay muft lie a century to digeft before it is fit for ufe;" and was told by a mafter-workman, that afew months preparation was fufficient. So far as I could obferve, they made no fecretat this place of what they were employed about. I was, however, told, that, to thefouth, the Chineſe are more cautious, and carefully conceal their art from ſtrangers.One thing I firmly believe, that, although the Europeans underſtood the art of makingporcelain, the Chineſe would underfell them at every market in the world. This valuable manufacture is carried on in moft of the towns in China; and as it is fold but alittle above the rate of common earthen-ware in Europe, the materials of which it iscompofed can neither be rare nor coftly. This important branch of trade brings animmenfe treaſure into the country, and affords employment to vaft numbers of poor,who otherwiſe would be ufelefs and burdenfome to the public. Befides china, theyalfo make a kind of delf, or earthen-ware, for the ufe of the lower clafs of people.Next day, I happened to meet two gentlemen from the peninfula of Korea. Theirphyfiognomies were nearly the fame with thofe of the Chineſe, but their drefs different.What ſurpriſed me moſt was, that they were as ignorant of the ſpoken Chineſe language as I was, and delivered themfelves by an interpreter. When they have anything material to communicate they put it in writing, which is eafily underſtood bythe Chineſe. They write in the fame manner as the Chineſe, from the top oftheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 399the page, in ſtraight lines to the bottom, with a pencil, like thoſe commonly uſed bypainters.Korea is a fine country, ſubject to China, fituated betwixt the long wall and the riverAmoor, and runs out into a point, towards the iſland of Japan and the eaſtern ocean.The country is very plentiful, and abounds with corn and cattle.CHAP. XI. -Occurrences at Pekin continued; the Festival held at Court on the NewYear, &c.THE 24th, the maſter of the ceremonies came to invite the ambaffador to the feſtivalof the new year, which is always when the moon is at the full, to be held at the imperialpalace of Tzang-fhu-yang on the 29th.In the mean time, the cold continued very piercing, fo that I ſaw horſes, with loadedcarriages, croſs the ditches, without the walls of the city, upon the ice.The 29th, chairs were fent from court to carry the ambaffador, and gentlemen ofthe retinue: we arrived there in the evening, and lodged in a houſe near the palace.Near our lodgings was a pretty garden with a canal, on which was a fmall pleaſureboat. In the middle ofthe canal was raiſed an artificial mount, planted with fome barrentrees, in imitation of nature. We afcended by a winding path to the top ofthe mount,from whence we had a fine view of all the country around.The 30th, being the first day of the feſtival, we went to court. We were met at thegate by the maſter of the ceremonies, who conducted us to the bottom of the ſtairs ofthe great hall, where we took our places in the open court-yard, among a numerousaffembly of grandees, whom we found fitting cross-legged on their cuſhions. Afterwaiting about a quarter of an hour, His Majefty appeared, and feated himſelf upon thethrone; upon which all the company ftood. The Chineſe made their bows, as is ufualon ſuch occafions, but we were permitted to make our compliments in our own faſhion.It ſeemed fomewhat ſtrange to a Briton, to fee fome thouſands of people upon theirknees, and bowing their heads to the ground, in moſt humble poſture, to a mortal likethemſelves.We were immediately brought into the hall; and the ambaffador was conducted tothe throne, in order to congratulate His Imperial Majefty on the anniverſary of the newyear. Our ſtation on this occafion, as at the firft audience, was to the right ofthethrone. All the princes, the Emperor's fons and grandfons, together with the Tufhdu- chan, and other perfons of high diftinction , were placed to the left, oppofite to us.As the cuſtoms of the Chineſe are, in many inftances, quite contrary to thoſe of the Europeans, fo, I have been informed, that, among them, the left hand is the place ofgreateſt honour. After we had drunk a diſh of tea, the Emperor beckoned to the ambaffador to come to him again, and enquired into the cuftoms and ceremonies at thecourts of Europe on feſtivals of this nature; adding, at the fame time, " he hadbeen informed, that, after drinking the King's health on fuch occafions, the Europeans broke the glaffes. He approved (he faid) of the drinking part; but hedid not comprehend the meaning of breaking the glaffes;" and laughed heartily atthe joke.The great hall was, by this time, almoſt full of company; and a number of peopleofdiſtinction ſtill remained in the area, who could not find room in the hall.The entertainment now began to be ferved up. The victuals were carried about ingreat order, and placed before the company on large tables. All the diſhes were3cold,400 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.cold, except thofe fet before His Majefty, who fupplied us plentifully with hot provifions from the throne.Dinner being ended, the fports were begun by a company of wrestlers, compofed ofChineſe and Tartars. Many of them were almost naked, having no cloaths but tightcanvafs drawers. They performed their parts in the area before the hall. When anyof them was feverely bruiſed by his antagoniſt, or much hurt by a fall, which frequentlyhappened, the Emperor fent him a cordial, and ordered him to be properly taken care of.Sometimes alfo, when he perceived the combatants too eager and warm, a fign wasgiven to part them. Thefe inftances of humanity were very amiable in the old monarch, and rendered the fight of fuch fhocking fpectacles more tolerable; for many oftheſe wreſtlers received fuch blows and falls, as were fufficient to have knocked thebreath out of their bodies.To the wreſtling fucceeded many other games and mock fights, in which the performers, armed, fome with lances, others with battle- axes, quarter-ftaffs, flails , or cudgels, acted their parts with great dexterity.Then appeared two troops of Tartars, clothed with coats of tiger ſkins, armed withbows and atrows, and mounted on hobby-horfes. At first, they behaved as enemies;but, after fome fkirmiſhes with their arrows, the parties were reconciled , and began todance to a difmal tune of vocal and inftrumental mufic. The dance was interrupted bya perſon in a frightful maſk, of a tall ftature, dreffed and mounted like the Tartars.who, they faid, reprefented the devil. After making feveral unfuccefsful attacks, onthe united body of the Tartars, this formidable hero was at length killed by an arrow,and carried off in triumph. During the dance, each Tartar had a ſmall baſket in onehand, and an arrow in the other wherewith he fcraped on the baſket, keeping time tothe mufic. This ſcraping founded a little harsh to an Italian ear; for I could obferveSignor Mezzobarba and his retinue fmiling at the performance.Whilethe Tartars performed in the court, one ofthe Emperor's fons, a prince ofabouttwenty years of age, danced alone in the hall, and attracted the eyes of the whole company. His motions were at firft very flow, fo that he feemed fcarcely to move at all;but afterwards became more briſk and lively. The Emperor was cheerful, and ſeemedwell pleaſed with the different performers , but particularly with an old Tartar, whoplayed on a chime of little bells, with fhort ivory rods. The inftruments of mufic werevery various, and all tuned to the Chineſe taſte. The Emperor told the ambaſſador,that he knew well their muſic would not pleaſe an European ear, but that every nationliked their own beft.The dancing being over, there was hoisted up a large veffel, refembling a tub, betweentwo pofts erected in the area for that purpoſe. In the veffel were placed three boys,who performed many dexterous tricks, both in the veffel and on the posts, too tediousto mention. By this time the fun was fet, and the company were foon after diſmiſſedfor the night.Next day, the rejoicings were renewed. We did not, however, go to court beforethe evening, becaufe the fireworks would not begin till the fun was fet. On our arrrival,we were conducted through a garden, weftward from the palace, in the middle of whichftood a large building, with covered galleries all around. Before the houſe was a canal,having over it a drawbridge. We took our places on the gravel-walk, juft under thegallery, where the Emperor fat with his wives and family. Hard by us was the Kutuchtu in his tent, having one of his lamas ftanding at the door. This prieft never onceappeared out of his tent during the whole fhow. All the grandees and officers of ſtatewere feated ontheir cuſhions along the bank of the canal. The machinery for the fireworksBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 401works was placed on the other fide of the canal; and nobody was permitted to gothither, except the people who managed it.About five of the clock a fignal was given for beginning to play off the fire-works,by a rocket let fly from the gallery where the Emperor fat; and, in the ſpace of a fewminutes, many thoufand lanterns were lighted. Thefe lanterns were made of paper ofdifferent colours, red, blue, green, and yellow, and hung on pofts about fix feet high,ſcattered over all the garden; which exhibited a very pleafant profpect to the eye.Another fignal was then given, for playing off the rockets. They fprung upwardsto a prodigious height, and fell down in figures of ftars, difplaying a great variety ofbeautiful colours. The rockets were accompanied with what I fhall call crackers, forwant of a proper name. Their exploſion refembled the reports of many great guns,fired at certain intervals, and exhibited a view of many charming colours, and formsof fire. Thefe, with a few fireworks of different kinds intermixed, continued for thefpace of three hours.Oppofite to the gallery where the Emperor fat was fufpended a large round veffel,about twenty feet in diameter, between two pofts about thirty feet high. A rocket fentfrom the gallery lighted a match, hanging from the veffel, which immediately cauſedthe bottom of it to drop down with a loud noife. Then fell out a lattice, or grate-work,all on fire, and hung between the veffel and the ground, burning furiouſly, in variouscolours. This continued for ten minutes, and really exhibited a moft curious fight.It ſeems this lattice-work was compofed of materials that immediately kindled on beingexpoſed to the air; for no perfon was feen near the machine.The grate-work being extinguiſhed , there appeared a lighted match, hanging from themiddle of the veffel, and burning up to it. As foon as the fire reached the veffel,thirty fair paper- lanterns, of various colours, dropped from it, and hung, in a ſtraightline, below one another, between it and the ground; which immediately catched fire ofthemſelves, and formed a beautiful and well proportioned column of party colouredlight. After this fell out about ten or twelve pillars of the fame form, but of a lefferfize; theſe alfo took fire as foon as they dropped. This fcene continued till thenumber of one thoufand lanterns fell from the veffel, which diminished every time,till the laſt was very fmall. I muſt confefs this prefented a delightful object to thefpectators.I could not help being furpriſed at the ingenuity of the artift, in crowding ſuch anumber of lanterns into fo fmall and fimple a machine as this feemed to be; and, atthe ſame time, with fo much order, that all of them dropped and kindled of themfelves,with equal regularity, as if he had let them fall from his hand; for not even one ofthem was extinguiſhed by accident, or in the leaft entangled by another. This concluded the first day's entertainment.The 31ft, in the evening, we returned to court, where was opened a new ſcene offire-works, which continued, with great variety, till ten o'clock at night.The 1ft of February, we went again to court, where the fire-works were refumed inmany different well executed defigns. What pleafed me moft, was a fmall mount,raifed in the middle of the garden, from which fprung a ftream of white and blue fire,in imitation of water. The top of the mount contained a cavity, in fhape of a large urn,from which the fire rofe to a prodigious height.Oppofite to the gallery, where the Emperor fat, were erected three large frames,about thirty feet high each. On one was a monftrous figure of a dragon; on thefecond, a man on horſeback; and the third repreſented an elephant, with a humanVOL. VII. 3 Ffigure402 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.figure on his back. All theſe were compofed of a deep blue fire, and were interwovenwith vines and grapes, hanging about on all fides, of white, red, and blue fire.Befides thefe, there were exhibited, on this occafion, many other ingenious defignsoffire-works, which far furpaffed any thing of the kind I ever faw, though I have beenprefent at performances of this nature exhibited at St. Peterſburg bythe artiſts in Europe. Befides the art diſplayed in the contrivance and figure, thefe works furniſhed , inparticular, a wonderful variety of moſt beautiful colours, far exceeding my ability todefcribe. I must confefs they far outdid my expectations, and even common fame,which feldom leffens things of this nature.The following day, the Emperor gave the ambaſſador a private audience, and enquiredhow he liked the diverfions and fire-works. On this occafion, the Emperor repeatedwhat has been already obferved concerning the antiquity of illuminations compofed ofgunpowder; and added, that, although fire-works had been known in China for morethan two thoufand years, he himſelf had made many improvements upon them, andbrought them to their prefent perfection.The 3d, we returned to the city, in a cold frofty day, and the wind at north-weſt.Wefound the rejoicings ftill going on at Pekin; for ftages were erected, and playsreprefented, in all the principal ſtreets through which we paffed.The affairs relating to the embaffy being nearly finifhed, we began now to preparefor our journey to the weftward, which was to take place as foon as the extremity of the cold was abated.The 9th, three miffionaries, Paranim, Demail, and Moran, came to pay their reſpectsto the ambaffador, and beg the favour of him, that Signor Nicolai, one of their fociety,might be permitted to accompany him in his journey to Europe, which was granted,provided it was agreeable to the Emperor. The reafon of this requeſt was fuppofed tobe, that Signor Mezzobarba having returned to Rome without accompliſhing the endsof his embaffy, the Emperor, who favoured the cauſe of the Jefuits, had concerted withthem to fend Nicolai to the court of Rome, in order to reprefent the ſtate of this affairbefore Mezzobarba could arrive.Next day, the Emperor fent three officers with prefents to His Czarish Majefty; thechief of which were, tapeſtry for two rooms, neatly wrought on a rich filk ſtuff; a ſetof fmall enamelled gold cups; fome japanned cups, fet with mother of pearl; threeflower-pieces, curiouſly embroidered on taffety; two chefts of rockets, prepared in theChineſe faſhion; about twenty or thirty pieces of filk, in moſt of which was interwoven the dragon with five claws; a parcel of different forts of curious fans forladies; alfo, a box containing fome rolls of white Chineſe paper, the ſheets of whichwere ofa fize much larger than common; befides feveral other toys, fcarce worth mentioning. From thefe particulars it appears, that theſe two mighty monarchs werenot very laviſh in their prefents to each other, preferring curiofities to things of realvalue.The 11th, feveral officers came from court with prefents to the ambaffador, and everyperfon ofthe retinue, correfponding to their different ftations and characters; and, fominutely and exactly was this matter managed, that even the meaneſt of our fervantswas not neglected. The prefents, confifting of a complete Chineſe drefs, fome piecesof damaſks, and other ftuffs, were, indeed, of no great value. They were, however,carried along the streets, wrapped up in yellow filk, with the ufual parade of things belonging to the court; a circumftance which is reckoned one of the greateſt honoursthat can be conferred on a foreign miniſter.5NextBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.403Next day, the Emperor fent to aſk the ambaffador, whether he inclined to accompanyhim to a hunting-match, in a foreſt not far diſtant from Pekin; to which his Excellencyreadily agreed.The 13th, I dined with one of my Chineſe friends, called Fangfung. In going thither,I met in the ſtreet two men riding on affes, with their fervants leading them by thebridle. I foon perceived they were Kawlees; which is the name given by the Chineſeand Tartars, to the people of Korea, whom I have mentioned above.The 14th, the weather was very fine and warm.The 15th, we went to a fair in the fuburbs, which is held the firſt day of everynew moon; where we found many things expofed to fale, not commonly foundin fhops.The 16th, the weather being favourable, I took a ride round the walls of the city;which I performed, at an eaſy trot, in the fpace of four hours: whereby the compaſs ofPekin may be nearly computed. The fuburbs, eſpecially to the eaſt and fouth, arevery extenfive, and, in many places of them, the buildings are equal to thoſe withinthe walls.The 17th, being now on the point of our departure, in order to make the moſt ofthe fhort time we had to ftay, I rode about twelve miles eastward from Pekin, accompanied with a Chineſe friend, to the banks of the river, which I found crowded with anumber of barks, of different fizes, which are conftantly employed in carrying provifions, and other ftores, to the city, from diftant parts of the country. I faw many veffelsfailing down the ſtream, towards the fouth-eaft. And I was informed, there are ninethouſand nine hundred and ninety- nine veffels conftantly employed on this river: butwhy confined to fuch an odd number, I could neither learn nor comprehend. Duringa month or fix weeks, in winter, this river is frozen over; at which ſeaſon, proviſionsare conveyed by land-carriage , or along the ice.On this occafion alfo, I vifited the China manufactory, in order to try whether I couldlearn any thing ofthat curious art. But, though the peeple were very complaifant, andſhewed me every thing I defired them, I returned as ignorant as I went thither; and Iam perfuaded, that, before a perfon can get any knowledge of the affair, he muſt bebred a potter, and have time to inſpect its whole progrefs; of which theſe people ſeemto make no fecret.The fields along the banks ofthe river are well cultivated, producing fine wheat, andother forts of grain. I faw alfo great plantations of tobacco, which they call tharr, andwhich yields very confiderable profits, as it is univerfally uſed in ſmoking, by perfonsof all ranks, of both fexes, in China; and, befides, great quantities are fent to the Mongalls, who prefer the Chineſe manner of preparing it before every other. They makeit into a grofs powder, like faw-duft, which they keep in a ſmall bag, and fill their littlebrafs pipes out of it, without touching the tobacco with their fingers. The fmoke isvery mild; and has quite a different fmell from ours. It is reported the Chineſe havehad the uſe of tobacco for many ages.I obferved, that, in cold weather, the Chineſe chewed a kind of nut, about the bigneſsof a nutmeg, which they called beetle; it is of an aftringent quality. They ſay, it bothkeeps them warm, and cleans their teeth.Next day was ſpent in preparing for our journey.On the 18th, all our gentlemen dined with my Chineſe friend, named Siafiey, wherewe met with a friendly reception, and a fumptuous feaſt. After dinner, our hoſpitablelandlord put about his cups very freely. At last, he took me by the hand, and deſiredIwould let the ambaffador return, and remain with him; and he would give me mychoice3 F 2of404 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.of which of his wives or daughters I liked beft. I could not but return my friendhearty thanks for his obliging offer, which, however, I thought it not proper to accept.Next day, I went to fee the market where provifions were fold. It was a fpaciousoblong, fpread with gravel, very neat and clean. The butchers had their fhops in thefhade, running quite round the place. I faw little beef, but a great deal of mutton.In the middle was a great ftore of poultry, wild-fowl, and venifon; but what ſurpriſedme not a little, was to find about a dozen of dead badgers expofed to fale. The Chineſe, it ſeems, are very fond of theſe animals, which are accounted unclean in otherparts ofthe world. All the Chineſe merchants have the art of expofing their goods tofale, dreffed up in the moft advantageous manner; and, even in purchafing anytrifling thing, whatever the cafe be that holds it, it is half the coft, and often exceeds itin value.The 21ft , being the day appointed for hunting with the Emperor, at one of the clockin the morning, horfes were brought to our lodgings, for the ambaffador and thoſe whoattended him. We immediately mounted; and, after riding about fix miles, to thefouth-west of the city, at break of day we reached the gates of the park called Chayza,where we were received by an officer, and conducted through the foreft to a fummerhouſe, about a mile from the gate, in which the Emperor had flept the preceding night.This was a ſmall but neat building, having a double row of galleries, open to the foreſton all fides, and an avenue leading to it from the gate, planted with ſeveral rows of trees.At ſome diſtance from the houſe we difmounted, and were met by the maſter of theceremonies, who conducted us into a gallery. As foon as we entered, the good oldEmperor, who had rifen long before our arrival, fent one of his eunuchs to falute theambaffador, and ordered us tea and other victuals. On the fouth fide of the houſe is acanal, filled with clear water, and feveral large fifh-ponds, which make a great additionto the beauties of this charming place. At a convenient diſtance fromthe houſe, ſtoodabout a thouſand tents, where the courtiers and grandees had lodged the night before. Breakfaſt being over, the Emperor, who was very fond of arms, fent to defirea fight ofthe ambaffador's fowling-piece. He returned it, with feveral of his own to befhewn to us. They had all match- locks. The Chineſe are poffeffed with a notion , thatflints, in their country, acquire a moiſture which hinders their firing. But, as far as Icould perceive, the air had little effect upon our flints.A fignal was then given that the Emperor was coming; upon which all the greatmen drew up in lines, from the bottom of the ſtairs to the road leading to the foreft, alkon foot, dreffed in their hunting habits, the fame with thoſe uſed by the officers and cavalry of the army, when in the field , and armed with bows and arrows. We had aproper place affigned us, and made our bows to His Majefty, who returned a graciousfmile, with figns to follow him. He was feated cross-legged in an open machine, carriedby four men, with long poles refted on their fhoulders. Before him lay a fowling-piece,a bow, and fheaf of arrows. This has been his hunting equipage for fome years, fincehe left off riding; but, in his youth he went ufually, every fummer, feveral days journeywithout the long wall, and carried with him all the princes his fons, and many perfonsof diftinction, to the number frequently of fome thoufands, in order to hunt in thewoods and deferts; where he continued for the ſpace of two or three months. Theirproviſions were reftricted to bare neceffaries, and often to what they caught in the woodsof Tartary. This piece of policy he practifed chiefly with a view to harden the officersof his army, and prevent their falling into idlenefs and effeminacy among the Chineſe;and, at the fame time, to fet a good example of the aufterities he recommended, byliving on the fame hard fare he preſcribed to others.AsBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 405As foon as the Emperor had paffed, the company mounted and followed him at fomediſtance, till we came into the open foreft, where all formed into a femicircle, in thecentre of which was the Emperor, having on his left hand about eight or ten of hisfons and grandfons, and the ambaffador on his right, about fifty paces diftant; clofeby him were the mafter of the chace, with fome grey-hounds, and the grand falconerwith his hawks. I could not but admire the beauty of thefe fine birds. Many ofthem were as white as doves, having one or two black feathers in their wings or tails.They are brought from Siberia, or places to the north of the river Amoor.Our wings being extended, there were many hares ftarted, which the company endeavoured to drive towards the Emperor, who killed many of them with arrows asthey paffed; thofe he miffed, he made a fign to fome of the princes to purfue, who alſo.killed many ofthem with arrows; but no other perfon was permitted to draw a bow,or flir from the line. The fame rules of hunting I formerly obferved are practiſed bythe Mongalls.From the open field, we continued our route weftward, to a place among thicketsand tall reeds, where we fprung a number of pheaſants, partridges, and quails. HisMajeſty then laid afide his bow and arrows, and carried a hawk on his hand, which heflew as occafion offered. The hawks generally raked in the pheaſants while flying;but, if they took the reeds or buſhes, they foon caught them.After proceeding about two or three miles farther into the foreft, we came to a tallwood, where we found ſeveral forts of deer. The young men went in and beat the woods,whilſt the reſt of the company remained without. We faw much game paſs us; butnobody drew a bowtill the Emperor had killed a ftag, which he did very dexterously,with a broad headed arrow: after which the princes had leave to kill feveral bucks;among which was one of that fpecies that bears the mufk, called kaberda in Siberia, ofwhich I have formerly given a defcription. The Chineſe muſk is ftronger, andtherefore preferable to that from northern parts.We had now been fix hours on horfeback, and, I reckon, had travelled about fifteen Engliſh miles, but no end of the foreſt yet appeared. We turned fhort from thiswood fouthwards, till, coming to fome marfhes overgrown with tall reeds, we roufed agreat many wild boars; but, as it was not the feafon for killing them , they all efcaped.The hunting theſe fierce animals is reckoned the moſt dangerous of all kinds of fport,except the chace of lions and tigers. Every one endeavoured to avoid them; and feveral of them run furiouſly through the thickeft troops of horſe. The Emperor was focautious as to have a company of men, armed with: lances, to guard his machine.We continued the fport till about four o'clock, when we came to a high artificialmount, of a ſquare figure, raiſed in the middle of a plain, on the top of which werepitched about ten or twelve tents, for the imperial family. This mount had ſeveralwinding paths leading to the top, planted on each fide with rows of trees, in imitationof nature. To the fouth was a large bafon of water, with a boat upon it; from whence,.I fuppofe, the earth has been taken that formed this mount. At ſome diſtance from themount, tents were erected for the people of diftinction, and officers of the court..About two hundred yards from it, we were lodged in fome clean huts, covered with:reeds. The Emperor, from his fituation, had a view of all the tents, and a great wayfarther into the foreft. The whole fcene made a very pretty appearance.As foon as we alighted, the maſter of the ceremonies was fent by the Emperor to afk.the ambaffador how he liked their manner ofhunting. He made a fuitable return, ac-.knowledging, at the fame time, the great honour done him on this occafion..2 The406BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.The Emperor then fent us great plenty of dreffed proviſions of all kinds; and theofficer who brought them pointed out feveral diſhes, which His Majefty fent from hisown table, confifting of mutton, venifon, pheaſants, and other forts of wild fowl .After dinner, the Emperor fent two of his chief eunuchs to compliment the ambaffador, and inform him, that he intended to entertain him with the baiting of threetigers, which had been kept fome time, cooped up in a ſtrong grate-work, for thatpurpoſe. The hill where the Emperor's tent ftood was furrounded with feveral ranksof guards, armed with long fpears. A guard alfo was placed before the ambaſſador's,and the rest ofthe tents, to fecure the whole encampment from the fury of theſe fierceanimals. The firft was let out by a perfon mounted on a fleet horfe, who opened thedoor of the coop by means of a rope tied to it. The tiger immediately left his cage,and feemed much pleafed to find himſelf at liberty. The horfeman rode off at fullfpeed, while the tiger was rolling himſelfupon the grafs. At laft he rofe, and growled,and walked about. The Emperor fired twice at him with bullets; but the diftancebeing confiderable, miffed him , though the pieces were well pointed. Upon whichHis Majefty fent to the ambalador, to try his piece upon him; which being chargedwith a fingle ball, he walked towards the animal, accompanied by ten men, armed withfpears, in cafe of accidents; till, being at a convenient diftance, he took his aim , andkilled him on the fpot.The fecond was let out in the fame manner. The horfeman, retiring a little, leftthe creature rolling upon the grafs like the firft. He then returned; and ſhot at himwith a blunted arrow; which roufed the animal to fuch a pitch , and made him purſuefo clofely, that the horſeman narrowly eſcaped within the ranks, where the furioustiger, endeavouring to leap over the men's heads, was killed at the foot of the mount.The third, as foon as he was fet at liberty, run directly towards the Emperor's tent,and was in like manner killed with the fpears. A man must be well mounted andarmed who hunts this kind of animals in the woods; where they must be muchftronger and fwifter than thefe we faw, which had been confined for many months,and whofe limbs, by want of exerciſe, were become ſtiff and unwieldly; but, notwithſtanding this difadvantage, the courage and nimbleneſs even of theſe animals was veryfurprifing. I have feen four forts of them, the tiger, panther, leopard, and lynx,which are all very fierce; but the first is the largeſt and ſtrongeſt.The Emperor in his youth was very fond of hunting thefe creatures in the woods ofTartary; but now he confines himſelf within the limits ofthe foreft, where there isfufficient to gratify any ſportſman.gameThe killing ofthe tigers finifhed the diverfion ofthe day; after which we retired to ourhuts, where we were entertained with a plentiful fupper fent us by the Emperor. Afterfupper, an officer was fent from His Majefty to the ambaffador, who brought thetiger's fkin he had fhot, telling him that, by the laws of hunting, he had a right to it.Next morning, the fport was refumed, and varied little from that of the precedingday. About three o'clock, afternoon, we came to another fummer-houſe in the middleof the foreft, where the Emperor lodged the following night, while we lay in a ſmallneat temple in the neighbourhood, and were entertained by His Majefty in the famemanner as before.The 23d, about eight of the clock in the morning, the mafter of the ceremonieswaited onthe ambaffador, in order to conduct him into His Majefty's prefence to receive his audience of leave. The Emperor received him in a moft friendly manner inhis bed-chamber. He repeated his affurances of the great friendſhip he entertained forHisBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 407His Czarish Majefty, and expreffed great refpect for the perfonal merit of the ambaffador. After which the ambaffador took leave, and we returned to our lodgings inthe city.I fhall only obferve further, that this foreft is really a moft delightful place, is wellſtored with a variety of game, and is of great extent, as will eafily be conceived fromthe account I have given of our two days hunting. It is all inclofed with a high wallofbrick. The value of this park, fo near the capital, fhows the magnificence of thispowerful monarch.The 24th, the ambaſſador was invited, by the prefident of the College of Mathematics, to fee the obfervatory, which is fituated immediately within the eaft wall, and commandsan extenſive profpect. The building is not magnificent, but is furniſhed with afine armillary ſphere, globes, teleſcopes, an orrery in good order, and other mathematical inftruments of the beft European workmanſhip. This college was erected by theprefent Emperor, who fpares no coſt to bring it to perfection; and the meaneft of hisfubjects, who difcover a genius for ſcience, or any uſeful art, are fure to meet with dueencouragement.The Chineſe are indebted to the preſent Emperor for what progreſs they have madein aftronomy. He chiefly promoted this ftudy by countenancing the Jefuits and othermiffionaries; for I have been informed that, before their arrival in this country, theinhabitants could fcarcely calculate an eclipfe. The Chineſe, it is indeed pretended,underſtood aſtronomy previous to that period: but the knowledge of it was in a greatmeaſure loft during the many fatal revolutions of the empire.From the obfervatory we afcended, by a broad rifing paffa*ge, to the top of the citywall, where we faw about fifteen . horfemen riding their rounds, which we were told:they performed day and night at ftated times. The wall is built of brick, and is abouttwenty-five or thirty feet high, having embrafures and ſquare towers at equal diſtances,and a wide deep ditch, which may be filled with water at pleaſure . On the top of thewall there is a pleaſant walk, broad enough for fifteen horſemen to ride abreaſt. I fup--pofe the whole is, perhaps, not compofed of folid bricks, but the middle filled up with:earth and rubbiſh.The 25th, we went to all the three convents, and took leave of our friends themiffionaries.The 26th, the ambaffador went to the tribunal for foreign affairs, and received aletter from the Emperor to His Czarish Majefty. On this occafion, the prefident acquainted his excellency, that he muſt confider this letter as a fingular mark of favour tohis maſter, as their Emperors were not in ufe to write letters of compliment to anyprince, or, indeed, to write letters of any kind, except thofe which contained theirorders to their fubjects; and that the Emperor difpenfed with fo material a cuſtom,only to teftify his refpect for his Czarish Majefty.The original of this letter was in the Chineſe language, and a copy of it in the Mongalian. It was folded up in a long roll, according to the cuftom in China, and wrappedin a piece of yellow filk, which was tied to a man's arm, and carried in proceffion be--fore the ambaffador. All perfons on horfeback whom we met difmounted, and ſtoodtill we had paffed them. Such veneration do thefe people pay to every thing belonging to the Emperor.The fame day, the ambaffador had a vifit from a young gentleman, a defcendentof the famous Chineſe philofopher Confucius, whofe memory and works are greatlyrefpected in China. From what I could learn of this eminent philofopher, he appears to have been a perſon of extraordinary parts, extenfive knowledge, and exemplary408 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.plary virtue. On account of fuch rare qualities, his family is ſtill honoured and efteemed, even by the Emperor himſelf.CHAP. XII. -Some Account of the prefent Emperor of China, the Chinefe Wall, &c.BEFORE we leave China, I fhall make a few general remarks on the people andcountry, drawn from the beſt information I could procure; and fhall begin with thelong wall.The long, or endlefs wall, as it is commonly called, encompaffes all the north andweft parts of China. It was built, about fix hundred years ago, by one of the Emperors, to prevent the frequent incurfions of the Mongalls, and other weftern Tartars,who made a practice of affembling numerous troops of horfe, and invading the countryin different places. The Chineſe frontiers were too extenfive to be guarded againſtfuch bold and numerous enemies, who after plundering and deſtroying a wealthy country, returned to their own, loaded with ſpoils.The Chineſe finding all precautions ineffectual to put a stop to the inroads of fuchbarbarians, at laſt refolved to build this famous wall. It begins in the province ofLeotong, at the bottom ofthe bay of Nankin, and proceeds acroſs rivers, and over thetops of the higheſt mountains, without interruption, keeping nearly along the circularridge of barren rocks that furround the country to the north and weft , and, after running fouthwards about twelve hundred Engliſh miles, ends in impaffable mountains andfandy deferts.The foundation confifts of large blocks of fquare ftones laid in mortar; but the reſtof the wall is built of brick. The whole is fo ftrong and well built as to need almoſtno repair, and in fuch a dry climate may remain in this condition for many ages. Itsheight and breadth are not equal in every place; nor, indeed, is it neceffary they ſhould.When carried over fteep rocks, where no horfe can pafs, it is about fifteen or twentyfeet high, and broad in proportion; but when running through a valley, or croffing ariver, there you fee a ſtrong wall, about thirty feet high, with fquare towers, at thediftance of a bow-fhot from one another, and embrafures at equal diſtances. The topof the wall is flat , and paved with broad free-ftone; and where it riſes over a rock, orany eminence, you afcend by a fine eaſy ſtone ſtair.The bridges over rivers and torrents are exceedingly neat, being both well contrived and executed. They have two ſtories of arches, one above another, to affordfufficient paffa*ge for the waters on fudden rains and floods.This wall was begun and completely finiſhed inthe ſpace of five years; every fixthman in China being obliged to work himfelf, or find another in his ftead. It is reported, that the labourers ſtood fo cloſe, for many miles diſtance, as to hand the materials from one to another. This I am the more inclined to believe, as the ruggedrocks would prevent all uſe of carriages; nor could clay, for making bricks or cement of any kind, be found among them.The building ofthis wall, however, was not the only burden the Chineſe ſupportedon this occafion. They were alfo obliged to keep a numerous army in the field toguard the paffes of the mountains, and fecure the labourers from being interrupted bytheir watchful enemies the Tartars, who all the while were not idle fpectators.I am of opinion, that no nation in the world was able for fuch an undertaking except the Chineſe: for, though fome other kingdom might have furniſhed a fufficientnumber of workmen for fuch an enterpriſe, none but the ingenious, fober, and parfimonious19-Engraved byGeorge co*ke ..China ofWall Great Thekoo .ofCou -pePass near theaken

BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 402monious Chineſe, could have preferved order amidſt fuch multitudes, or patiently fubmited to the hardships attending fuch a labour. This furprifing piece of work, if notthe greateft, may juflly be reckoned among the wonders of the world. And the Emperor, who planned and completed it, deferves fame, as much fuperior to his who builtthe famous Egyptian pyramids, as a performance of reai ufe excels a work of vanity.Befides the main wall, there are feveral femicircular walls, which have the long wallfor their diameter, at the places leaft fortified by nature, and at the open paffes ofthemountains. Theſe are ſtrongly built, of the fame materials and architecture with thelong wall, and are of confiderable extent, fometimes on one fide of the main wal!, andfometimes on the other. In thefe walls are ſtrong gates, conftantly defended by a numerous guard. They are intended to prevent a furprife, and ftop fudden irruptions ofthe enemy. Even thefe leffer bulwarks feem works of great expence and labour, butnothing in compariſon with the long wall.After the Chineſe had finiſhed their wall, they had a refpite for a confiderable timefrom the invafions of their enemies, reaping the fruits of their labour in peace andquietnefs. However, about five hundred years ago, the western Tartars found meansto get through the wall, and, with a powerful army of horſe, entered the country, carrying terror along with them wherever they went. They at laft became mafters ofthegreateſt part of China, and kept poffeffion of it for many years, till the Chineſe, exafperated by their tyranny, took advantage of their negligence, and drove them backwith difgrace to their ancient habitations in the deferts. The Chineſe now began tore-eſtabliſh their former government, to rectify diſorders, and repair defolations madeby the Tartars. From this time they enjoyed long peace, till the fatal year one thoufand fix hundred and forty, when the Mantzur Tartars conquered the whole empire ofChina; which conqueft they retain to this day, and, by their prudent management andmild government, feem in a fair way to keep it.I fhall briefly relate in what manner this ftrange revolution was brought about byfoſmall a nation as the Mantzurs; a people whom the Chineſe difpifed, and who bear nogreater proportion to the Chineſe than the inhabitants of Wales to the rest of GreatBritain.It happened, during a time of profound peace, that a certain prince of Mantzur,going to fetch his bride, from a place bordering on the province of Leotong, was, without provocation, attacked by a party of Chineſe, and flain, with moſt of his attendants,against all laws of juftice and good neighbourhood.The Tartars, though highly exafperated, behaved with uncommon moderation onthis occafion. Before proceeding to make reprifals, or taking any ftep whatever withthat view, they fent ambaſſadors to the court of Pekin, demanding fatisfaction for theoutrage committed upon one of their princes. Their complaints were neglected; andthe matter, under various pretences, delayed, from time to time, till the Tartars, lofingall patience, and pofitively infifting on an anfwer to their demands, were affronted, andcontemptuously difiniffed by the Chineſe miniftry, to whom the Emperor had referredthem. This treatment highly enraged the whole race of the Tartars, who immediatelyvowed revenge; and having got an army together, entered the province of Leotong,which lies without the wall, wafting all with fire and fword.Befides this war with the Tartars, feveral other circumftances concurred to bringabout a revolution in the empire; for at the fame time there happened a great infurrection in China, which at laft became general. The rebels were commanded by one namedLi, who, after having defeated the imperial army fent to oppofe him, invefted and took Pekin VOL. VII. 36410 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.Pekin itſelf. And the Emperor, rather than fall into the hands of his furious ſubjects,firſt hanged his daughter, and then himſelf, on a tree in his own garden.The Emperor's general, Ufangue, ftill kept the field with the fmall remains of histroops, but altogether unable to refift the powerful army of the rebels. He thereforeretired northwards; and all hopes of fuccefs being loft, came to a refolution of callingin the Tartars to his affiftance. He promifed them many rewards, and particularly theprovince of Leotong, if by their aid he fucceeded in forcing the rebels to obedience.Kum-ti the Tartar chief, readily hearkened to the propofal, and the terms were foonfettled between the parties.In confequence of this agreement, the new allies joined armies, which were bothcommanded by the Tartar, and advanced towards the long wall: but before theyreached the gate, Kum-ti, the Tartar prince, died, and left his fon, Xungſti, a child offeven years of age, for his fucceffor. This accident did not retard the progrefs of theexpedition; for this child was left to the guardianfhip of his uncle, a man of greatabilities and addreſs, and perfectly qualified to conduct the important project then onfoot.Immediately after the death of the Kum-ti, the young prince was proclaimed Kingofthe Mantzurs, and commander in chief of the combined army of Tartars and Chinefe. In order to magnify the number of Tartars in the army, and confequently renderthemſelves more formidable to the rebels, they luckily fell upon a ſtratagem, whichwas, to dreſs all the Chineſe ſoldiers in Tartar habits: and, at entering the wall, thereal Tartars in the army did not exceed eight thouſand men, though indeed they werefollowed by ſtrong reinforcements.When they arrived at the wall, the Chineſe, who kept a guard, feeing a child at thehead of fuch an army, which they imagined to confift wholly of Tartars, were fofurpriſed, that they immediately opened the gates, without the leaſt reſiſtance, cryingout, long live the Emperor. This circumftance, added to the reports of ſo formidablean army of Tartars, increafing daily by reinforcements, ftruck fuch terror into the rebels, that many of them forf*ck their leader. The Tartars ftill advanced, and haddaily fkirmishes and feveral battles with the rebels, in which the latter were defeated.In the mean time, the guardian took care to leave garrifons in all the towns throughwhich they paffed, with ftrict orders to uſe the inhabitants with the greateſt humanity.Such mild behaviour gained the affection of the nation in general. And thus he proceeded, from one province to another, till the whole empire fubmitted to his jurifdiction.The war, which had lafted fome years, being now at an end, and peace re-eſtabliſhed,the Chineſe thanked the Tartars for their good fervices, and defired they would returnto their own country. But the Tartar Chief, on various pretences delayed his departure, till fuch time as he found his party fufficiently ftrong to fix his nephew,Xungfti, on the imperial throne of China.Xungfti died a young man, and left his fecond fon, Kamhi, to fucceed him. Onfinding himſelf at the point of death, he called for his eldeſt ſon , and aſked him, whether he would take upon him the government? but, being young and modeft, he was unwilling to accept, and begged his father would excufe him on that account. ThenKamhi was called, and afked the fame queftion. He was better inftructed, and brifklyanſwered, he was ready to obey his father's commands, and would take the weight ofthe government upon him. This anfwer fo pleaſed the Emperor, that he named himhis fucceffor; and accordingly on the death of his father, be was proclaimed Emperor;and his behaviour has fhown him altogether worthy of that honour. It is, it ſeems,agreeableBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 411agreeable to the laws and cuſtoms of China, that the Emperor chufe, for his fucceffor,which of his fons he pleaſes, without regard to primogeniture.Although the Emperor's name is Kamhi, the weſtern Tartars call him Boghdoychan,fignifying chief governour; but the Chineſe, in talking of him, fay Vanfuy, which fignifies many times ten- thouſand years, meaning, let the Emperor live fo long. This isa high title in the Oriental phrafe. His fons are called Van, fignifying ten thouſandyears, and are diftinguiſhed bythe names of Van the firft , Van the fecond, &c. according to their age.Kamhi, the prefent Emperor, has about twenty fons, and, it is faid, he intends thefourteenth for his fucceffor. He is a prince eminent for prudence and valour; andhad, at this time, the command of an army againſt the Kalmucks.Kamhi hath yet the remains of a graceful perfon. His countenance is open, his difpofition generous, and he gives great application to bufinefs; qualities abfolutely neceffary to manage the great affairs with which he is intrufted. His reign has beenlong and profperous, though fometimes diſturbed by dangerous infurrections, and openrebellions; but his good fortune and prudent conduct, overcoming all difficulties, reftored public tranquillity; and he has now, for a confiderable time, enjoyed perfectpeace and happineſs. Although the government of China is abfolute, it requires nofmall fa*gacity and ſkill to rule an empire of fuch extenfive dominions, and containingfo numerous fubjects.After Kamhi had fettled his affairs at home, the first step he took was to gain theweſtern or Mongall Tartars to his friendſhip. The Chineſe had no enemies fo formidable. The Emperor knewtheir valour, and had employed many of them in his army,who did him fignal fervices on many occafions. To effect this, he began to form alliances with their princes and chiefs, by intermarriages between their families and his,wheretheſe could take place; others he allured by rich prefents; fo that they are atprefent little better than his fubjects: and, by this mafter-piece of politics, he fucceededmore effectually than if he had employed the whole force of China. The friendſhip ofthe weſtern Tartars is of great importance to the Emperor; for they not only fupplyPekin with provifions, the produce of their flocks, but, upon any emergency, canbring to his affiſtance fifty thouſand horfe on a fhort warning.It may eaſily be imagined, that great armies and ſtrict diſcipline are neceffary toguard fo extenfive territories, and keep fuch a numerous people on their duty. Thenumber of foldiers reported to be in the empire is prodigious, and almoſt incredible.I am well informed, that the fingle province and city of Pekin contain no leſs than onehundred and twenty thousand effective men, all well paid, cloathed, and armed.Notwithſtanding the vaft revenues which are neceffary for the fupport of the government, the duties on inland trade muſt be very eafy; for I was told by a merchant, thathe could live in the capital, and trade in what branches of buſineſs he pleaſed , for paying only one ounce of filver annually to the Emperor. Such eafy taxes fhow thegreat œconomy and moderation of Kamhi, whoſe reign is called the reign of greatpeace and reft; in Chineſe Tayping.The Tartars call China, Kitay, and the people Kitaytzi; but the Chineſe call themfelves Chum-quotigen, that is, the people of the middle region.The empire of China is, in a manner, feparated from all the reft of the world;fituated in a fine and healthy climate, furrounded by the ocean to the eaſt and fouth;by a chain of high rocks and barren mountains on the north and weft, along whichruns the famous wall as an additional defence. But what, in my opinion, is a greaterfecurity to the empire againſt invaders than any thing yet mentioned, is the barren3 G 2defert,412 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.defert, ftretching for feveral hundred miles weftward, where none but Tartars can fubfift, and which ſcarce any regular army can pafs. The feas, to the fouth and the eaſt,are indeed open, and China might be attacked on that fide; but, I am perfuaded, noprince will think it proper to disturb his own repofe, and that of fuch a powerful people, inclined to peace with all their neighbours, and ſatisfied, as they feem, with theirown dominions.I know but of one nation who could attempt the conqueft of China with any probability of fuccefs, and that is Ruffia; but the territories of that empire are fo extenfivein this quarter of the world, as to exceed even the bounds of ambition itſelf; and theRuffians feem to entertain no defire of extending them farther.What part of China I faw is moftly plain, interfperfed with hills and riſing grounds.The whole is pleafant and well cultivated, producing wheat and other grain, togetherwith abundance of cattle and poultry.Befides the neceffaries, the Chineſe have many of the fuperfluities of life, particularlyfine fruits of various kinds, too tedious to mention. They have likewife mines of gold,filver, copper, lead, and iron. They fet a greater value on filver, in proportion togold, than the Europeans do; fo that gold is exported to good advantage.In China are many navigable rivers and canals, cut to great diftances, for the convenience of water-carriage. The merchants are immenfely rich by their inland andforeign trade, which they carry on to great extent with the Ruffians and Tartars, befides the vaft fums of money they receive annually from the Europeans in exchangefor tea, China-ware, and other merchandiſe. The trade alfo to Japan, and the neighbouring iflands, is very confiderable. What is moſt remarkable in their payments is,that they receive only dollars, crown, and half-crown pieces; undervaluing fmallercoins, of equal weight and ftandard, though they melt all down directly into bars ofdifferent fizes.Tea is univerfally ufed, at all times, and by perfons of all ranks. Both the greenand bohea grow on the fame tree, or rather fhrub, called by the Chineſe zay. Thegreen tea is called tzin-tzay, and the bohea ouy-tzay. When the leaves are gatheredat the proper ſeaſon , they are put into large kettles, and dried over a gentle fire, whichmakes them crumple up, and prevents their crumbling to duſt, which they would infallibly do, without this precaution.What is defigned for bohea is mixed, in drying, with the juice of a certain plant,which gives it the colour and flavour, and qualifies that fharpnefs, which, in conftantdrinking, is hurtful to fome tender conftitutions. The cultivating, gathering, dreffing,and packing, of this ufeful plant, muft employ a great number of hands, and particularly of old and young people, who would be unfit for hard labour.The high rates at which tea is fold in Europe are a little furprifing, confidering theprices in China. For, at Pekin, the price of the beft tea, either green or bohea, is halfan ounce of filver the Chineſe pound, which is equal to what it would be at two fhillings a pound in England. And, allowing the freight and duties to be high, yet theprofits feem fomewhat extravagant. I fhall only add, on this ſubject , that the tea commonly fold at Pekin is preferable in quality to what is imported to Europe from Canton;and that the Chineſe drink it without fugar, although fugar is a produce of the country,and confequently very cheap.Several ofthe Chinefe manufactures are brought to great perfection, efpecially thatof weaving filk, damaſks, and other ftuffs, which are partly worn by the natives, andpartly exported. Silks are the common drefs of the better fort of people, of both.fexes, and coarfe cotton cloth that of the lower claſs. They ufe almoſt no woollencloths,8BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 413cloths , becauſe, they fay, in their climate, they gather too much duft. They havegreat abundance of raw filk. They make no muflins, nor fine chints; neither aretheſe much uſed.The Chineſe, it is well known, are excellent performers in feveral mechanic arts,particularly as potters, dyers, japanners, joiners, and paper-makers. In the article ofpaper-making, they excel even the Europeans.Their workmanship in metals is but clumfy; except only founding, at which theyare very expert. The arts of ſtatuary, fculpture, and painting, have made but ſmallprogrefs among them. They have excellent water- colours of all forts, but none in oil .The chief ftudy of their painters feems to be landfkip painting; and I have feen fomeof their performances in this way very natural.They have many quarries of fine marble, of different colours; but not fo much as afingle ftatue is to be feen in the Emperor's garden.The making of clocks and watches was lately introduced, under the protection ofthe prefent Emperor; who, at his leifure hours, amufes himſelf with whatever is curious, either in art or nature.The Chinefe are a civilized and hofpitable people, complaifant to ftrangers, and toone another; very regular in their manners and behaviour, and refpectful to their fuperiors; but, above all, their regard for their parents, and decent treatment of theirwomen of all ranks, ought to be imitated, and deferve great praife. Thefe good qualities are a natural confequence of the fobriety and uniformity of life to which theyhave been long accuſtomed.The general regularity and decency of manners among the Chineſe, is obvious toall who fee and obferve them with the leaſt attention. And, as they are fingular inmany things, beyond most other nations, they are fo likewife, in this point of polity,which I cannot omit taking notice of in my tranfient remarks.many idle per- It may eaſily be imagined, that, in fo populous a city, there muſt befons of both fexes; though, I believe, fewer than in most other cities of the world ,even in thoſe of much lefs extent than that of Pekin. In order to prevent all diforderly practices, as much as poffible, the government have thought fit to permit, or connive at, certain places in the fuburbs, for the reception and entertainment of proſtitutes,who are maintained bythe landlords of the houſes in which they dwell, but not allowedto ſtraggle abroad. I have been informed, that theſe ladies of pleaſure have all feparate appartments, with the price of each lady, defcribing, at the fame time, her beauties and qualities, written over the door of her apartment, in fair legible characters;which price is paid directly by the gallant; by which means, theſe affairs are conductedwithout noife in the houfes, or difturbances in the neighbourhood. Noify brawls arevery ſeldom , hardly ever, known at Pekin. Thoſe who are found offending in thisway undergo very ſevere penalties. It is likewife to be obſerved, that thefe houfes arecalculated for the meaner fort of people only; fo that any perfon who hath the leaftregard to his credit or reputation , carefully avoids being feen in them..I muft, however, take notice of one fhocking and unnatural practice, which appearsmore extraordinary in a country fo well regulated and governed as China; I mean thatof expofing fo many new-born infants in the ftreets. This, indeed, is only done bythepoor, who have more wives than they can maintain. To prevent the death of thefechildren, there are public hofpitals appointed for their reception, and people fent outthrough the streets, every morning, to pick up, and carry thither, fuch children as theyfind expofed. The miffionaries alfo fend out people to take up fuch as have been neglected, who are carried to a private hoſpital, maintained at their charge, and educatedin414 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.in the Chriftian religion. And of fuch perfons do the greateſt part of the ChineſeChriftians confift.I fhall now make a few remarks upon the ladies, who have many good qualities befides their beauty. They are very cleanly and modeft in their drefs. Their eyes areblack, and fo little, that, when they laugh, you can fcarce fee them. Their hair isblack as jet, and neatly tied up in a knot, on the crown of the head, adorned with artificial flowers of their own making, which are very becoming. The better fort, who arefeldom expofed to the air, have good complexions. Thoſe who are inclined to theolive, take care to add a touch of white and red paint, which they apply very nicely.The ladies of diftinction are feldom permitted to ftir abroad, except to vifit theirneareſt relations; and, on theſe occafions, they are always carried in clofe chairs, andattended bytheir fervants. The women of all ranks ftay pretty much at home. Thefmallnefs of their feet , which renders them unable to walk to any confiderable distance,makes their confinement lefs difa*greeble. As foon as a girl comes into the world, theybind her tender feet with tight bandages, which are renewed as occafion requires, toprevent their growing. This cuftom prevails univerfally, the Tartar ladies refiding inChina only excepted, who appear to have no inclination to conform to this faſhion.This fafhion was introduced into China by a great princefs, who lived fome ages ago.She was a lady of extraordinary beauty and virtue, and has obtained the reputation ofa faint; but, it is reported, her feet refembled thofe of birds; on which account fhekept them always carefully wrapped up, and concealed even from the Emperor herhufband. The ladies of the court followed her example, which, of courſe, ſoon became general. The Chineſe women never pare their nails, but fuffer them to growto the full length. This proves no impediment in embroidery, and other needle- work,in which they are conftantly employed. Theſe they finiſh with extraordinary neatneſs,as fully appears from fome fpecimens of them brought to Europe.The Chineſe deſerve great praiſe for their patience in finifhing completely every thingthey undertake. And, what is ſtill a greater recommendation, their labours are notthe effect of whim or caprice, but calculated to ferve fome uſeful purpoſe. The publicworks about the city of Pekin are inftances of theſe obfervations. The ſtreets, in particular, are the fineſt in the world. They are fpacious, neat, and ſtraight. The canalswhich fupply the city with water have, at proper diſtances, commodious ſtone- bridgesover them; and thefe canals are not only built with freeſtone on the fide, but the bottoms ofthem paved with broad cut ftones, in the neatest manner imaginable. Thereare but few fprings of foft water in Pekin. And the water, in general, though a littlebrackish, is by no means unwholeſome.The Chineſe are generally of a middle fize, and flender make, but very active.They are honeſt, and obferve the ftricteſt honour and juftice in their dealings. It muft,however, be acknowledged, that not a few of them are much addicted to knavery, andwell-fkilled in the arts of cheating. They have, indeed, found many Europeans as greatproficients in that art as themfelves. And, if you once cheat them, they are fure toretaliate on the firſt opportunity.As to the religion of the Chineſe, I cannot pretend to give a diftinct account of it.According to the beſt information I could procure, they are divided into feveral fects,among which that of the Theifts is the moſt rational and refpectable. They worſhipone God, whom they call Tien, the Heaven, or the higheſt Lord, and pay no religioushomage to the images of their countrymen. This fect has fubfifted for many ages longerthan Chriſtianity, and is ftill moft in vogue; being embraced by the Emperor himſelf,and moſt of the grandees, and men of learning. The common people are generally7idolaters.BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 415preidolaters. The few Jews and Mahometans refiding here are fuppofed to have enteredChina about fix or feven hundred years ago, in company with the weſtern Tartars.There is a very inconfiderable fect, called Crofs-worshippers. They worſhip the holycrofs; but have loft all other marks of Chriftianity; which makes it probable the goſpelwas preached in this country before the arrival of the miffionaries, but by whom is uncertain. The Chriſtians at preſent are computed to amount to one hundred thouſand,of both fexes. I have been told, the Chineſe have alfo fome Atheiſts among them.I had ſeveral opportunities of talking with their phyficians. They generally bothpare and adminifter their own prefcriptions, and are very little acquainted with the medicinal fyftem practiſed in Europe. As they have but few chemical preparations, theirchief ſtudy is the virtues of plants, which they apply on all occafions, and often withfuccefs. They feel the patient's pulfe for four or five minutes, and very feldom letblood, even in high fevers. They compare a fever to a boiling pot, and chooſe ratherto take the fire from it than diminish the quantity of liquor it contains, which wouldonly make it boil the fafter. Bathing and cupping are much practifed; and they evenapply fire, in fome cafes, particularly for pains in the joints, and gouty diforders. Ontheſe occafions, they apply a lighted match, compofed of the downy ſubſtance that growson mugwort, to the part affected; which making a ſcar, either entirely removes, orconfiderably mitigates the pain.I cannot but take notice, on this occafion, of a famous plant, called Gingfing, whichgrows in the province of Leotong. The root of this plant is fo much eſteemed for itsphyfical virtues, that it is gathered by people appointed by the Emperor for this purpofe only, and is valued at the rate of about twenty-five pounds fterling the poundweight. It is fo rare, that the Emperor fent two pounds of it only in a prefent to HisCzarish Majeſty. There are two forts of it; one looks as if candied, the other likefmall parfley roots, and has fomething of the fame tafte. They flice down or poundit; and, after infufion and flight boiling, they give it to the patient. I could never learnfrom their phyficians what specific qualities this plant poffeffed, only that it was of univerfal uſe. I have heard many ftories of ftrange cures performed by it; that perfonsfeemingly dead have, by its means, been reftored to health. I believe, indeed, it maybe a good reſtorative plant; but, if it really has any extraordinary virtues, I could neverdiſcover them, though I have made many experiments on it at different times. I ſhouldimagine this rare plant might be cultivated, with fuccefs, in the country, where itgrows naturally; and it appears improbable the Chineſe would neglect fuch a fovereign remedy.The great men in China follow the example of the weſtern Afiatics, in keeping eunuchs to attend them, who are their counſellors, and chief confidents, on all occafions.Their buſineſs is to take care of the women; and, being in a manner detached from theworld, they are much refpected. Caftrating is a trade in China; and fo ſkilful anddexterous are the performers, that few die under their hands. I knew a man who,being reduced to low circumftances, fold himſelf to be made an eunuch after he wasthirty years of age.The language of the Chineſe is compofed chiefly of monofyllables, and ſeems to meeafily acquired; at leaſt, as much of it as is fufficient for converfation. The difficultyof learning their letters, or rather marks for words, cannot be fo great as is commonlyrepreſented; for you ſcarcely meet a common hawker who cannot read and write whatbelongs to his calling. It requires, indeed, much labour, and confiderable abilities, toacquire the character of a learned man in China.I have416BELL'STRAVELSINASIA.I have mentioned above a few only of their manufactures. I cannot omit takingnotice of their paper, which is made both of filk and cotton, and is remarkably cleanand fmooth. They had been in poffeffion of this art for many ages before they had anyintercourfe with the Europeans, as appears from their records. Their fheets are madelarger than any I ever faw in Europe; and, though they generally write with hair pencils, I have feen Chineſe paper that bore our pens and ink very well.Their ink, called tough, is well known to our painters and defigners. I was told thechief ingredient in it is the burnt bones of animals. They have feveral forts of it; butthe beſt is very cheap, and is made up in paftes of various figures, ftamped with characters or letters. It is generally put up in little flat boxes, fometimes double the valueof the ink they contain.I fhall here infert a ſpecimen of Chineſe numbers, and a few capital words, with thoſeof feveral other Afiatic nations.Chinese Numbers.1 Iga.16 Shileoga.2 Langa.17 Shiziga.3 Sanga.18 Shifpaga.4 Siga.19 Shizuga.5 Uga.20 Shielga.6 Leoga.30 Shinfhiga.7 Tziga.40 Tzeziga.8Paga.50 Ufhiga.9 Tziuga. 60бо Leofhiga.10 Shiga. 70 Tzifhiga.11 Shiyga. 80 Pafhiga.12 Shierga.13 Shifenga.14 Shifga.90 Tziofhiga., 100 Ibay.1000 Itzen.15 Shiuga. 10,000 Van.A Specimen of English and Chinese Words.The earth, Tiye.God, Foy.The heavens, Tien.The fun, Shilo.The moon, Jualang.The ſtars, Tzifing.The devil, Kuy.Water, Shuy.Wind, Fung.Rain, Eu.Good, Cho .Bad, Pu.A good friend, Cho-pung-yu.Farewell, Manfay lea.Fire, Choa.Bread, Bobon.The Mantzur's Numbers.1 Emu.2 Dio.3 Ilan. 3454 Tunin.5 Suinja.6 Nynguin.7 Naadan.8 Iaachun.9 Une.10 Ioan, &c.TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 4172 Choir.3 Gurba.4 Dirbu.The Mongall's Numbers, andfome oftheir Word.1 Neggea. 16 Arba-zurga.17 Arba-dolo.18 Arba-nauma.19 Arba-juffu.5 Tabu.20 Choiry.6 Zurga.30 Gutfhy.7 Dolo.8 Nauma.9 Juffu.ΙΟ Arba.II11 Arba-neggea.12 Arba-Choir.13 Arba-gurba.14 Arba-dirbu.15 Arba-tabu.God, Burchan.The heavens, Tengery.The earth, Gadzar.The fun, Narra.1 Dgi.2 Neć.3 Sum.4 Che.5 Gno.I Eck.2 Duy.3 Tin .4 Tzar.5 Penge.40 Dutfhy.50 Taby.60 Dira.70 Dala.80 Naya.90 Irea.100 Dzo.10,0001000 Ming.Tumea.The moon, Shara.The ſtars, Odu.The clouds, Ulea.The Tangut's Numbers.6 Duk.7 Dunn.8 Dja.9 Gu.10 Dju-tamba, &c.Numbers ofIndoftan.6 Tzo.7 Tateé.8 Aatfa.9 Nouy.to Dafs, &c.The people of Indoftan have little or no correſpondence with China, being ſeparatedfrom it by impaffable mountains, and barren deferts. They call China by the name ofKitat, and the Emperor Amola- Chan.The Indians call Ruffia Olt.The first great Lama, or high Prieſt near the borders of India, is called Beyngin.Bogdu; and hath his refidence at a place called Digerda.The ſecond is the Delay-Lama, refiding at Lahaffar. The Indians call him TamtzyKenna. From Digerda to Lahaffar is a month's journey on foot.The third is the Kutuchtu, called by the Indians Tarranat, who refides at the Urga,not far from Selinginfky.The prefent Great Mogul is called Sheyhalim-Patifha. The Indian married prieſtsare the Brachmans; their monks are called Atheits, and their military men Refput.3 HVOL. VII.The418BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.The Indian and Tangut numbers, together with thefe few notes, I had from the Faquirat Selinginſky; who told me, that the greateſt penance that could be impofed on anyof their order, was a pilgrimage to vifit theſe three high priests. Though I have hintedfomething concerning them during my ftay at Selinginfky , yet, as I fhall have no opportunity in future to learn any thing more about thofe great men, I think it will not beunacceptable that I have inferted the foregoing fhort notes.I had, from my early youth, a ftrong inclination to vifit the eastern parts of theworld; and Providence afforded me an opportunity, far beyond my expectations, ofgratifying my curiofity in the moft ample manner. For never, perhaps, were thoſecountries in a more flouriſhing condition than under the famous Emperors Kámhi andPeter the Firſt; and, perhaps, fuch another conjuncture of circumſtances may nothappen for feveral ages. I have now finifhed my account of the obfervations I madeduring my refidence in China; and, had we returned by the fame route we went eaſtward, I ſhould here conclude my Journal; but, as our route was different in manyplaces, particularly in our paffa*ge by water from Selinginfky to Tobolfky, I fhall proceed to make my remarks on fuch places and things only as I have hitherto had noopportunity of mentioning.CHAP. XIII. - Our Departure from Pekin; Occurrences, &c. during our Journey backtowards Mofco.MARCH 2d, we fent off our heavy baggage early in the morning; and about noon,left the fine city of Pekin, accompanied by feveral Chineſe gentlemen, who were toreturn with Mr. de Lange, whom His Czarish Majeſty had appointed to remain as hisagent at the court of Pekin. In the evening, we reached a large town, called Sangping-ju, where we lodged.The 4th, Mr. de Lange and our friends returned to the city, and we continued ourjourney. I have already mentioned moſt ofthe remarkable towns through which wepaffed; and, as little happened on the road worth notice, I fhall only obferve, that wewere entertained by the governors in the fame hofpitable manner as before.The 9th, we arrived at Kalgan, the laſt town of any note, and about three milesdiſtant from the long wall. We ftaid here two days, in order to provide bread, rice,and other provifions, for our journey over the Hungry Defert.AllNext day, the governor waited on the ambaffador, and invited him to fee fome Chinefe troops perform their exercife. We accordingly walked into an adjacent field ,where we found about four thouſand infantry drawn upin fix lines. All their guns hadmatch-locks. The field officers were on horfeback, armed with bows and arrows; butthe fubalterns on foot, having fpears, longer or fhorter, according to their rank.the troops kept a profound filence, till the commanding officer ordered the fignal to begiven for beginning the exercife, which was done by firing a finall gun, mounted ontheback of a camel. Upon this fignal, they advanced, retreated, and performed their evolutions, according to the difcipline of the country, in a very regular manner. After finiſh--ing this exercife, the whole corps at laft divided itfelf into companies of fifty men each,and kneeling , as cloſe to one another as poffible, continued in this poſture for fomeminutes; they then roſe, and running to their former ſtations, quickly formed themfelves, without the leaft confufion. From what I obferved of their motions, I am ofopinion they might eafily be taught any exercife whatever.The 12th, we arrived at the gates of the main wall, which we found, open. Herethe commander, and feveral officers of the guard, met us, and invited the ambaffadortoBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 4194to walk into the guard- room, and drink a diſh of tea. After this repaft, we proceededa few miles farther; but as it was too late to get over the mountains that night, wetook up our quarters at a village where we had lodged in going to Pekin.Next morning early we left the village, and travelled along the banks of a torrent,which runs through a narrow valley between the mountains. For conveniency of theroad, we croffed this rivulet feveral times. The weather was very fine and warm , andthe face of this country extremely pleafant. On the fides ofthe rocks, we faw feattered many neat cottages, furrounded with little gardens, and crooked trees, which theChineſe have naturally defigned on fome of theirjapanned and China-ware. After travelling about a dozen of Engliſh miles, we afcended the rocks by a winding-path,formed by art; and, as foon as we reached the fummit, we entered on the plain; forthere is little or no defcent into the defert from the opening between the rocks. I obferved, that all the rivers which fpring from the mountains on the north and weft ofChina, run towards the fouth and fouth-eaft; and thofe that rife weftward of the defert, direct their courfes through Siberia, to the north and north-weft; which makesit evident, that the rocks and deferts are higher than any places in China or Siberia.We now felt a very fenfible change in the air. In the morning, we left a warm climate; but here we found the defert all covered with fnow. We travelled about fivemiles farther, and then pitched our tents on the banks of a ſmall rivulet.The ambaffador, confidering that to travel along with the heavy baggage wouldrender the journey, at this feafon, tedious and difa*greeable, refolved to leave it undera proper guard, and proceed by the fhorteft and ſpeedieft way, to Selinginfky. Lomy,our former conductor, being appointed in the fame ftation, was confulted on this occafion, and agreed to make one of our company; while the Chineſe guard, commandedby another officer, took care of the baggage. Our party confifted of the ambaffador,Mr. Kreftitz, myfelf, and four fervants. We packed up beds, and a few neceffaries,and fet out directly.We rode very hard all the 14th; and, in the evening, took up our lodgings in aMongalian tent, along with the family. The outfide of the tent was hung round withfeveral pieces of horſe- fleſh, on which our landlord and his wife fupped, and invited usto fhare their repaft; but as we had provifions of our own, we defired to be excuſed.The difa*greeable fmell ofthis fupper made us refolve to fleep in the fields for the futuretill we came to Selinginfky; for although the nights were fomewhat cold and froſty,the weather was dry and pleafant.Next day, having got freſh horfes, we proceeded on our journey. Nothing ofmoment occurred till the third of April, when we arrived, before noon, on the banks ofthe river Tola. It was now nineteen days fince we left our baggage, during which timewe rode very hard, changing horſes generally three or four times a-day; and this wasthe firſt running water we had feen. I cannot help taking notice of the pleaſure thatappeared in every face at the fight of this ftream; and I need not mention how cheerfully we regaled ourſelves on this occafion. For my own part, I thought the moft delicious wines of Ifpahan and Thiras not worthy to be compared to this fimple element,fo little prized by thofe who enjoy it in plenty. Our bread was all fpent fome daysbefore; however, we had ftill fome mutton, with which we had been fupplied, fromtime to time, during our journey. All this time, we obferved no road; but keptmoſtly about one, or fometimes two days journey to the northward of our formerroute. The greateſt danger attending this way of travelling, arofe from the arrowswhich the Mongalls had fet in ftrong bent bows, covered with fand, for killing antelopes. One of our horfes happened to tread on one of thefe bows; the arrow imme3 H 2diately420 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.diately flew out, and fortunately hit the ſtirrup iron, otherwife the horfe or rider wouldhave been killed upon the fpot. We had, indeed , guides to conduct us from place toplace; but they were unacquainted with any fnares laid beyond their own bounds.This day, about noon, fome Mongalls unluckily fet fire to the long grafs before us,which, by means of a ftrong wind, foon fpread to a great diſtance. We immediatelyretired to the top of a neighbouring hill, ( for now the grounds begin to rife, and thefoil is much better near the river, ) and, fetting fire to the grafs around us, travellednear a mile in a difmal cloud of fmoke. Some of our people, who were behind us,and unprovided with flints, were put to hard fhifts, having their hair and cloaths allfinged. We forded the Tola in pretty deep water, and continued our journey throughpleaſant valleys, between gently rifing hills, fome of whofe tops were adorned withwoods, which looked as if planted by art.Nothing worth mentioning occurred till the morning of the 6th of April, when wereached the river Iro, but found the ford fo frozen that we could not ride it. As ourprovifions were now nearly all ſpent, and we were quite tired of lying in the open air,we wanted to paſs the river at any rate. After long fearch for a ford, we at laſt founda place clear of ice, but exceffively deep. We immediately ftripped off our clothes,mounted our horfes, and fwam acroſs the river, which was at this place about fortyyards broad. After getting all fafe to the other fide, we lighted a great fire ofſticksto dry and warm ourfelves, and then fet forward to the rivulet Saratzyn, the boundarybetween the Ruffian and Chineſe territories, which we reached in the evening. Fromthe Tola to this place we had feen no inhabitants, but here we found a few Mongalls,fubjects of Ruffia, who hoſpitably entertained us with fuch fare as the place afforded.The 7th, we fet out early; and at noon came to a zimovey (a fingle houſe built forthe accommodation of travellers) inhabited by a Ruffian, who entertained us withgood bread and other homely fare. After a fhort ftay, we mounted, and at nightcame to another of theſe houſes, belonging to Mr. Stepnikoff, the commiſſary of thecaravan, where we were well provided with neceffary accommodations.Next day, we arrived in good health at the town of Selinginfky; and all of us hadgood reafon to return our moft grateful thanks to the Almighty Difpofer of all events,who conducted us fafe through fo many dangers, without the leaſt accident befallingany of our company.The 12th, the ambaffador having made the conductor an handfome prefent, andthanked him for his trouble and obliging behaviour, that gentleman took leave, andreturned to China.Next day, we fet out on horfeback for Irkutsky. We lodged every night in villagestill the 16th, when we arrived at the Poffolfky monaftery, fituated on the fouth fhoreof the Baykall Sea, as formerly obferved. The fuperior received and entertained uswith great hofpitality, and furniſhed us horfes and fledges for pafling the ſea uponthe ice, which we found perfectly firm, though the people on the fouth fhore wereplowing and fowing their oats.April 7th, having taken leave of the monks, we placed ourſelves in the fledges, anddrove along a path-way upon the ice. We found feveral large gaps in the ice, whichrun for many miles acrofs the fea, and are generally from two to five or fix feet wide.Theſe we paffed on long boards, which we were obliged to carry along with us for thatpurpoſe. They are made, I conjecture, by the air, which being pent up under the ice,burfts out through thefe apertures. I obferved alfo a number of ſmall round holes,which are made by the feals, who come thither for breath, and to baſk themſelves inthe fun. Theſe circumftances render travelling onthe ice extremely dangerous, except6inBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 421in day light and clear weather. Towards evening, the ambaffador and myſelf, beingprovided with light fledges, put on at a great rate, in order to get in with the ſhore before night. This we happily accompliſhed, and arrived at a fifherman's houſe near themouth ofthe Angara; where we found a warm room, and a boar's head, hot from theoven for ſupper. But, a little before fun- ſet, a thick fog aroſe to the weftward, accompanied with terrible thick drifts of fnow, which foon covered the road upon the ice,and filled every gap and hole. Our poor people, who had not yet reached the land,were caught in the ftorm, forced to ftop fhort, and lie on the ice all night, with theirhorfes and carriages. Wehad, indeed, difpatched the fiſhermen to conduct them to thefhore; but the fnow continuing to fall very thick, they returned without being able tofind them. This diſappointment created in us fome uneafinefs; but there was no remedy. We were obliged to wait patiently till the morning, when they arrived in avery diftreffed condition , half dead with cold and wet. However, by proper accommodation, and fome warm liquor, they foon recovered. Next day, we fent back thefledges to the monaftery; and after our people had refreſhed themſelves with a littlefleep, about noon we mounted, and proceeded about four miles, to the ſmall chapel ofSt. Nicolas. We had now paffed all the cataracts, and there was no ice to be feen inthe river; we immediately, therefore, got boats and rowed down the ſtream. In theevening, we put afhore at a ſmall village, where we lodged, and were plentifully provided with variety of excellent freſh fiſh for ſupper.The 19th, in the morning, we went again on board, and, about two in the afternoon, landed at Irkutſky, and dined with our old friend, Mr. Rakitin, the commandant,who met us on the river, about two hours before we landed. Some days after ourarrival, Mr. Ifmayloff was feized with a fever, which went off in a few days withoutany bad confequences. We waited here for our baggage, which did not arrive till thefecond of July. During this time, little remarkable happened. We diverted ourfelves with hunting and fifhing; and, though we lived much at our eafe, the timegrew tedious, and we wanted much to be gone.About the roth of May, the ice began to break up in the Baykall, and continuedfloating down the river, for fome days, in great fhoals. The weather was very hot before the ice came down; but, when this happened, an alteration was fenfibly felt; forthe air about the fides of the river became extremely chilly. A fmall part only of theice, about the mouth of the Angara, floats down that river; the reft, being ſcatteredalong the fhore by the winds, is melted down as the feafon advances. This is accountedthe most unhealthy feafon of the year; as people, notwithſtanding all poffible precautions, are very apt to catch cold. I have already made fome remarks on Irkutsky, and.the country adjacent; I fhall therefore only add, that, in fummer, which is very hot,the country is much peftered with fwarms of muſkitoes and large gnats, which are fotroubleſome, that thofe who have occafion to go into the fields are obliged to wearnets of herfe hair, to defend their faces from the attacks of thofe infects.July 2d, the barks arrived fate from Selinginfky, with our people and baggage, Theytold us many difmal ftories of the hardships they had fuffered in paffing the deferts;but, on comparing notes, the difference was not great between their misfortunes and our own.After our people had reſted a few days, and neceffaries were procured for the voyage,on the 5th they fhoved off, and rowed down the Angara. The ambaffador, myſelf,and two fervants, ſtaid behind, in order to proceed in a ſmall fhallop, which had a littlecabin in the ſtern, and was rowed with ten oars. The commandant cauſed it to be built .for422 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.for our ufe; and as it failed quickly, and was rowed by our own men, we could purfue the voyage at pleaſure, without being confined to attend upon the heavy barks.The 7th, we went on board, accompanied by the commandant and feveral othergentlemen, and fell down the river to a monaftery in the neighbourhood, where wewere invited to dine with the fuperior, who made us a grand entertainment of excellentfifh , and furniſhed us befides with ftore of provifions for our voyage. In the evening,we took leave of the abbot and the reft of our friends; and being affifted by a rapidcurrent, went down the river at a great rate. At night we put afhore, and took up ourquarters in a village.As little of importance occurred during the progrefs of our voyage, I need not beparticular in defcribing it. The banks of the river on both fides are pleafant and fruitful, and beautifully diverfified with tall woods, villages, and corn-fields; and we foundevery where great abundance of fifh. But what renders this fine country extremelydifa*greeable, is the fwarms of mufkitoes with which every part of it is infefted. Thegnats about Ilimſky, in particular, are of a much larger fize, and are reckoned morevenemous than any in Siberia; but have this good quality, that they never enter houſesas the muſkitoes do. The Tongufes, when they are angry with any perſon, wiſh thatan Ilimfky gnat may fting him. This may appear but a flight puniſhment, but it marksthe character of thefe fimple people.The 9th, we failed the whole day, with a fair wind and ſtrong current, and in theevening overtook our barks. Next day, we came to a great cataract, called Padunfrom the ſteepnefs of the fall. This fall we paffed fafely, as there was water enoughupon the rocks for our veffels, The next cataract we met with, which from its greatlength is called Dolgoy, was reckoned more dangerous; for, befides the length anddeepneſs of the paffa*ge, it was extremely crooked, winding from one fide to anotherby turns, among rocks and great ftones. In paffing theſe cataracts, the pilot fits uponthe bow of the veffel, and makes figns with his cap to the people at the helm whichway to fteer for the waters, dafhing againſt the rocks and great ftones, make ſuch anhideous noife, that not a ſingle articulate found can be heard. The oars, beſides, muſtbe plied very hard, in order to prevent the veffel from running to either fide; for, ifonce the touches the rocks, all the goods muft infallibly be loft, and perhaps themen's lives; of which difafters there are many examples.The 11th, we paffed another cataract, called Shamanſky, which is reckoned the moſtdangerous of them all, the channel being very narrow and crooked. Some of ourcompany chofe to walk along the banks, rather than run the risk of paffing by water:but they repented of their refolution; for they were obliged to ſcramble over rocks,and through thickets, where they faw many vipers and other venomous creatures. Weſtopped at the bottom of the fall to take them on board and refreſh our rowers. Asthe ambaffador ftaid on board, I remained along with him.Befides thefe three great cataracts, there are many leffer ones, called by the countrypeople Shivers; but, as the paffing them is attended with little danger, I make no men- tion of them.It is ſurpriſing that loaded veffels fhould paſs theſe falls againſt the ſtream. Theyare commonly warped up by means of ftrong anchors and cables, and on the goodneſsof the tackle all depends; for fhould it chance to give way, all is loft. This is a laborious piece of work, though not very coftly in theſe parts; and the navigation of thisriver is attended with no other invonvenience, except that of ſtriking againſt ſtumps oftrees hid under the water.TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 423The 14th, we left Angara, and entered the Tongufky, a mighty ſtream, formed bythe Angara and another fmall river called Elim. The Tongufky points to the northward ofthe weft, and is well ftored with excellent fiſh.Wewent aſhore this day at a little village called Seeza, fituated on a high bank ofthe Tongufky. Here we were met by our old acqnaintance General Kanifer, whocame from Elimfky to fee Mr. Ifmayloff. I took notice before of having feen this gentleman in our journey eaftward. We difpatched our barks, and ftaid with him twodays. After which, we proceeded down the river, and he returned to Elimfky bywater, attended only by his own fervants; for, though he was a prifoner, he had liberty to go where he pleaſed, as an eſcape was impracticable in fuch remote parts.The 17th, we fet fail with an eaſterly wind and a ſtrong current, which carried usalong with great velocity. We paffed many villages, andfome Tongufian huts, uponthe banks, to which we made feveral vifits. We found the men generally employedin fiſhing in their little canoes, and the women in looking after their children and reindeer, which, at this feafon, lie near the huts, becauſe the gnats will not ſuffer them toftay in the woods. In order to baniſh theſe troubleſome vermin, they light fires allaround the place of their abode; and the infects, unable to endure the fmoke, immediately fly off. For the fame reaſon, no perfon ftirs abroad without carrying in his handa fmall earthen pot filled with ſmoking coals. The canoes fkim upon the water veryfwiftly, but the leaft touch of an unſkilful hand overfets them. The Tongufe placeshimſelf on his knees, in the middle of his boat, keeping it as even balanced as poffible;and, with a little paddle only, ventures to croſs the greateſt rivers. I have feen themhaul to the fide a fturgeon of great weight. When a Tongufe wants to go fromone river to another, acroſs a neck of land, he takes his boat upon his back, and carriesit whither he pleaſes.The 19th, we were overtaken with fuch a heavy ſhower of rain , in the middle oftheriver, that, before we could reach the bank, our boat was half full, notwithſtanding allhands were employed in rowing, or ſcooping out the water. However, after much labour and difficulty, we at laft got to land, wet to the fkin; and, what was much worſe,all our bedding thoroughly drenched in water. After we had hauled up our boat andfaftened it to a tree, we went into a thick wood, and kindled a great fire to warm anddry ourſelves; but, the rain being abated, a violent ſtorm of wind arofe from northweft, fo that we were forced to remain all night in this difmal place, at a great diſtancefrom any village. In this condition we lay, round a great fire, till next morning.The 20th, early in the morning, we left the woods, went on board our boat, andproceeded down the river. About noon, we reached a village, on the right hand,where we halted fome hours to refreſh ourſelves and dry our clothes. In the evening,we pufhed off again, and came to another village, where we lodged. On this river aregreat numbers of water-fowl, of different kinds, which come hither to hatch theiryoung in fummer, and fly off, to the fouth, at the approach of winter. I obferved alfoa large fowl of a grayish colour, about the fize of a kite; after it has hovered for fometime upon the wing, if it fpies a fifh in the water, it ftoops fuddenly, ftrikes its prey,and even dives below water to catch it; after which it flies to the bank and eats it.There are alfo wild goats upon the rocks along the fhore. They are very large animals with long and thick horns. Their fhaggy coat is brownish, having a black ridgedown the back. They have long beards, like common goats, but are twice as large;it is ſurpriſing to fee them leap from one rock to another. They go in pairs about thisfeafon; but towards winter retire in herds to the fouth. On the hills and in thewoods are all forts ofgame and wild beafts natural to the climate.4The424 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.The 21ft, we overtook our barks and kept in company with them till night, whenwe arrived at a village where we lodged. In this river are many iflands, fome of whichare very large, and others are furrounded with high rocky fhores. Most of them arecovered with tall birch and pine-trees, fit for maſts to the largeſt ſhips and form a beautiful profpect. We had no need to go afhore in order to feek fport, as we found plentyof wild- ducks and other water-fowl wherever we came. As to freſh fiſh, we hadmore ofthem in every village than we could confume.The two following days we continued our voyage, without meeting with any thingworth mentioning, and, on the morning of the 24th, arrived at the conflux of the riversYenifey and Tongufky, where the latter lofes its name, and both joined retain thename of Yeniſey. The Yenifey falls into the Tongufky from the fouth, and its courſeis then turned northward by the current of the other, which, in my opinion, is thelarger ofthe two. It is obferved that the Yenifey does not afford fuch plenty of fish,nor fo good of their kinds, as the other rivers of this country. Thefe two rivers joinedform a mighty ſtream, among the greateſt in the world. I think it larger than theVolga at Aftrachan. It continues its courfe to the north- weſt, daily augmented byother confiderable rivers, till it falls into the Icy Sea.In the evening, we arrived at the town of Yenifeyfky, where we were met by ourfriend Mr. Becklimifhoff, the commandant, who conducted us firſt to our lodgings, andthen to his own houfe to fupper. Our barks alfo arriving in the evening, the wholecompany met again at this place, not a little happy at having fafely paffed the waterfalls, and eſcaped the dangers to which we had already been expoſed, though we werefſtill above a thouſand leagues from the end of our journey.As we had no time to lofe, our baggage was landed next day, and the barks difcharged. The packing the baggage for land-carriage took up two days; after whichit was tranfported to a place called Makofsky, on the river Keat, where it was againput on board other barks, which lay ready for that purpoſe. The road lies to the weftward, moftly through thick and dark woods; in dry weather it is tolerably good; butin heavy autumnal rains ſcarce paſſable. We ſtaid at Yenifeyfky, through the perfuafion of our hoſpitable landlord, the commandant, till we heard all was ready atMakofsky.Having formerly mentioned the pleaſant fituation of Yeniſeyſky, and the fertility ofthe foil about it, I fhall only add that the harveſt at this place was already far advanced,the barley being all reaped and the people at work in cutting their oats. This feemsvery early in a climate fo far to the north, and muſt proceed from the heat of thefummer and the foil being fertilized by the nitrous particles of the fnow which lies folong upon the ground.Auguſt 2d, we left Yenifeyfky on horfeback, accompanied by the commandant, whoftaid with us all night, at a village about ten miles from town. Next morning, wetook leave of our friend, and proceeded to Makcfsky, where we arrived in the evening,and found the barks ready waiting for us.The 4th, early in the morning, we went on board, and puſhing off from the fhare,rowed down the river Keat. The water being fhallow, we made but little way the firſtday; but, as we advanced, it increafed daily by rivers and brooks from both fides.Before we left Makofsky, we laid in provifions for three weeks, in which time we computed we would enter the Oby; for during this long navigation, there is not a finglehoufe nor village to be feen, except one religious houfe, poffeffed by three or fourmonks, reſembling more an hermitage than a monaftery.TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 425The Keat is really a moft difmal river. It is not above the flight of an arrow broad,and fo overshadowed with tall trees, that you can fcarce fee the fun. The banks are aperfect wilderneſs, and fo entangled with bushes, that no creature can paſs along thembut wild beafts; with which theſe woods greatly abound. Near the edge of the river,we found great quantities of black currants upon the bushes, the largeſt and beſt I everfaw. I was told the bears feed much on this fruit.The river Keat takes its rife from a lake at a fmall diftance from the Yenifey; and,were a canal cut between them, which might eafily be done, there would be a paffa*geby water from Verchaturia to the borders of China. But His Czarish Majefty was atthis time employed in works of the fame nature, of much greater importance to hiscountry.The Keat runs in a crooked channel, pointing, in general, to the weft. The bottomis ouzy, and fometimes fandy. The barks, at firft, run often a-ground on the fandbanks, and the people were obliged to get into the water, and heave them off, by mainforce, with levers and fetting poles; befides thefe little inconveniencies, we were molefted with gnats and mufkitoes, in this confined place, more than we had formerly beenin any part of our journey. They were not, indeed, fo numerous as they hadbeen in the heat of fummer; for the nights began to be cold, and the wind northerly.However, no wind could reach us in this clofe place; and I even wiſhed myſelf in thedefert again, where I might breathe the fresh air. In fhort, the appearance of this placeput mein mind of the defcriptions given by the Poets of the river Styx.During our tedious voyage down the dark Keat, our only diverfion and exercife wasfhooting wild-ducks. One day, Mr. Ifmayloff and myſelf went down the river, in afmall canoe, rowed by two foldiers, at fome diſtance before the barks. We met with alarge flock of ducks, which fwam up a narrow creek, in order to avoid us. Wefaileda little way after them; and, in the mean time, our barks paffed us, and continued before us till night, ſtill imagining they had not overtaken us. This day's fport coſt usdear; for, our rowers being quite fatigued, we were obliged to relieve them, and rowin our turns , till at laft we came up with the barks, both hungry and tired. To makefome amends, we had a good diſh of wild- ducks for ſupper.The 20th, we met with two Ofteacks in their canoes, who had come from the riverOby, to catch fiſh, and kill ducks, and had their fifhing tackle and bows and arrowsalong with them. We were glad to fee any human creature. We called them onboard, and they willingly ftaid with us till we entered the Oby, and fupplied us withplenty of fifh and wild-fowl. Theſe were the firft ofthe tribe ofthe Ofteacks I had feen.I fhall give fome account of them when I deſcribe our voyage down that river, on thebanks of which they have their habitations.I formerly mentioned the great abundance of black currants growing on the banksofthe Keat. We found them an excellent and wholeſome fruit; many of our peopleeat great quantities of them without the leaft bad effect.After a tedious voyage, with little variety , we arrived on the 28th at a village calledKetfkoy, a few miles diftant from the Oby. After procuring, at this place, what neceffaries we wanted, and refreshing ourfelves a few hours, we continued our voyage,making what way we poffibly could, for fear of being frozen up, near fome defert placeon the Oby, before we cameto Tobolíky, where we intended to land. We had no rainall the time we were upon the Keat; which was a lucky circumftance, as our oars wereapon deck. Had our barks only drawn about eighteen inches water, as was intended,we fhould not have been above fourteen days on this river, and thereby faved muchVOL. VII. 31 time

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BELL'S TRAVELSIN ASIA.time and labour; but, coming from China, every perfon in the retinue had a little,which overloaded the veffels, and retarded their progrefs. The next day, we enteredthe famous river Oby, which, from its breadth and depth of water, appears at leaſtequal to the Volga or Yenifey, and could carry fhips of confiderable burden.The 30th, we reached the first town upon the Oby, called Narim, fituated on thenorth bank, about a gun-fhot from the river, and a few miles from the mouth of theKeat. It commands a fine profpect, up and down the river, and of the woods to thefouth. Near the town are a few corn-fields, and garden-grounds, abounding withgreens and roots. This place has a fmall fortreſs, governed by a commandant. Theinhabitants are generally dealers in fur, which they buy from the Ofteacks; and eithercarry them themſelves to the borders of China, where they are exchanged for the commodities of that nation, or difpofe of them to merchants going thither.The 31ft, we dined with the commandant, and ſpent the rest of the day in laying ina ftock of provifions. We found, at this place, plenty of fine fiſh, particularly fterlet,fturgeon, and muckfoon, and many more too tedious to mention. The laſt is peculiarto the Oby and Irtiſh .Here I met with Mr. Borlutt, a native of Flanders, who had been a Major in theSwediſh fervice, and fent to this place a prifoner of war. He was a very ingeniousgentleman, and had a particular turn for mechanics. The commandant treated himmore like a friend than a priſoner; which, indeed, was the cafe of moſt of thoſe unfortunate gentlemen whom the fate of war had fent to this country. His Czarish Majefty, well confidering their circumſtances, fent them to a plentiful country, where theycould live at their eafe, till peace was reſtored.September ift, having provided ourſelves with neceffaries, and got new rowers, ourformer ones returning to Yenifeyſky, from whence they came. In the evening wewent again on board, and, putting off in fine calm weather, rowed down the Oby at agreat rate; our courfe being much favoured by the rapidity of the current. Wepaffed ſeveral villages, and a little monaftery called Troytza. The banks to the northare pretty high, but to the fouth flat; by which means, on the melting of the fnow inthe fprings they are overflowed to a great extent. The river runs towards the northweft, with little variation. We continued our voyage night and day, except in greatdarkneſs, or a gale of contrary wind, when we were obliged to lie byin fome creek.The Ofteacks I mentioned above differ from all the other tribes of natives in Siberia,both in complexion and language. Many of them are fair, reſembling the people ofFinland; and they have many Finniſh words in their language. Their manner of lifeis nearly the fame with that ofthe Tongufe, who border with them to the eaſtward.In fummer, they live in the woods, in huts covered with birchen bark. In winter theydig pits, acroſs which they lay ſtakes, above them fpread earth to keep them warm.They have a fire in the middle, and a hole in the roof to let out the fmoke. Duringthis feaſon, they live chiefly on fifh, dried and ſmoked, wild fowl, or what elſe theycatch in hunting. Many of them are ftout fellows, fit for any fervice. Two of them,with their bows and arrows, a fhort fpear, and a little dog, will attack the greateſtbear. They are dexterous archers and fifhermen. We had always a number of themin canoes round our barks, who fupplied us with plenty of fiſh and wild-fowl, of variousforts, at an eafy rate. Give them a little tobacco, and a dram of brandy, and they aſkno more, not knowing the uſe of money.The Ofteacks, though a favage people in their manner of life, are far from beingbarbarous; for a ſingle Ruffian will travel about all their abodes, in order to purchaſeII furs,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 427•furs, without fear of any violence. They are alſo remarkable for their honefty; and theſmall tribute of furs which they pay annually to His Czarish Majefty, they bring punctually to the place appointed.In fummer, they wear nothing but coats and fhort drawers, made of fiſh-ſkins,dreffed after their faſhion; but in winter, are clothed with skins of deer, and otherwild beaſts.They have no cattle except rein-deer, which fupply their children with milk; andare, befides, of great ſervice to them on many accounts.As to their religion, they are ignorant heathens, like the reft of the natives of Siberia.They have many both male and female fhamans, who are in great eſteem among them.Theſe ſhamans have many ſmall images, or rather blocks of wood, rudely cut with aknife or hatchet, reprefenting a human figure, dreſſed up in rags of various colours,by which they pretend to foretel future events, fuch as the good or bad luck of thoſethat go a-hunting. But theſe are no better than others of the fame fpecies, alreadymentioned, who impofe on the ignorance or credulity of their neighbours.From what I have now and formerly faid concerning theſe poor favage tribes, it willappear that they are involved in the moft profound ignorance. Their manners are forude, and minds uncultivated, that many ofthem feem ftupid, and altogether unmindful of any thing beyond their prefent employment. I have, however, met with men ofreflection among them, who agreed with the reft of mankind in acknowledging onegreat Almighty Creator of this world, and of every thing elſe.The Archbishop of Tobolíky has of late baptized many of the Ofteacks, and othernatives, in a tour he made through Siberia with that view; and it is to be hoped hisfucceffors will follow his laudable example.CHAP. XIV. Our arrival at the Town of Surgute; our Journey from thenceMofco; fome Account ofthe Creature called Mammon, &c.AFTER a voyage of ten days from the town of Narim, during which little remarktable happened, we arrived onthe 11th of September, at another town, called Surgute,fituated on the north bank ofthe Oby, and defended by a ſmall fort. The inhabitants,like the people of Narim, are moftly traders in furs. The adjacent country, on bothfides ofthe river, is overgrown with dark and tall woods, where there is no cultivatedground, except a fewgardens. Bread is got at a fmall charge, by water-carriage, fromTobolfky, and other places on the river Irtiſh.In the banks of the Oby, about this place, are found great quantities of that kind ofivory called in this country mammon's horn. Some of it alfo is found on the banks ofthe Volga. Mammon's horn reſembles, in fhape and fize, the teeth of a large elephant.The vulgar really imagine mammon to be a creature living in marfhes, and underground, and entertain many ſtrange notions concerning it. The Tartars tell many fables of its having been feen alive. But to me it appears that this horn is the tooth ofa large elephant. When, indeed, or how theſe teeth came fo far to the northward,where no elephants can at prefent fubfift during the winter feafon, is what I am unable todetermine. They are commonly found in the banks of rivers which have been waſhedby floods. Thecommandant of this place had his entry ornamented with ſeveral verylarge ones, and made me a prefent of one of them.I have been told by the Tartars in the Baraba, that they have ſeen this creature› called Mammon, at the dawn of day, near lakes and rivers; but that, on diſcovering312 them,428 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.them, the mammon immediately tumbles into the water, and never appears in the day.time. They fay it is about the fize of a large elephant, with a monstrous large headand horns, with which he makes his way in marthy places, and under ground, wherehe conceals himſelf till night. I only mention theſe things as the reports of a ſuperftitious and ignorant people.I have obferved, in moft ofthe towns we paffed, between Tobolfky and Yenefiefky,many of theſe mammons horns, fo called by the natives; fome of them very entire andfreſh, like the beſt ivory, in every circumſtance, excepting only the colour, which wasof a yellowish hue; others of them mouldered away at the ends, and, when fawnafunder, prettily clouded. The people make fnuff-boxes, combs, and divers forts ofturnery ware of them.They are found in the banks ofall the great rivers in Siberia, weftward oflencouſky,when the floods have waſhed down the banks, by the melting ofthe fnow inthe ſpring.I have feen of them weighing above one hundred pounds Engliſh.. (I brought a largetooth, or mammon's horn, with me to England, and preſented it to my worthy friendSir Hans Sloane, who gave it a place in his celebrated mufeum; and was of opinionalſo that it was the tooth of an elephant. This tooth was found in the river Oby, at aplace called Surgute. )The 12th, after we had been fupplied with a freſh ſtock of provifions, and freſhrowers, we proceeded towards the next ftage, called Samarofsky- Yamm, near the conflux of the Oby and Irtifh. The wind being contrary, we made but flow progrefs.The near approach of winter, which uſually begins about the firſt of October, made ushaften forward as faſt as poffible.Next day, the wind being eafterly, we hoifted our fails, and run along at a great rate;and the 14th, arrived at a fmall village on the north fhore. The fouth bank ſtill continued low and flat. At this village we faw great quantities of wild geefe, picked, andfmoked, and hung in fhades, for winter provifions. We had fome of them dreffed;but I cannot much praiſe them for agreeable food. The people of this place catch vaft.numbers of them in day-nets, more on account of the down and feathers than of theirfleſh, which is but of fmall value. We let our barks proceed, and detained a boat tofollow them, as foon as we had feen the method of catching the wild geefe. Thefportſman conducted us into a fpacious open plain, encompaffed with wood and water.Here he had his large nets, with wide mafhes fpread, and a ſmall hut, made ofgreenbranches, to conceal himſelf. Upon the grafs were ſcattered about a ſcore of geefe--fkins ftuffed, fome of them ſtanding, others fitting, in natural poftures. As foon as hefees a flock flying over his head, he calls, with a bit of birchen bark in his mouth, exactly like the wild geefe. On hearing the call, they take a turn round, and then alightamong the ftuffed fkins; which being perceived by the ſportſman, he immediatelydraws a ftring, and claps the nets over the whole flock, or as many of them as arewithin their reach. The geefe always alight and rife with their heads to the windward;to prevent therefore, fuch as efcape the day-net from flying off, he has a deep long net,placed on tall flender poles, to windward, which entangles great numbers intheir rifing.I am perfuaded this method might eaſily be practifed, in other parts of the world, togreater advantage; though, I believe, there are no where ſuch quantities of water-fowl,efpecially geefe of different kinds, as in theſe northern climates; where, free from annoyance, they bring forth their young among woods and lakes, and, at the approach ofwinter, fly off to the Cafpian Sea, and other fouthern regions.There is here one fpecies of geefe, called kazarky, of a fize leſs than the common.wild goofe, having beautiful ſcarlet fpots about the head, and fome feathers of the famecolourBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 429colour in its wings. Ofthis fort I faw great flocks about the Cafpian Sea in winter.Befides thefe, there are numbers of ſwans, and all forts of water-fowl, natural to theclimate.The woods are ſtored with game, and various forts of wild-fowl, particularly thecoc-limoge, the heath-co*ck, and feveral others too tedious to mention. -1 he mannerin which the coc-limoge is caught by the Ofteacks is fomewhat curious.They make a paling, about four or five feet high, running from any wood, along afandy bank, to the edge of a river, having the ftakes fet fo clofe that the fowls cannotpaſs between them. In this paling they leave openings, at certain diftances, largeenough to afford a paffa*ge for theſe birds; and, rather than take the wing, the co*ckwill feek a paffa*ge from one end of the hedge to the other. In thefe openings are fetfprings, on bent branches, which, as foon as touched, fly up, and catch the fowl, eitherby the neck or feet. The Ofteacks brought us theſe and other wild-fowl in greatplenty.The 15th, in fine weather, we continued our voyage, ufing our fails or oars, by turns,as circumſtances obliged us. Little material happened till the 19th, in the evening,when we left the Oby, and entered the river Irtifh; and, night coming on, we putafhore, where we ftaid till the next morning. On entering the Irtifh, we had a ſtrongcurrent against our courfe, which had been downthe ſtream, in all the different rivers,from Selinginfky to this place.Before I proceed farther, I fhall take a view ofthe famous Oby. It is one ofthelargeſt rivers in the world, and runs as long a courfe as any in Siberia, or perhaps inany other quarter of the globe. It rifes in the defert, feveral hundred miles fouthwardofthe Baraba; and is daily augmented, by many ftreams of different names, till itreaches a place called Belogarfky, where it takes the name of Oby, at the conflux oftwo large rivers, the Alley and the Tzaritt. Thefe rivers joined, form the Oby. TheOby fignifies both in the Ruffian language. But I am of opinion this river had thatname long before Siberia was known to the Ruffians, as the natives ftill give it thatname.In going eastward, we paffed the Obyupon the ice, at a place called Tzauſky Oftrogue, where it made no great appearance, in compariſon of what it does after receivingthe rivers Tom, Tzulim, Keat, Irtiſh, and many others, when, indeed, it may be reckoned in the number ofthe largeſt rivers in the world. It points generally to the north,with various windings, till it meets the Keat, when it turns to the north-weft; and runs.in that direction many miles, till, meeting with the Irtifh, it turns fhort, in a rapid current, towards the pole, fwallowing up many rivers and brooks in its courfe, and at laſt,it diſcharges itſelf into the Northern Ocean, at a great bay called Obſkaya- Guba, or theLips ofthe Oby.Few rivers in the world contain greater plenty and variety of fish than the Oby. Thebanks to the fouth produce woods in abundance, interfperfed with corn-fields, and goodpafturage. I have been informed, that in theſe parts are rich mines of copper and iron,and even filver.At the conflux of the Oby and Irtiſh are feveral large iſlands, and farther north,feveral villages; but only one town of any note, called Bergofa, fituated on the lefthand.I may here obferve, that geographers generally agree, that a line drawn from theplace where the river Tanais, now called Don, difcharges itſelf into the fea of Azof, orthe Black Sea, to the mouth ofthe Oby, is the proper boundary betwixt Europe andAfia..The430 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.The 20th, early in the morning, we fhoved off from the ſhore, and made the beſtof our way up the Irtifh. In the evening, we reached Samariofsky-Yamm, where welodged this night.Next day, having taken on board freſh labourers, and the wind being northerly, andvery cold, we put off in hafte, hoifted fail, and went along at a great rate. The windcontinuing from this point, was a certain fign that winter was at no great diſtance, andthat we might foon expect to be met by fhoals of floating ice.The 22d, the north wind ftill continued very ftrong, to our great joy: for, although there are many villages on the Irtifh, we dreaded the being frozen up nearfome defert place.Next day, there fell a little fnow, which foftened the coldneſs of the air; but, at thefame time, the wind unfortunately chopped about to the weftward, and retarded ourprogrefs.The 24th, we continued our voyage; and, next day, the wind again becomingnortherly, we uſed our fails all that day and night. We proceeded without any thingmaterial happening, till the 29th, when we reached Demianſky, a town ſtanding on theeaſtern bank.Next day, we fet out immediately, after taking in freſh rowers. The fields werenow covered with fnow, and the froft fo ftrong, that the ice began to float in the river,and we expected every day to be frozen up.Thefe figns of approaching winter influenced Mr. Ifmayloff to leave the barks, tofollow as fhould be poffible for them, while himſelf made the beſt of his way to Tobolfky, in a ſmall boat. Accordingly, carrying me along with him, we immediatelyfet out towards that place.October the firſt, we continued rowing along near the banks, and took in freſhrowers as occafion offered. The river was full of great fhoals of ice, the froft ſtrong,and much fnow. In the evening, we arrived, cold and wet, at a ſmall village, wherewe lodged in a warm room, about fifty verſt from Tobolíky.Next day, the river was fo covered with ice that we could proceed no farther inour boats; but luckily, in the night, there fell fnow enough for fledges. We foon gothorſes, and fuch open fledges as the place afforded, and, in the evening, arrived ſafe atthe city of Tobolsky. We went immediately to the palace of Prince Alexie Michaylovitz Cherkafky, the governor, who was an intimate friend of the ambaffador. Thisprince was much efteemed for his capacity, as well as his great probity and honour.We fupped with him, and then retired to our lodgings; but could not avoid commiferating the fate of our fellow travellers, labouring with the ice, and afraid of beingfrozen up every minute.The 3d, we fent fome foldiers to meet the barks, and affift them in coming up theriver. And on the 5th, they arrived fafe at Tobolfky, where they were next daydiſcharged.We were obliged to ſtay here for the falling of the fnow, in order to proceed onfledges, the common method of travelling in winter. At this place we thought ourfelves at home, having good lodgings, good company, and plenty of provifions, ſo thatwe waited patiently for the fetting in of winter; befides, we had now a frequentedroad, lying through a well inhabited country, all the way to Mofco,During our ſtay at Tobolíky, I was informed, that a large troop of gipfies had beenlately at that place, to the number of fixty and upwards, confifting of men, women, andchildren. The Ruffians call thefe vagabonds tziggany. Their forry baggage was carried on horfes and affes. The arrival of fo many ftrangers being reported to Mr. PetroffBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 43Petroff Solovy, the vice governor, he fent for fome of the chief of the gang, and demanded whither they were going?. They anſwered him to China; upon which he toldthem, he could not permit them to proceed any farther eastward, as they had no paffport, and ordered them to return to the place whence they came.It feems theſe people had roamed, in ſmall parties, during the fummer ſeaſon, croſs the vaſt countries between Poland and this place, fubfifting themſelves on what they could find, and onfelling trinkets, and telling fortunes to the country people. But Tobolsky, being theplace of rendezvous, was the end of their long journey eastward; and they, with nofmall regret, were obliged to turn their faces to the weft again.Before I leave this new world, as it may be called , of Siberia, I think it well deſervesa few general remarks, beſides the particulars mentioned in my journal.This vaft extent of eaſtern continent is bounded by Ruffia to the weft, by Great Tartary to the fouth, on the eaſt and north by the reſpective oceans; its circumference isnot eaſy to aſcertain. Foreigners commonly are terrified at the very name of Siberiaor Sibir, as it is fometimes called; but, from what I have faid concerning it, I prefumeit will be granted, that it is by no means fo bad as is generally imagined. On the contrary, the country is really excellent, and abounds with all things neceffary for the ufeofman and beaft. There is no want of any thing, but people to cultivate a fruitfulfoil, well watered by many of the nobleft rivers in the world, and theſe ſtored with variety of ſuch fine fiſhes, as are feldom found in other countries. As to fine woods,furniſhed with all forts of game and wild- fowl, no country can exceed it.Siberia is generally plain, fometimes varied with rifing grounds, but contains no high mountains, and few hills, except towards the borders of China, where you findmany pleaſant hills and fruitful valleys.Confidering the extent of this country, and the many advantages it poffeffes, I connot help being of opinion, that it is fufficient to contain all the nations in Europe, wherethey might enjoy a more comfortable life than many of them do at prefent. For mypart, I think, that, had a perſon his liberty and a few friends, there are few placeswhere he could ſpend life more agreeably than in fome parts of Siberia.Towards the north, indeed, the winter is long, and extremely cold. There are alfomany dreary waftes, and deep woods, terminated only by great rivers, or the ocean;but theſe I would leave to the prefent inhabitants, the honeſt Ofteacks and Tongufes,and others like them, where, free from ambition and avarice, they ſpend their lives inpeace and tranquillity. I am even perfuaded, that theſe poor people would not changetheir fituation and manner of life, for the fineſt climate, and all the riches of the eaſtfor I have often heard them fay, that God, who had placed them in this country, knewwhat was beft for them, and they were fatisfied with their lot.

During our ſtay at Tobolíky, a meffenger arrived from court, with the glad tidingsof peace being concluded between His Czariſh Majefty and the crown of Sweden, aftera deftructive war, which had raged above twenty years. This was very agreeable newsto every body, particularly to the officers who had remained ſo long in captivity. Thepeace was proclaimed with firing of guns, and other rejoicings ufual on fuch occafions.November 18th, all the roads being now firm, and fit for fledges, we left Tobolíky ina ftrong froft. As we returned by the fame road we went to the eastward, which Ihave already deſcribed, I fhall not repeat the particulars, but only name the townsthrough which we paffed, viz. Tumeen, Epantfhin, Verchaturia, and Solikamſky. Theweather being exceffively cold, we remained two days at this place. From thence wecame to Kay-gorod, then to Klinoff; from which, inſtead of going towards Cazan, weproceeded ſtraight through the woods towards the town of Niſhna-Novogorod, ſituatedat432 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.•at the conflux ofthe Volga and Ocka. This road is neareſt, but very rough and narrow in many places, the country being overgrown with large tall woods, of differentkinds, according to the nature of the foil. The principal inhabitants are the Tzeremiſh,who afford but indifferent accommodation for travellers; however, the people are verycourteous and hofpitable. Among them are fcattered a few Rufs villages, and a veryfew Rufs towns of fmall note; for which reafon, I fhall only mention the names of fuchas lay in our road from Klinoff to Kufma-Damianſko, (which laft place is fituated onthe east bank ofthe river Volga), viz. Biftritſky, a large village; Orloff, a ſmall town;Yuriefsky, a village; Kotelnitzy, a ſmall town; a village called Tzorno-Retzky; alarge village called Vofkrenſky; Yaranſky, a ſmall town; Tzarevo-Sanchurſky, anotherfmall town; Shumetrey, a village. Befides theſe, and fome others, we paffed throughmany villages, inhabited by Tzeremifhian and Tzoowafhian Tartars, to mention whichwould be too tedious. Theſe people, having deſtroyed the woods about their villages,live much at their eafe, have plenty of corn and cattle, and great numbers of bee-hives,whereby they furniſh the markets with great quantities of honey and bees-wax. Theyalfo furnished us with changes of horſes whenever we had occafion for them; but theirtackling of harneſs, &c. is fo bad, that much time was loft in accommodating them toour heavy carriages, fo that we thought ourſelves happy when we met with Ruffianvillages, which are far better provided in that reſpect, and more accuſtomed to travellingthan thofe poor people, who never go far from their own home.After a tedious journey, we came out ofthe woods to the Volga, and travelled alongupon the ice, which, in fome places, was not very firm. In the evening, we reachedNifhna-Novogorod, where we ftaid fome days to refreſh ourſelves, and kept our Chriſtmas with the commandant.We proceeded again on the 28th, and, little material happening, arrived ſafe at thecapital city of Mofco, on the 5th day of January 1722, where we found His CzariſhMajefty, and all the court, who had lately arrived from St. Peterſburg, and preparations were making for grand fire-works, triumphal arches, and other marks of joy, onaccount of the peace: with which I fhall conclude my journal.I think it will not be unacceptable to the reader, if I fubjoin a liſt of the places anddiftances between St. Peterſburg and Pekin. -They are as follow:-It is to be noted, that the diftances between St. Peterſburg and Tobolfky, in Siberia,are all meatured verfts, each verft being 500 Rufs fathoms, each fathom confiſting offeven feet English meafure; fo that a Ruffian verſt meaſures exactly 1166 yards.Verfts. Verfts.From St. Peterſburg To Bronitza 35To Yefhore 35 Zaitzoff 30Toflinky-Yam 23 Kriſtitſkom 31Lubany 26 Yazhetbeetfach 39Chudova 32 . Zemnigorfkom 23Spafkoy Polite 25 Edrovo 22Podberezwa 23 KotelofskyNovogorod 22 Vifhny-Volotfhoke ·3536VidropułkoBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 433To VidropufkoTorfhokeMednaTweerGorodnaZavidovoVerfts.33 To SlobodíkyVerfts.28300 1332 32363328Selo-Prokofiefsky 30Selo- Solovetzkoy 33 Trotiſka-monaſtery 2231 Kruto- Gorsky 2527 Katharinfky-monaſtery: 25 Klinn 27 Tikofsky 35 Pefhka 30 Leonfky 25 Tfhorny Graz 24 Kay-Gorod 35 City of Mofco 28 Reka-Volva 34 NovoDerevenoy 27 Koriſh Retfka Berefofsky 25 Bunkovo 26 Selo-YfinofskyKyrzatíky 29 ZezefskyLipnach 28 Selo-KoffinfkyUndola 17Volodimer 22-Selo-Dartfhevo 26Murom 30LogginoffSelo-SyrinſkyNikonoffTown of SolikamſkySelo-Monachovo 25Selo- Pagofty 29MartiníkoyYanvey28-253025313322 3233015363235Selo-Bogoroditzky 39Nifhna-Novogorod 28Zyminka 25Selo -Tatintza 31MoltzanoffFrom Moltzanoff to Verkutariaare five ftages, makingthence to Saldinfkay Pogoſtia 2735· 181Belozerika 35 To Maggnevoy 46Fokina 29 Fominoy 28Selo-Sumkach 34 Babichinoy 53 Kofma- Damianfko 20 Turinfky 53Bolthoy- Rutky 10 Slattkoy 50 Kumea 50 Selo- Rofhdefvinſky 50 Shumetrey 30 Tumeen 51Zarevo- Santzurſky 30 Soffnovoy 46Potavinoy-Vrague 47 Pokorfska-Slaboda 31 Yaraníkey 29 Iſkinſkoy 35 Selo-Vofkrefenfky 34 Backfarino 34 Tfhorna-Retxka 47 Sheftakovo 26Kotelnizy 46 Dechterevo 39Yuriofsky 20 City of Tobolsky 43 Orloff 26Selo-Bistritz 21 3119 Klinoff 30From St. Peterſburg to MofcoFrom Mofco to Kufma-DamianſkoFrom Kufma-Damianfko to Zarevo- SantzurfkyFrom Zarevo-Santzurfky to SollikamfkyFrom Sollikamfky to Tobolsky813888734564120YOL. VII.3 K3119It434 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.It will be obferved, that, in our journey outwards to China, we went by Cazan,which muſt make the diſtance we travelled between St. Peterſburg and Tobolíky,more than the above (which is the ſhorteſt road) by at leaſt 200 verſts.The route continued from Tobolfky eastward, down the river Irtiſh, and up the .rivers Oby and Keat by water.From TobolíkyTo Samariofsky-Yammthe town of Surgutethe town of NarimVerfts.570262590the town of Makofsky up the river Keatby land to Yenifeyſky148092627to Irkuſky 450croſs the Baykall lake to Selinginſkyto Elimſky, along the river Tonguſkyto Saratzine, the boundary between Ruffiaand Chinato the river Tolathe wall of China, crofs the HungryStepp, or Defert,the city of PekinFrom Tobolfky to PekinFrom St. Peterſburg to Tobolíky3941044671212200644831199567N. B. The verfts between Tobolky and Pekin are computed, which generally ex-' ceed the meaſured verſt.It will be noted, that the route above recited is that by which we returned fromChinaJOURNAL( 435 )JOURNAL OF THE RESIDENCE OF MR. DE LANGE, AGENT OF HIS IMPERIALMAJESTY OF ALL THE RUSSIAS, PETER THE FIRST, AT THE COURT OF PEKIN,DURING THE YEARS 1721 AND 1722. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.TRANSLATION OF THE EDITOR'S PREFACE TO THE READER.HIS Journal is very curious, and an authentic piece, and certainly merits the at subjecttreats of.As the world is not fo fufficiently informed of what paffes in thoſe diſtant countries,as to form a tolerable judgment of what the court of Ruffia may have to do with thatof China, I am now about to give a fuccinct relation thereof to the reader, that it mayferve him as an introduction to the work.It is now well known that the frontiers of Siberia are contiguous to thoſe of China;for this reafon, it is natural to think that the court of Ruffia fhould have more frequent correſpondence with that of China than any other court of Europe. Neverthelefs, this correfpondence between the two courts is of no ancient date, as it did not commence but fince the Mongall Tartars made themſelves mafters of China, about the year1040; for it was about that time that the Ruffians, after being poffeffed of Siberiafrom the latter end of the fixteenth century, began to ſpread themſelves over that vaftcountry, not having met the leaft refiftance from the ancient inhabitants of thoſeparts; till, at laft, they came to eſtabliſh themſelves about the lake Baykall, and theriver Amoor, thereby becoming near neighbours to the Mongall Tartars; by intercourſe with them, the Ruffians foon came to underſtand that their nation had poffeffedthemſelves of China; and that it was the Prince who was actually their Chan, whofilled at that time the throne of China.The court of Ruffia was not ignorant of the extreme opulence of the empire ofChina; and appriſed that the diſtance from Siberia could not be great, refolved to tryif they could not derive fome advantages from that difcovery, by eſtabliſhing a regularcommerce between Siberia and China; promifing themſelves no leſs than to draw intoRuffia, from that empire, a great part of its riches, For this purpoſe, the court ofRuffia fent, fucceffively, feveral ambaffadors or envoys to China; who fucceeded fowell, that the Chineſe at length confented to the entry of the caravans into their dominions from Siberia, on conditions very advantageous to Ruffia.During thefe tranfactions, the Ruffians daily gained ground on the frontiers of theMongall Tartars; and even made no fcruple, when they thought fit, of eſtabliſhingthemſelves on their territories, with a defign to approach on one fide, along the riverAmcor, towards the Oriental Sea; and on the other fide, along the river Selinga, towards the frontiers of China.In the mean time, the new government of China was not long of comprehending,that all theſe new fettlements which the Ruffians made upon the frontiers ofthe Mongalls, would in time render their power too formidable to the fubjects of China; andmight come at laſt to be very dangerous to the repofe of China itſelf, in cafe any mifunderſtandings 3 K 2436BELL'STRAVELSINASIA."underſtandings between the two nations fhould arife. On theſe confiderations, theyrefolved to oppoſe ſettlement to fettlement, and to build fome towns and villages on thefrontiers ofthe Mongall Tartars, at fome diftance from the laſt fettlements of the Ruffians; in order thereby to prevent their penetrating farther into the country, to theprejudice ofthe Tartar fubjects of China.In confequence of this refolution , the Chineſe built, about the year 1670, the townsof Mergeen and Naun, and the borough of Xixigan, with feveral other boroughs andvillages thereabouts; which they peopled with colonies of Mongalls, fubjects of China.Thence arofe difputes between the two empires, on the fubject of their frontiers.And in place ofthe negotiations being confined to affairs of commerce, and mutualproteftations of amity and friendſhip, on one fide and the other, the grand object of alltheir aims came now to be the accommodation ofthe affair of the frontiers, and the regulation of limits between the two empires. But, in as much as one would preferveto themſelves the right of doing as they thought fit, and the other would, at all hazards,keep them from doing what they thought dangerous, there arofe a great coolneſs between them; which came to blows in the years 1684 and 1685. It is true, that theylaboured inceffantly, both on the one fide and the other, for a re- eſtabliſhment of goodharmony between the two nations; to this end there were held two different congreffes,at the town of Nerchinfky, between the plenipotentiaries of Ruffia and thofe of China.But thoſe gentlemen met with fo many difficulties, in reconciling their different fentiments and interefts, that they were obliged to feparate without fuccefs . At laſt , F.Gerbillon, a Jefuit, returned again to the town of Nerchinsky, in quality of plenipotentiary ofthe court of China; and there, in 1689, figned a treaty of peace and perpetualalliance, between the two empires, which was afterwards ratified, in the uſual forms,by both the courts.That treaty was not very advantageous to the Ruffians, becauſe it fet bounds to theireſtabliſhments on theſe frontiers, which was a very difa*greeable article.And as theybelieved the Chineſe would not regard it very ftrictly, provided they did not advancefurther on the fide of the Selinga , and the towns they had lately built to the fouthwardof the frontiers, the Ruffians again began to make new fettlements along the riverAmoor; and, at laft, to build along the fouth bank of that river, thirty leagues beyondtheir limits, a town they called Albazin; in hopes that the Chineſe could not be without Siberian furs, and would rather choofe to wink at thefe enterpriſes than enter into a new war. But they were quite miſtaken in their calculation; for the Mongalls furnished fuch quantities of furs to China, from the time they had orders from the Chanto ſpread themſelves along the banks of the Amoor, that the Chineſe began to perceive that they could be fufficiently fupplied with furs, without thofe from Siberia.And in theſe fentiments they ſpoke freely their thoughts of theſe new enterpriſes of the Ruffians.In the mean time, the Ruffians gave them good words and fair promifes, but continued to carry on their point, flattering themſelves that they might find fome favourable opportunity of pacifying them. Nevertheleſs, the Chineſe growing doubtful ofthe Ruffians complying with their demands, which they thought well founded, at lengththey had recourfe to force; and in the year 1715, made the Mongalls, fubjects toChina, take arms, and laid fiege to the town of Albazin, the place which was the principal ground of their complaints. The fiege continued three years; and as the latePeter the Great was occupied in his grand defigns to the weftward, he would not continue the quarrel with China. Thus, they let the town fall into the hands of the Mongalls, and agreed to a new provifional treaty with the court of Pekin. But as other2 differencesBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 437differences on the frontiers ftill fubfifted, the court of Ruffia fent again, in 1719 , anenvoy extraordinary to Pekin, to regulate entirely what remained to be adjufted between the two empires; and feeing that, by means of thefe differences, the commerceof the caravans was much leffened, the true object of his negotiation was to re-eſtabliſhthat commerce; and, to that end, to try to induce the court of China to confent to therefidence of an agent from Ruffia, at the court of Pekin, who might take care to watchover the affairs of the caravan, and fo preferve a good underſtanding between the twoempires. The envoy of Ruffia, having happily executed the laft part of his commiffion,left, at his departure from Pekin, Mr. de Lange, as agent of Ruffia at the court ofPekin,who was the author of the following Journal.The public is obliged for this tract to a foreign minifter, who refided many years atthe court of Ruffia, and who permitted it to be communicated to the public. But, tomake the reading of it more agreeable and more uſeful to the world, it was thought fitto add fome little remarks in the places which required elucidation, that nothing mightbe wanting to the reader on fo intereſting a ſubject.JOURNAL OF MR. DE LANGE, &c.March 1721.R. DE ISMAYLFOFF, ambaffador and envoy extraordinary of His Czarish Majeſty, having fixed his departure from Pekin to be on the 2d of March, after havingfiniſhed his negotiations at the court of China in the beſt manner he poffibly could * , Itook the refolution of accompanying him to the wall of China; but the gentlemen ofthe miniftry thought proper to refufe me a paffport; pretending that, as I was orderedby His Czarish Majefty to refide at the court of the Chan † , it was neceſſary that I ſhouldhave permiffion of the Bogdoi- Chan himſelf, not only for going as far as the grand wall ,but alſo for every time that I would go to ſtay a night without the walls of Pekin: tothe intent that the court might always be affured that no ill accident fhould happen tome, being a foreignert . And, as the Bogdoi- Chan had already quitted his refidenceof Pekin, to take the diverfion of hunting, it was not without a deal of trouble that Iobtained a permiffion to accompany Mr. de Ifmayloff as far as Czampinfa, which is a townfixty ly § diftant from Pekin, from whence I returned, being eſcorted by a clerk of thecouncil for the affairs of the Mongalls, and fome foldiers; and thus came back to Pekinon the 6th.

• Mr. de Ifmayloff, a gentleman of great merit, and a captain in the regiment of the Preobrafchinſky

guards, was fent, in the year 1719, by the late Emperor Peter the Great, to China, with the character ofambaffador and envoy extraordinary, to renew the treaties between Ruffia and China, and to endeavour tobringthe court of Pekin to agree to a regulated free commerce with Ruffia.Allthe Tartars give to their reigning princes the title of Chan; and as the houſe which at preſentfills the throne of China is come from that branch of Pagan Tartars known to us by the name of OrientalMongalls, the Emperors of China conform themfelves to the established cuftom of their nation, preferving,to this time, the title of Chan . Vide Hift . Genealog. des Tartares.- Mr. de Ifmayloff, at his departure from Pekin, left, by virtue of his inftructions, Mr. de Lange, inquality of agent of Ruffia, to treat of, and to bring to a conclufion, a regulation of commerce, and an eſtabliſhment of an eafy correſpondence between the two empires; and, although the Chineſe miniſtry oppoſed.moft ftrenuouſly the refidence ofthe faid agent at their court, on pretence that it was contrary to the fundamental conftitutions of the empire; yet the ſaid ambaffador knew fo well how to take his meaſures, thatthe Bogdoi- Chan gave his confent to it , notwithstanding all the intrigues of the miniftry to the contrary.One ly of China is exactly 360 geometrical paces.The438BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.The 7th, early in the morning, I faw enter the court-yard of my houſe a man whohad the appearance of a poor beggar; he brought with him fome poor ftarved fowls,and falted cabbage, together with fome pots of taraffun, which is a fermented liquor,made of grain, and what the Chineſe drink inſtead of wine, making it warm before theydrink it. This man, having fet it all down in mycourt-yard, was returning, when I orderedhim to be called back, to inform me of the meaning of his fo doing. Upon which he toldme, " That it was part of the proviſions he had bought for me, by order of the collegewho have the charge of the Emperor's magazines of provifions; but that, not beingable to bring all at once, he was going to fetch the reft. " Whereupon, being informedby him what his occupation was, I underſtood, " That he had made a contract withthe faid college to furniſh me, every nine days, with a certain quantity of provifions formy houſe. Upon which I ordered him to take every thing away that he faid he hadbought for me, and bring no more to my houſe, till I fhould receive previous information, from the council for foreign affairs, how much I was daily to receive by order ofthe Bogdoi-Chan, and through whofe hands I was to receive them.Whereupon I fent to let the Mandarins (who were appointed to propoſe to thecouncil what might regard me) know what had occurred with this man, who came, inthe above manner, to bring me provifions on the part of the Bogdoi- Chan; and alſothat I fhould always moft refpectfully receive whatever the Bogdoi- Chan, from hisfriendſhip for his Czariſh Majeſty, fhould order for my ſubſiſtence, in caſe it was ſentme in a proper manner; at the fame time, defiring them to acquaint me with the particulars of what the court had ordered for my fubfiftence. Whereupon thofe gentlemen fent me the following anfwer: " That I fhould receive the fame allowance whichI had received before, during the refidence of the envoy extraordinary at this court;and that they had already made an agreement to deliver my allowance regularly. " Irepreſented to them thereupon, " That I never had any feparate allowance during therefidence of his Excellency the envoy at Pekin, having had the honour of eating alwaysat the fame table with him; that, for this reaſon, I could now receve nothing, until Ifhould know preciſely wherein it was to confift; and that, after I fhould know whatthe allowance was to be, I fhould defire them to pay me the amount of the fame inmoney, which they were to pay to the purveyor. " Thefe gentlemen were not wantingin letting me know, " That I ought not fo nicely to examine what the Bogdoi- Chan,without any obligation , had ordered to be given me out of his mere grace. " But Iaffured them, in ftrong terms, in ny turn, That I abfolutely would receive nothingon theſe terms; for I was very doubtful whether the Bogdoi- Chan was informed, thatfuch a perfon was trufted with the difpofition of what allowance he was pleaſed to orderfor me." This refolution much difcompofed the gentlemen Mandarins, who hadreckoned on fupplying their own tables with my provifions; but, feeing how difficultit was to obtain their ends on this occafion, they at laft delivered to me the followingfpecification, and faid it was what the Bogdoi- Chan had ordered for my allowance,viz. per day,I fiſh.1 fheep.1 pot oftaraffun.I fowl.I bowl of milk.2 oz. of tea.2 oz. of butter.2 oz. of lamp oil.gin falted cabbage.2 fmall meaſures of rice.15 gin of wood.11 Το

.Cooke Gerge byEngraved Drawn byWAlexander ESAAsMandarin's Garden ,atChusanProvince The ofbiang .?BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA, 439To myinterpreter per day,I oz. of tea.igin of flour.2 oz. of butter.2 oz. oflamp-oil.2 fmall meaſures of rice.8 gin of wood.And every nine days a fheep.To every one of my domefticsIgin ofbeef.I oz. offalt.per day,I meaſure of rice.5 gin of wood.To a dragoon who was left behind by the envoy at Pekin, upon account of fometapeſtries they were working for His Czarish Majefty,I meaſure of rice.I oz. of tea.gin of flour.2 oz. of butter.2 oz. of lamp-oil.5 gin of wood.And every nine days a fheep."That, as theyBy laen you are to underſtand ounces, and by gin pounds.Upon delivering this fpecification, the Mandarins acquainted me,were obliged to buy the fish, the fowls, the ſheep, and the milk, for my provifions, withready money, I might receive the value of thoſe things in money; but, in regardto the other articles, I muſt content myſelf to receive them in kind from the Chan'smagazines * ."99Upon which I affured them, " I fhould make no objection, provided they did it ina decent manner, and not by unknown people, who marched off as foon as they hadthrown it down in my court-yard, as they had once done.' At the fame time I demanded of them, " Whether I could ſtill have the Chan's horſes, to make uſe of themwhen I fhould have occafion, as I had duringthe refidence ofthe envoy extraordinary."They anſwered me thereupon, " That I might certainly have the Chan's horfes always;but then, as the ftables of the Chan were at a confiderable diftance, it was neceffaryfor me always to acquaint them of my intentions, the day before I intended to ride out;upon fuch notice, they would take care that the horfes fhould always be ready at myquarters very early in the morning t." To avoid this inconvenience, and to avoid thebeing obliged to let them knowevery day where I would go, I took the refolution tobuy fix horfes, and to keep them at my own expence, though forage was very dear atPekin. The guard that had been placed upon the envoy's quarters, during the timeof his ſtay at Pekin, under the command of a brigadier, remained ſtill on the famefooting after his departure, as did the two Mandarins of the thirty-feventh order ‡ ,togetherThe Emperor of China receives the greatest part of the tribute of his fubjects in the country in provifions and manufactures of the growth of the feveral provinces, which are afterwards diftributed in kind toall perfons inthe fervice ofthis monarchy, and reckoned to them as part of their falary; fo that all the goldand filver that comes into the treafury ofthe Chan, arifes from the tribute of the cities, the duties inwardsand outwards, the tolls of paffengers, the mines of gold and filver, and fines or confifcations; all which to .gether amount every year to immenfe fums.At Pekin they always make vifits in town on horfeback. But the princes of the blood, and thegrand Mandarins, fare generally carried in litters on theſe occafions, attended with a numerous train of domeftics.Every man appointed to any public charge or dignity in China, from the higheſt to the loweft, iscalled by the name of Mandarin; whence it comes that there are many orders, which are all diſtinguiſhed,one440 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.together with a clerk, to receive from me whatever I fhould have to propofe, whetherbyword of mouth or by writing, and to make their report to the council of foreignalfairs; and this appeared to me a very good omen.The 9th, the brigadier of the guard of my quarters let me know, that the BogdoiChan would return from hunting the next day, and that if I was defirous to go to meethim, he would give orders that the Mandarins fhould be ready to eſcort me with a guardof horfe for the fecurity of my perfon.The roth, I mounted on horfeback very early to go to meet the Chan. When HisMajefty faw me, he called me to him, and afked, " If I did not repine to be alone in aforeign empire, fo far from Europe?" He further afked, " If I was well, and if I wascontented?" Upon which, having with a profound reverence thanked His Majeſty formy gracious reception, I affured him, " That I found myſelf perfectly well, and I couldnot but be well content with having the honour of refiding at the court of fo grand amonarch." After which His Majefty, having difmiffed me, was carried in his litter toPekin, followed by a very numerous court * .The 11th, 12th , and 13th, I notified to the Mandarins, folicitors in my affairs," That, having feveral things to get made for the Emperor, my mafter, I fhould havegreat occafion for the money which divers merchants of Pekin were owing to the Commiffary Gufaitnikoff, who had been lately at Pekin with the caravan of Siberiat; andI craved their affiftance to facilitate the recovery of thofe fums, feeing the debtors hadengaged themſelves, before the envoy extraordinary, to pay me the fame immediatelyafter his departure. " The Mandarins explained themfelves very favourably thereupon;but our debtors, having got notice of it, retired into the country, which obliged me toleave this affair to another opportunity.The 15th, the Bogdoi- Chan went to Czchan-zchumnienne, which is a houſe of pleafure belonging to His Majefty, twelve ly weftward of Pekin, where he frequently makeshis refidence. But having obferved, in his paffing, that the triumphal arches, andother like ornaments, which are raiſed on his birth-day, on both fides of the grandroad, paved with ſquare flat ftones, that reaches from Pekin to Czchan-zchumnienne,were not of the ufual magnificence, all the miniftry were difgraced for many weeks.Upon which the minifters, having inftantly ordered the demolition of all that had beenbuilt, caufed to be built up anew, from the palace of the Emperor at Pekin quite toCzchan-zchumnienne, a great number of triumphal arches, and of moft magnificentcolumns, of an exquifite tafte, all embellifhed with gildings, and feftoons of all forts ofrich filks, of moſt lively figures and colours. At the fame time, in feveral places, theyone from another, by difference of habits, characters, and figures, which are embroidered or fewed on theirhabits; infomuch that, upon feeing a Mandarin, it may be immediately known ofwhat order he is; becauſeevery Mandarin is forbid to appear in public without the habit of his order, under pain of the moſt rigorouspenalties.The Emperor of China might be then in his fixty-ninth lunar year; but he was ftill very well difpofedin body and mind, and was looked upon as a monarch of fuperior penetration and genius. The Fathers Jefuits, miffionaries in China, had great influence with him; and he ufually confulted them on all affairsof importance. He mounted the throne anno 1662 , aged eight years, and died in September 1722.The prince, his third fon, who already commanded the armies of the empire, fucceeded to the empire;for the deceafed Emperor had confined his two eldeft fons in a clofe prifon, fome years before his death,upon fome alledged attempts to rebel, true or falfe, and declared them excluded from fucceeding to theempire. Nevertheleſs their brother fet them at liberty, immediately upon his acceffion to the empire, andheaped favours on t hem, to make them forget the lofs of their right which he poffeffed.They give the title of Commiffary to thofe who have the direction of the caravans, which come from Siberia to Pekiu to trade.erectedBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 441erected theatres of great beauty, where the moſt able comedians exerted their talents,in repreſenting the moft difficult and curious parts of their profeflions, accompaniedwith the grandeft concerts of mufic, both vocal and inftrumental, diverfified with theamuſements of dancing and feats of uncommon agility. All thefe entertainments beingprepared, the minifters went in a body to the Imperial palace, fupplicated the monarchon their knees, with their faces proftrate to the ground, that he would be pleafed toadmit them to his good graces, and that he would be pleafed to fend fome, in whomhe could confide, to examine their new ftructures *. But the Bogdoi- Chan orderedthem to be told, " That he would fee nothing of what they had done, and that hewould never celebrate his birth- day at Pekin more, for that he was as much Emperorof China at Czchan-zchumínienne, as he fhould be though fitting on the Imperial throneat Pekin t."The 17th, I defired the Mandarins, folicitors for my affairs, to come to me uponbufinefs that regarded the council. Upon which they fent me word, that, one of thembeing ill, the other dared not to meddle in matters that regarded the council, withoutthe participation of his comrade. This obliged me to wait the recovery of the fickMandarin, and till I could fee them both together.The 18th, 19th, and 20th, I was willing to avail myfelf of the opportunity the ficknefs of one of my Mandarins gave me, to make fome vifits to merchants of my acquaintance, and to the Father Jefuits, hoping thereby to induce them to return my vifits,and give me opportunity of knowing fomething of the commerce of this empire. ButI found that they all received my vifit with very forced civilities, and great referve, particularly the merchants, who endeavoured to appear much occupied about other important affairs; fo that, feeing it very difficult to bring them into my views, in the prefentconjuncture, I thought it beft to poftpone thefe forts of vifits to a more proper time.But they, not doubting that fuch a reception would occafion my making many reflections, let me know by a third hand, " That myviſits ſhould be always moft agrecableto them, and that they wished, with all their hearts, to divert me every day better thanthe cuſtom of their country permitted them; and likewife, on occafion, to come and feeme, were it not for fear ofthe foldiers, who followed me every where, which preventedthem .--For, in cafe they fhould not place the foldiers in the fame chamber with themfelves and me, and entertain them with every thing to their liking, they were capableof accufing them of having a clandeftine commerce, of great importance, with me, orother fufpicious negociations, which would not fail of cofting them confiderable fums ofmoney, and poffibly might prove their entire ruin t." It is truc, the Father Jefuitscould

• The honours which they pay to the Emperors of China approach even to adoration; all thoſe who

have audience of him, being obliged to proftrate themfelves three times before him, from which none areexempted, not even amballadors, or other foreign minifters; Mr. de Ifinayloff, notwithitanding his quality, being obliged to go through that ceremony, as well as all others.The deceafed Emperor of China held the great lords of China very cheap; for he very well knew,that, in their hearts, they hore the Tartar yoke very impatiently. Nevertheless, fince the very ſevere executions he ordered in the beginning of his reign, he feldom punished with death the great Chineſe Mandarins who fell into difgrace, contenting himfelt with condemning themto pay exorbitant pecuniary fines;which incapacitated them from doing any thing against his authority, whatever defire they might have fo to do.The princes.of the houfe of the Tartars, who at prefent reign in China, have learned, at the expenceof their predeceffors, that they ought not to depend too much on the fidelity of the Chinefe; for this reafon, all the military of the empire is, in a manner, compofed of Mongall Tartars, who, on that account,enjoy confiderable privileges, which makes them very infolent and almoft infupportable to the Chineſe.And as the number of thefe Tartars were not deemed fufficient to curb the Chineſe, confidering the vaftVOL. VII.3 Lexten442 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.could not alledge fuch fears of the foldiers of my guard as the merchants; their belonging to the court put them on quite another footing than the ordinary rank ofpeoplewere upon; but they pretended that, as they were foreigners, they were obliged to actwith great caution, in order to prevent fufpicion * . This did not furpriſe me at all, inregard to a nation, the genius of which I had already had a tolerable knowledge of.The affairs I had to manage were of a very difficult nature, and in all countries the entering properly into fuch ought to be the principal care; but I, nevertheleſs, flatteredmyfelf, that this unpromifing afpect, at my entering on my functions, would take a morefavourable turn, as foon as the Bogdoi- Chan fhould receive the credentials I had fromthe Emperor my maſter.The 22d, my Mandarins came together to fee me, and to know what I had to propoſeto the council; upon which I requeſted them,'1. To put the Allegamba, or prefident of the council for foreign affairs in mind,in my name, that they had let my credential, from the Emperor my maſter, remain inmy hands beyond the ufual time; and that I waited, through his hands, the order oftheBogdoi- Chan, to appoint when he would pleafe to receive them.2. To acquaint the prefident, that I had refolved to hire a houſe for myſelf, nearthe quarters of the Ruffians, againſt the arrival of the caravan, to the end that the faidquarters might be repaired, which, from age were gone to ruin, and might be entirelybeat down by the approaching rainy feaſon; that, unleſs this reparation be made, thecommiffary would not know where to lodge on his arrival at Pekin, except he wouldrun the risk of having the merchandizes damaged.cc 3. To demand for me a paffport, with the neceffary eſcort, for fome baggage, left atPekin, during the time of the ambaffade, which I wanted to ſend out of hand to Selinginfky t. " The faid baggage was fome raw filk which I had bought on account ofMr. Nicolai Chriftizy, with caſh and effects that he had left in my hands ‡.The anſwer which I received immediately after from thofe gentlemen, contained infubftance, " That the Emperor himſelf having allotted that houfe for my quarters, noperfon would readily infinuate to him that I was not fatisfied with it; and that, withouta fpecial licence from him, no perfon in all Pekin, were it even the Imperial Princehimſelf, would dare to let me a lodging, feeing it would thereby look as if the BogdoiChan had not an inhabitable houfe for a foreigner." To which I replied, " That Imade no doubt of fo great a monarch's having houfes enough for lodging as manyextent ofthe empire, the late Bogdoi-Chan found it neceffary, in order to augment their number, to makea law, whereby all the Tartar Mongalls, men or women, who fhould marry with Chineſe, were obliged tobring up their children according to the cuftoms ofthe Mongalls, and to teach them the Mongalls language;and that, by means of this precaution, all thoſe children ſhould be deemed naturalized Mongalls, and enjoythe privilege of native Mongalls.This was but an excufe of the Jefuits, to prevent the vifits of Mr. de Lange, whofe refiding at Pekincould not be very agreeable to them, as it was to act in the affairs of a monarch who had turned all the Jefuits out of his empire, and would fuffer no other Roman Catholic miffionaries, but the Capuchins, to refide in his dominions.Selinginfky is the laft fortrefs belonging to Ruffia, towards the north-weft of China. This townis in the country of the Mongalls, upon the east- fide of the river Selinga, thirty days journey from Pekin,in lat. 51. 30. The climate of Selinginfky is very mild, and the country about it is very pleaſant . The Mongall Tartars did not accuftom themſelves to the cultivation of ground; yet every thing that is ſown orplanted there, thrives exceedingly.Through all Ruffia they ufe hardly any other filk but that of China, which is undoubtedly the best inthe world; it being certain, that two pounds of Chineſe filk will go as far in manufacturing as three pounds of either Perfian or Italian filk.foreignersBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 443foreigners as he pleafed; but, that I was well perfuaded, when theBogdoi- Chan fhould beinformed ofthe condition that houſe was in, he would not oblige me to inhabit it longer.Befides, that it was acting contrary to the common right, allowed by all the world,to reſtrain a perſon, in a public character, from hiring a lodging, with his own money,which might be commodious for him, without a previous application to the Emperorhimfelf." They anſwered me thereupon, " That the ufa*ges in Europe were notpractiſed by them; and, as all the countries in the world had their particular cuſtoms,China had hers, which would not be altered on any confideration whatever." Theyalfo told me plainly " That they could not write to the council on this fubject;for that they knew of a certainty, that no perfon durft make the propofition to theEmperor. "Upon which having told them, " That, as the cafe was fo, I muft fubmit to remainthere, till the impoffibility of abiding longer may force me to have recourfe to othermeaſures." They of themſelves propofed to me, " That the Chan might be petitionedto allot me other quarters, without alledging that my prefent quarters were in fo miferable a condition." But, fecing I did not pretend to go out, but becauſe it was infuch a ruinous ftate, they perfifted in faying, it was impoffible for them to make thepropofal to His Majefty on that footing.The 23d, the aforefaid Mandarins came again to acquaint me, " That the prefidentwould confult the other members of the council upon my credential letters, and wouldput the Emperor in remembrance, when occafion fhould offer. But, concerning thefending away the baggage, I muſt have patience till after the Emperor's birth- day;feeing the preparations for its celebration fo fully employed every body, that nothingelfe was attended to , though of ever fo great confequence."April.The ift ofthis month, the Aloy, or maſter of the ceremonies ofthe Chan, invited me,by order of the Bogdoi- Chan, to come to Czchan-Zchumnienne. Upon which I wentthere inftantly. I was no fooner arrived, but I fent to notify the fame to the faid Aloy,and forthwith went to his apartment. I underſtood from him, that the Bogdoi- Chanhad an intention to have admitted me that day to an audience, but other affairs had unexpectedly intervened; he had ordered hini to deliver to me a piece of the tapeſtrywhich they were at work upon for the Czar, in order that I might ſend it to Ruffia byan expreſs, and acquaint the Czar, that what pieces remained to be made fhould beready in three months *. I laid hold of this opportunity of the paffports and convoyneceffary for the piece of tapeſtry, to requeſt of this gentlemen, " That he would be fogood as to manage it fo, as that, when His Majefty fhould give order for the paffport andconvoy for the piece of tapeſtry, I fhould at the fame time be furniſhed with paffportsfor the baggage above-mentioned which I had to forward; and that he would pleaſe tobe at the trouble of informing himſelf, when His Majefty would be pleaſed to receivemy letters of credence from the Czar with which I was charged." Whereupon theAloy defired me to remain at his lodgings, whilſt he went to make the propofal to theEmperor; and at his return , he acquainted me, " That His Majefty would, out of hand,give orders to the council, that they ſhould furnish me with the paffports and convoyneceffary, as well for the tapeſtry as the baggage I wanted to fend; but that it could notbe till after the birth- day." That, as to the letters of credence, he did not find it

• The tapestry of China is generally made of fatin, embroidered with large figures of gold and filk, the

colours very bright, but the defigns not correct; they are not adjuſted to furniſhing of rooms, unleſs beſpokeon purpoſe, or compofed ofmanydifferent pieces.3L 2proper444 .BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.proper to mention it to the Emperor, it appearing to him that His Majefty frequentlythought of me, and would not forget myletters of credence* , and gave me, in fomemeafure, an affurance that the Chan would not long defer the receiving it. Andthenhe made his excufes that he could not longer wait on me, being obliged inftantly to return to the court.The 2d, according to custom, the birth-day of His Majefty fhould have been celebrated, with the utmoft magnificence, at Czchan-Zchumnienne; but, inafiuch as HisMajefty was fill difpleafed with his minifters, he only received the ordinary compliments on that occafion, without any other ceremony; after which every body retiredto their own houfes . I had, among others, the honour of paying my compliments toHis Majefty on that occafion. That which appeared to me moft worthy of obſervation at that time, was 3000 old men, the youngest of which was above 60 years old,which, by exprefs orders of the Emperor, had been brought to Pekin from all the provinces of the empire. They were all dreffed in yellow, which is the colour of the imperial liveries, and marched in parade to Czchan-Zchumnienne, where they rangedthemfelves in the court of the caftle, and had the honour of making their complimentsto the Emperor; after which His Majefty diftributed to every one, without diſtinction,four laen of filver, and fent them home.The fame day, the parfon of the church of St. Nicolas, at Pekint, prefented me witha memorial of fome debts which he had owing him, by divers perfons of that city, onaccount of the deceafed Archimandrite, praying my afliſtance in the affair .The 3d, having received from the council the neceffary paffport for the courier I wasto difpatch with the piece of tapeſtry, I difpatched him, the fame day, under the eſcortof a Chineſe courier.The 8th, fome unknown people having entered my houfe, told me, by my interpreter, " That they had bought for me a certain number of fheep; but if I would notreceive them in kind, they were ready to pay me half a laen of filver for every ſheep."I returned them in the fame manner I did the former, letting them know, " Thatfome perfon ofthe college, which had the direction of the Emperor's magazines of provifions, muft come to me to fhow me thoſe who were to bring me provifions." Theyattempted ſtill, on feveral occafions, to bring in wood and other provifions in the fameway to my houfe, without my being able to know who they were, or who ſent them.The 11th, I received the paffport for the baggage of Mr. Nicolai Chriftizy, which I

• The late Emperor of China, notwithstanding his great age, had fo extraordinary a memory, till a little

time before his death, that a Flemish Jefuit, who is yet at Pekin, recounted to one in the retinue of Mr.de Ifmayloff, that, above 20 years ago, this Monarch having fhown him a wood pecker, asked him if therewere fuch birds in their country; and having anfwered yes, he asked its name in Flemish . That, fometime after the arrival of Mr. de Ifmayloff, the Emperor, having caft his eye on fuch a bird, aſked him thenalfo, if fuch birds were in their country; and now anfwering, no, the Emperor aſked him why he did nottell him the truth; and if he did not remember, that, at fuch a time, he told him there were fuch birds inthere country; upon which the father Jefuit declared, that he had been fo long out of his own country,that he really did not know whether there was or not. The Emperor was very merry upon the Jefuit'shaving forgot his mother-tongue; and told him the bird's name in Flemish.Thofe of the Greek religion have but one church at Pekin, but the Roman Catholics have threechurches very magnificently built, where there refort, on Sundays and holidays, a number of people of allconditions, the Roman Catholic religion being tolerated there; but it is remarkable, that the men do notuncover their heads during divine fervice, becauſe it is a mark of infamy among them to have their headuncovered; no women appear there, having a feparate apartment in the churches. The late Emperor favoured the worſhip of the Roman church to fuch a degree, that he ordered that all the fons of Mandarins,who made their fludies under the direction of the Jefuits , fhould be obliged to go, all Sundays and holidays,to their churches, which gave great uneafincfs to the Chinefe Bonzes.6 dispatchedBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 445difpatched two days after from Pekin, under the efcort of a Chineſe courier. The prefident of the council letting me know, at the fame time, " That I ought not to fendmany ofthofe expeditions, as long as the new treaty of commerce between the twoempires was unratified in the accustomed forms; feeing it was not understood thatthey confented to a continual paffa*ge by fmall caravans, which I myſelf fufficiently.knew the reaſons for, having affifted at all the conferences held on that fubject."The 13th, I learned that the Bogdoi- Chan was about to fet out inftantly for legcholl,which is a town newly built, with a magnificent castle, without the great wall, 440 ly,or two days by poft, eastward of Pekin, where he ufually paffes the fine feafon ofthefummer in hunting, and other country diverfions.99The 14th, I mounted on horfeback to go to the preſident of the council; being arrived at the gate, the guard made me wait till they had acquainted him of my beingthere; immediately after which, he fent one of his fervants to inform himfelf, " Whe--ther I came purely on a vifit, or had occafion to fpeak to him about bufinefs; and thatin cafe I came about bufinefs, that I fhould communicate the fame to his fervant,that he might inform his maſter of the fubject of it. " I made my compliments to theprefident by the meffenger, and told him, " That I came to pay a vifit to his mafter;but as to the bufinefs I came about, that concerned the mafter, not the fervant. 'After which, the fame fervant returning, told me, " That I would be welcome to hismafter*." Whereupon, entering into the court-yard, the prefident came out of hisapartment to receive me, and having taken me by the hand, after fome reciprocalcompliments, he led me into an open faloon, where we fat down together, and wereferved with tea and milk, according to the Chineſe manner. After fome time, I de--fired that he would put the Bogdoi- Chan in remembrance that I had letters to prefentto him from the Czar, my mafter, and that I ſhould be very glad to know if he would bepleafed to receive them before his departure. He anfwered me thereupon as the mafterof ceremonies had done before, " That His Majefty was well informed of it, andwould know himfelf when he would have time to receive them, without being put in .mind of it; and that, if we fhould put His Majefty in remembrance of it, that wouldlook as if he or I wanted to prefcribe the time of doing it to His Majefty." I fought,by all ways poflible, to engage him one way or other in this affair, but all in vain; andI was obliged to hold this for an anſwer; after which he added, " That, if His Majeftyhad refolved not to receive my letter of credence, he would not have confented to myrefiding at his court in quality of agent; and that Mr. De Ifmayloff having fufficientlyexplained the reafons of my ftay in Pekin, thefe letters could contain nothing very preffing." Upon which I replied to him, " That, in Europe, the monarchs were not accuitomed, when the Czar wrote letters to them, to let fuch a length of time pafs without receiving them; nor take it amifs, from their minifters, if they put them in mindof fuch important affairs; that I never expected fuch an anfwer in China; but yet, as -it was what I could not remedy, I muft bear it patiently, till fuch time as His Majeftywas difpofed to receive them. "The 16th, I mounted again on horfeback to go to fee the alegada, or firſt miniſter, inhopes of getting a refolution more favourable to my affair than I got from the prefident ofthe council. Being arrived at his houfe, I was indeed admitted to come into his courtyard; but as I had no defire to go into the rooms of his fervants, I was obliged to re--

• In China, when they go to fee a Mandarin, of what order foever, upon bufinefs regarding his office,

the Mandarin is obliged to put on the habit peculiar to his order; upon failure whereof, he is amerced inlarge fines.main446BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.main in the court till they notified to him my being there. He, like the other, fent afervant to me, to inform himfelf of the reafon of my coming. To whom I fignified,that I wanted the honour of feeing him, and of acquainting him with an affair which Idid not think proper to explain to a fervant. The ſame fervant returned very foon tome, faying, " My mafter thanks you, Sir, for the trouble you have given yourſelf; heis very well; but it is not convenient for him to fee you."The 17th, I was again in his neighbourhood; and having fent my interpreter to him,to afk permiffion to fee him for a moment, he fent me word, that it was impoffible, becauſe he was that inftant going to His Majefty, and that he did not know when hefhould have time to fpeak with me. Whereupon, feeing this was an affair that couldnot be forced, I refolved to let it lie dormant for fome time.The 19th, I went to fee a German Father Jefuit, who being an old acquaintance, anda friend of mine from my firſt journey to China, made no fcruple of telling me, thatmany of the princpal Mandarins of China much diſapproved of the Chan's confentingto my remaining at Pekin* . But that, as there was no perfon in all the empire that wasbold enough to dare contradict the will of the Emperor, unleſs they would expoſethemſelves to very great danger, it was very probable they would, by degrees, accuſtomthemſelves to my being theret. He faid to me alfo, that he had frequently fent his fervant to me with his compliments, but that the guard at my door had as often turnedhim back, as a perfon who had no bufinefs at my houfe. Nevertheleſs, he did notthink they would have been ſo untractable, if he would have given them a piece ofmoney. He moft ftrongly enjoined to take no notice of what he told me; for hewould by no means appear in this affair; it was fufficient that I was informed by him,in order to take my meaſures thereupon when occafion offered.There are at Pekin a great number of fmall merchants, or rather pedlars, who, as foonas they hear of any foreigners being arrived from Ruffia, or other parts, bring to theirquarters all forts of merchandize, which they get partly from the brokers, and partlyfrom other houſes, of different forts of people, who may have any goods which theywould be willing to difpofe of; and it is often better to deal with theſe pedlars, for allforts of curiofities, and for made filks, than with the fhop-keepers; for which reafon, Ibid fome oftheſe people bring to my houſe, from time to time, what they ſhould lightupon most curious in its kind, whether in rich filks, or jewels, or other goods of value,to the end that I might acquire a competent knowledge of all the forts of merchandiſeto be got in this city. Upon which they reprefented to me, that I might well believethat they fought nothing more than to gain a little money, it being their trade; andof confequence, they would not fail of doing as I defired them, if my houfe was occupied by different perfons; becaufe what goods were not liked by one might find abuyer in another, and fo they might probably always fell fomething; but as I alone occupied the houſe, and had fuch a numerous guard at the gate, they did not know how

• The Chineſe regard their ancient laws and cuftoms as facred and inviolable; and it is not to be wondered at that they with great reluctance fuffer the refidence of a Ruffian agent at Pekin; as it is directly

contrary to the fundamental conftitutions of the empire, which abfolutely forbid the Chineſe to go out ofthe empire, and the admiffion of foreigners to an abode in it .+ The frequent executions which the late Emperor of China was obliged to caufe to be made, in theearly part of his reign, in order to keep the Chineſe quiet, occafioned fuch a dread in all the Chineſe, thatthe greatest Lords of the empire could not approach his perfon without fear and trembling. Nevertheless,this Monarch was far from being a tyrant in reality, for he was a true lover of juftice, and ſpared the bloodof his fubjects as much as poffible. He had forbid, under the moft fevere penalties, the putting a criminalto death, for what crime foever, unleſs he ſhould confirm and fign the ſentence of death with his own hand8toBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 447to do it; becaufe, before they were permitted to enter my houfe, they were obliged toagree with the foldiers of the guard, how much they were to pay them on their goingout; and, whether they fold any thing or not, they were equally obliged to pay the money they agreed to for the permiffion or entry.The 20th, I fent to demand of the Mandarins, who had the care of my affairs, " Ifit was with their knowledge that the foldiers of the guard that were at my gate did notpermit any perſon to enter my houfe without their giving them money?" They, inanfwer, let me know, " That they knew nothing of the matter; but they would not failto make inquiry; and, if they found out the foldiers who through ignorance had donefuch a thing, they would put things in better order for the future. " And I found thatthey had fpoke to the officers ofthe guard, who told them, " They had ftrict ordersto guard this houfe, and take particular care that the common people, who are generally very infolent, ſhould not find means of coming into the court-yard to fteal anything; and, as they were to be anſwerable, they were obliged to uſe the precautionsneceffary to this effect." They came to report this to me, as an unanfwerable argument.But I affured them, that, whenever the guard admitted people to enter myhoufe duringthe day-time, I would not make them answerable for any robbery that might happen atmy houfe, for that I had a fufficient number of my own fervants to drive out of mycourt-yard any perfons who fhould dare to comethere without having bufinefs.It muſt be obferved on this occafion, that the Chineſe have the cuſtom of explainingthemſelves but once on one propofal; and, having once given an anſwer upon a matter, whatſoever it be, they always hold themſelves upon this anfwer, as an infallible argument; fo that, if you turn an affair into twenty different lights, to convince them byone means or other of their error, or to make them alter their fentiments, it is all lofttrouble, they firmly holding by their first word. And it is a general rule with theChineſe, high and low, in all they have to do with foreigners; infomuch that everytime a propofal is made to them, which their intereſt or vanity may incline them not toapprove, it may be certainly depended upon, that, after infinite difputes, you will beobliged to receive the firft words, which they pronounced in the beginning for an anfwer, be it agreeable or difa*greeable.The 21ft , I fpoke with the brigadier of my guard about this affair, who is a perfongenerally eſteemed by all the people of merit in the empire; fome years paſt he hadfilled the greateft pofts ofthe ftate, but was difgraced and made brigadier, on accountof the bad conduct of his brother. I can truly fay, this is the moft worthy man I haveknown in China, full of honour, reafon, and probity; and the Fathers Jefuits agreedwith me, that there was not his equal in all this great empire. He difapproved verymuch the conduct of the officers and foldiers of myguard; but he reprefented to me,at the fame time, " That, having precife orders from the Emperor, that all forts of thelower people fhould be prevented from entering or leaving myhoufe at their pleaſure, tothe end that no infult might be offered me, he could not avoid giving the fame ordersto the officers of my guard; but, to prevent the abuſe of his orders for time to come,he would come regularly twice a-week to my quarters, to have an eye on their behaviour." Which gave me opportunities of making a particular friendſhip with him;but neither mine, nor all the threats which the brigadier gave to the officers and foldierson this head, nor the rigorous treatment he made them feel on feveral occafions, couldget the better of the infatiable avarice of theſe military people, who look upon it as theirright to exact contributions of thofe who trade with foreigners. In fhort, it would havebecome infupportable to me, to be at the mercy ofthe chicanes that this pretended guardof honour ftudied to vex me with every day, if I had not had the hope that my credential4.48BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.dential letters would be very foon received; and that I fhould then be able to do myaffairs with more fatisfaction.The 23d, my interpreter having met one of our debtors, he put him in mind ofthepromifes he had made to Mr. de Ifmayloff, and affured him, that, if he deferred fatiffying me, he fhould be arreſted, fecing this affair would not allow of more prolongation. Upon which, he promiſed to come to me, in two or three days, with his comrades, and to endeavour. to the utmost of his power, not to come empty handed.The 26th, two of theſe debtors came to my houfe with a Chineſe merchant, whowas their fecurity; they told me, that one of their partners, named Dzchundzchan,who was indebted to us in 1400 laen of fine filver, died the year before. But, as Iwas apprifed that three of them were firmly bound in fuch cafe, one for the other,which they could not themfelves gainfay, this fum muft be brought to the account ofthe furvivors. Ofthefe two debtors which came to my houfe, the one named Dzchinborche was ſtill in arrear 700 laen, according to what my interpreter faid, but he acknowledged no more than 650 laen; the other, called Dzchin-fanga, was to deliver 340thun of kitaika * on the arrival of the next caravan at Pekin, and this by virtue of anobligation which he had given to the commiifary Gufaitnicoff, payable to him, or order.I told them, " That, though I had not in my hands the obligation he had given toMr. Gufaitnicoff, that need not hinder their paying the debt to me, if not all at once,at leaft by little and little, according as their abilities would cnable them , feeing thismoney was to come into the treafury of His Czarish Majefty, and that, as foon as theypaid the whole, I would give them an obligation of indemnity, which would maketherobligations to Gufaitnicoff of no value t." Upon which they replied ," That theycould not object to this expedient, and that, conformable to their promifes to the envoyextraordinary, to give me entire fatisfaction thereupon, they would not fail to do it, foas I fhould receive part of their debts before the end of the month." Theſe promiſescontinued, from day to day, without any part of them being fulfilled; and as I knew,by my own experience, that there are no where worſe paymafters than in China, unleſsthey can be compelled by force, I was obliged to fall on other methods.May 1ft , I delivered to my Mandarins two memorials on the fubject of thofe debts,and the debts of the parfon of St. Nicholas, defiring they would prefent them to thecouncil, and communicate to me the anfwer which they fhould receive on them. Thefame day my Mandarins put into my hands eighty-two laen and twenty-fix fun of finefilver; faying, " That His Majefty had ordered this fum to be paid me for the value ofthe fheep, fith, fowls, and milk, for two months paft; and, for the time to come, everynine days, a clerk from the Imperial treaſury would bring me twelve laen, and thirtyfeven fun, in payment for the faid proviſions; and that the other allowances, which Iwas to receive in kind, fhould be likewife fent me by a clerk of the magazines fromwhence they were taken." So that all I fhould receive for my monthly allowance, inmoney and provifions, would amount, according to the current prices, to forty-eightlaen; but they allowed no forage for my horfes, which is a confiderable article at Pekin,1

• A fort of glazed cotton, kalendered and fmoothed, which they make in China, of all forts ofcolours,

whereof they fell great quantities through all the northern Afia.The commerce between Ruffia and China is at prefent a monopoly belonging to the treafury of Siberia, no other fubjects of Ruffia being to concern themfelves in it , on pain of death, unlefs employed onaccount of the crown, though it is often evaded, by connivance of the Weywodes on the frontier places.By virtue of the laft treaty, they can fend no more than one caravan a year from Siberia to Pekin, which- doth not confill of more than two hundred perfons, inflead of one thousand and more, which they amountedto heretofore, and which were fubfifted at the charge of the Chan of China, whilst they they were on theterritories of China; but now they are to fubfift upon their own charges.whereBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 449where forage is extremely dear. After which, during the reft of this day, the weatherwas very bad, a great deal of rain with mighty gufts of wind; the old houfe where Ilodged could no longer ftand the bad weather; all the wall of one fide of my chamberfell, about midnight, into the court-yard, which made me very apprehenfive for whatremained. I was obliged to retire into an adjoining chamber, to avoid, in ſome meafure, the danger to which I found myſelf expofed. As this chamber, though a forryplace, was very low, I found myſelf in lefs danger; befides it was not quite fo old andinfirm as the other.The next day, the 2d of this month, I advertiſed my Mandarins of what had happened, praying them to cauſe immediate reparation to be made, if not of the wholehoufe, of that apartment where I lodged at leaſt. Whereupon they ſent to affure meit fhould be done without lofs of time.But on the 4th, they changed their note, and let me know, that they could do nothing in it before the departure of the Emperor, ſeeing the college which had the care ofthe buildings were ſo much employed about the court, that they could give no attentionto other affairs for the prefent. Whereupon I offered to repair it by people I wouldhire on my own expences. But they wanted to impofe upon me in the price. Andthe Mandarins proteſted to me, that it was an affair that might be their utter ruin, if theEmperor fhould come to know that they had confented to my repairing with my money a houſe that belonged to him; but they affured me they ſhould ſet to work uponit veryfoon.The 8th, the Bogdoi- Chan departed for Jegcholl; and, having the honour to attendhim, on this occafion, to fifteen ly from Pekin, His Majeſty aſked me, " If I expectedthe caravan foon?" I answered thereupon, " That I had not received any advicesfrom the commiffary, but nevertheleſs I computed that the caravan might be at Pekinin two months from that time." Whereupon he asked me, " If I would not come andpaſs the time with the court at Jegcholl?" I received fuch a gracious invitation withall due fubmiffion, promifing to come to pay my devoirs to His Majeſty at Jegcholl asfoon as poffible * . But, on my returning to Pekin, the governor of the city let meknow, " That I could not follow the Emperor before His Majefty had fent the neceffary orders to him and the council, to give me poſt-horſes, and the eſcort of Mandarins, which I fhould have occafion for in this journey. " In the mean time, I madefeveral agreements with divers perfons, for different forts of japanned ware, which HisCzarish Majeſty wanted to have, which I could not get at the ufual price, becauſe thoſewho fupplied me with them were obliged to give a great part of what they gained onthem every day to the foldiers of my guard, for the liberty of entering my houſe.The 10th, my Mandarins being come to fee me, one of them took leave of me;being, as he told me, named by the court to go, in quality of envoy, to the Delay-.Lamat; and the other gave me pofitive affurances that, early the next morning, theworkmen fhould begin to repair my quarters, and that they had already provided thematerials neceffary for that purpoſe. In regard to my two memorials, concerning theThe late Emperor of China was extremely affable and gracious towards Europeans, more efpeciallyto thofe who excelled in any ſcience. He was taller than ufual for people of his country, and not to beknown, either by his complexion or feature, to be of Tartar extraction; it was only to be obferved, thathis cheek-bones, under his eyes, were a little rifing and prominent like the Mongalls.The Delay-Lama is the fovereign pontiff of the Kalmucks, Mongalls, and many other idolatrousnations north of the Indies. He is adored as a god by all theſe people, and by them believed to be immortal. He lives in a convent near the city of Potala, in the kingdom of Tangute, upon an high mountainſouth of the deſerts of Xame, towards the frontiers of China. Vide Hift. Genealog. des Tartares.VOL. VII.3 M debts450 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.debts above mentioned, he gave me for anfwer, " That the prefident would not receive them , not finding it proper to meddle with fuch trifling things, as he had beforehand told Mr. de Ifmayloff himfelf, that the council would abfolutely not embarraſsthemfelves with any affair of debts; that nevertheleſs he had ordered his mandarin toprefs the debtors to diſcharge their debts, in cafe they were in a condition of paying fuch fums."The 20th, my mandarin coming, ftopped at my gate, and, having learned that myapartment remained ftill in the fame condition, he fent one of his fervants to make hisexcufes to me, for not coming to fee me; alledging, that the great heat approaching atnoon would, he feared, incommode him. But I1 caufed him to be told, for my wholeanfwer, " That I did not underſtand fuch a compliment, and that I wiſhed with allmy heart, that, in time to come, he would difpenfe with coming to my houfe at all."Upon this anfwer, he thought fit to come himſelf to me, and to complain much of thenegligence of the college which had the care of the buildings, in not adverting to therepair of my houfe, notwithſtanding he had wrote to them feveral times on the fubject,in the most preffing terms. I demanded of him, " What he believed the Czar, mymafter, would think of fuch uſage as he fhewed me? and if he was not afraid that, intime, he might be made refponſible for fuch treatment?" But he, laughing told me," That there paffed may other things with them, and of more importance than this was,without daring to carry complaints to the Chan; and he did not doubt but that it wasthe fame at our court." Nevertheleſs, the brigadier of my guard, on being informedof the affair, went to the mandarins of that college, and threatened them with his goinghimfelf to acquaint the Emperor, that, by their negligence, they contributed to the diminution of his glory in foreign countries, ifthey did not, without further delay, cauſemy houfe to be repaired the very next day.The 25th, at length there came workmen to put my apartment into an habitableftate. The fame day one of our debtors, named Dzchin- Sanga, brought me 50 thunof kitaika; but I faw no appearnce ofgetting anything from the others, they being verypoor and indigent; and I perceived that the proceedings of our mandarin with them,tended more to get fome little prefents from them to himſelf, from time to time, thanferiously to prefs them to the difcharge of our debt.In the months of June, July, and a part of Auguft, there paffed nothing materialregarding me, either at the court or with the miniftry; all thofe ofany diftinction beinggoing to partake of country diverfions. Wherefore, I fhall fill this vacation by a faithful report of the obfervations which I could make, during my ftay at this court, as wellmyſelf as by fome of my friends, of the preſent ſtate of trade in the city of Pekin; butI muft, at the fame time, acknowledge to the reader, that there is much wanting to makethe obfervations fuch as they ought to be, and might have been, if I had not beenftraightened, and if they had let me enjoy the means of informing myſelf thoroughlyof things.The people of Korea, who are tributary to China, come twice a year to Pekin *,viz. in the months of March and Auguft, to the number of forty or fifty perfons, asKorea is a peninfula, eaftward of the grand wall of China; it is contiguous on the weft to the provinceof Leotang of China, and on the north to the eaſtern Mongalls. The Koreans are, from time immemorial, tributaries of China, who treat them very hardly, not permitting them any commerce with ſtrangers.Nevertheless, they do not fail to come clandeftinely with their goods, by the fea of Japan, to the riverAmoor, and thence by the Naunda to the city Naun, to traffic with the Mongalls, and indirectly with theRuffians.wellBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 45Ywell to pay their tribute to the Emperor as to carry on their trade; which confifts principally of the following merchandifes:Afort of large paper, made of raw filk, fomething like the large paper for wrapping up things in Europe. They make ufe of this paper in China for windows in placeof glafs.Paper, with gold or filver figures, for hanging their chambers.All forts of large fans, of different faſhions.Mats very neat and fine, which they uſe in fummer in place of matraffes.Cut tobacco, very fmall, for fmoking, much cfteemed in China, and preferred to thatof their own growth.Striped cotton ftuffs.A fort offurs, which the Ruffes call chorky, and which they call colouk in Siberia;it is in great abundance in Korea; they fell a great deal of it in Pekin.Afort of dry fifh, which they get from a certain large fhell- fifh in the fea of Japan.It is with thefe commodities that they trade; and although they may, in a manner,be confidered as the fame nation with the Chineſe, and in fome degree their fubjects,yet they do not enjoy the leaft liberty during their abode at Pekin; all communicationand converfation with foreigners being abfolutely forbidden them, and much reſtrictedwith the Chineſe themfelves; infomuch, that the Chineſe are not lefs fufpicious of themthan of any other nation whatfoever. As they cannot make by their trade any thing toa confiderable amount, they generally bring with them to Pekin large fums in filver, inSpaniſh pieces of eight, and in Dutch dollars, which are looked upon in China as inferior to the fine filver of China, which they call the Chan's filver, by 5, 6, or 7 percent. which fhews, that the inhabitants of Korea have fome trade with the iſlands ofJapan, or, at leaft, with the iſlands lying between Japan and Korea; although it is abfolutely forbid the inhabitants of that country to have the leaſt cemmunication or commerce with other nations, or to admit foreign fhips into their ports; having, for thatend, a mandarin always refiding in Korea, to have an eye on the proceedings of thatnation. With this money they buy at Pekin,The fineſt raw filk.Afort of damafk, called by the Ruffes goly, and by the Chineſe couty-toanza, thatis, damaſk of Korea; becaufe, at firft, the Koreans alone bought that fort of damaík.Afort of ſtuff mixed with filk, fit for linings, called by the Chineſe fanfa.Tea and china-ware.All forts of diſhes ofwhite copper, for houſehold uſe.Cotton.They likewife buy the tails of fables, to border their caps, and the collars of theirrobes.It is likely that they trade into other parts with the filk and damafk, which they carryfrom Pekin, feeing they take away much greater quantities than the confumption oftheir own country can require.When there is no Ruflian caravan, nor any of that nation at Pekin, they quarterthofe of Korea in the habitation appointed for the Ruffes; but when there are Ruffesin this city, they give the Koreans other quarters; for this reafon the Chineſe call thishoufe Couty Coanne, or magazine of the Koreans, when it is occupied by the Koreans; and Uruffa Coanne, or magazine of the Ruffes, when occupied by people ofthat nation.When the Koreans, whether deputies from that country or merchants, arrive atPekin, there are two mandarins forthwith named to go to their lodgings to obſerve who3 M 2goes452 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.goes in to them, or comes out from them; and to examine the cauſe of their coming,and how they became acquainted with the Koreans: they likewife place guards allaround their quarters, to prevent any perſon from having private acceſs to them. Whenany of this nation go abroad, upon any affair, the guard follows them every where,with large whips, to prevent any perfon from joining them in the ſtreet; and they darenot go to fee any perfon without permiffion of the guard. As the inhabitants of Koreaare not uſed to ride on horfeback, and are afraid to mount a horfe, for fear of accidents,they give them a guard of infantry, who have no other arms, when they are in garrifon, than their whips. Befides all theſe fteps, full of fufpicion, they fix, at their quarters, an edict of the court, fignifying, that all perfons whatſoever are forbid to entertheir houſe without the knowledge of the mandarin, deputed for that purpoſe, who,after examining them as to what they have to do there, takes notice of their names, andfends a foldier into the houſe with them to obferve what paffes. It is a very profitablecommiffion for thoſe mandarins who are deputed to guard the Koreans; for they alwaysfarm the privilege of trading with them to that company of Chineſe merchants whooffer the moſt money for it, which fometimes amounts to a confiderable fum; and it isby no means permitted to any other merchants, befides the members of this company,to trade, for that time, with the Koreans.The Chineſe have not, in a manner, any trade with the Indies * , excepting of fomefmall dealings they may have onthe frontiers of the neighbouring ſtates: but it was impoffible for meto get to the knowledge of what thofe trades confifted in; for, among athouſand people of the inhabitants ofPekin, it is rare to find one perſon who hath the leaſtknowledge of any thing that paffes without its gates. It is true that the Chineſe do carryon trade, fometimes at Bengal, to the Philippine iſlands, to Batavia, and even to Goa;but that is not brought about but by ſtealth, by the connivance of the mandarin governors of the fea-ports, obtained by means of a round fum of money, without theknowledge of the court; befides it is abfolutely forbid, to every ſubject of the empire,to go into foreign parts, upon what occafion foever, without a permiffion, or an order,.from the Emperor or the government t .The Bucharians come alfo to Pekin, but without obſerving any ſtated times . Theybring large round cornelians, of a very good colour, which they barter with the Chinefe

• China is feparated from the country of the Great Mogul by fandy deferts, impaffable for mer--

chants; and the other provinces of India by mountains, which are very difficult to paſs, and in a manner hinders all commerce between theſe two empires.† The greateſt part of the Chineſe, who are difperfed in feveral places of the Eaſt Indies, for the fakeof commerce, are the pofterity of thofe who left China when the Mongall Tartars made themſelves maſters .of that empire; and they have no other than clandeftine communication with their Chineſe countrymen.They are eafily known by their long hair, which is natural to them; inftead of which the Chineſe, fubjectsto the Tartars, are obliged, under pain of death, to cut their hair fhort like the Kalmucks and Mongalls, .who have all their heads fhaven, except a tuft of hair on the top of their head, which they preſerve of thenatural length of their hair.There are two Bucharias, the Great and the Little. The Great Bucharia is fituated between Perfia andthe country ofthe Grand Mogul, about the 40th degree of latitude. This is the country of the UfbeckTartars, who are Mahometans. The Little Bucharia is fituated to the eaſt of the Great, and extends tothe frontiers of China, on the fide of the defert Xame, and kingdom of Tibet, which is there confined tothe fouth; this laft is fubject to the Kontayfha, Grand Chan of the Kalmucks. The Bucharians are aparticular nation, which have no connection either with the Mahometan or Pagan Tartars, nor with anyother people ofthofe parts. They do not knowthemſelves whence they draw their origin. Nevertheleſs,they make profeffion of the Mahometan religion. They occupy the towns of the two Bucharias, andonly employ themſelves about their commerce. Thofe ofthe Great Bucharia carry on their trade in thedominions of the Great Mogul in Perfia, and in Siberia, and are tributary to the Chan of the Ufbecks.ThofeBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 453neſe againſt damaſks, kitaika, tea, tobacco, china ware, and filver. They ſtring theſeon fmall filken lines, in the manner of beads; and they are worn by mandarins ofthefirft orders, when they appear at court, or in the colleges, in their habits of ceremony,wearing one row of them about their necks, which hangs down on their bellies. Theybring alſo muſk, rough diamonds, and many other forts of precious ftones, but, as I wasinformed, of no great value, becauſe it is rare to find, among the Chineſe, any whowill riſk the laying out a confiderable fum for a fine ftone. The Chineſe poliſh theſeftones, after their own faſhion, in order to make them proper for ornamenting the headsof the fair fex.I had no opportunity of being acquainted with any of this nation, not being allowed.liberty fufficient for that end; and, on their part, they dared not run the risk of comingto my houfe, for fear of the guard at my gate; fo that I cannot give an exact accountconcerning them.They alfo bring to Pekin gold duft * , which the Chineſe buy commonly at the priceof five, fix, to feven laen of filver per laen of gold-duft, becauſe it is unrefined; theyaffure me that it is very fine when purified, and is then equal to the gold of the Chan.ThefeTartars dwell in the provinces of Chamill and Turfant, under the protectionofthe Emperor of China, in confideration of a moderate tribute, which they pay him:annually. In return, they buy at Pekin,Hides of Ruffia to make boots.Fox-ſkins, red and brown.Squirrel- fkins, white and gray..Beaver-ſkins.Sables, and other furs..Kitaika..Cotton, like the woollens of Europe, of which they uſe part themſelves, and fell part:to the Kalmucks 1 , their neighbours. They alfo take,.Tea,Tobacco,And:Thofe ofthe Little Bucharia trade into China, into the kingdoms of Tibet and Tangut, and with the Kalmucks and Mongalls their neighbours; thefe laft pay tribute to the Kontayfha. The Bucharians havemany cuſtoms and ceremonies, much like thofe of the Jews; nor is their dialect, phyfiognomy, and fize much unlike them; which may give occafion to many reflections.

• The gold which the Bucharians bring to China comes from the high mountains which ſeparate the

dominions ofthe Great Mogul from the Grand Tartary. Al thefe mountains abound in rich mines of allforts, but none ofthem are wrought; nevertheleſs, they make confiderable gains annually, by the greatquantities of gold- duft which the mighty torrents, formed by the rains in the fpring, along with the fnowsmelting, bring down with them into the neighbouring valleys for the inhabitants of thefe mountains, together with the Kalmucks, who encamp with their cattle in the adjacent plains , come afterwards to gatherthefe grains of gold, in the pits which the torrents have made in their paffa*ge, and barter them, with theBucharians, against all forts of ſmall things for which they may have occafion in their way of life.The provinces of Chamill and Turfan are fituated to the weft of the Defert of Xame, towards the40th degree of latitude. They make a part of the Little Bucharia, and have been fubject hitherto to theKontayfha, Grand Chan of the Kalmucks; but a few years fince the Chineſe, joined by the Mongalls,,have poffeffed themſelves of it, after having driven out the KalmucksThe Kalmucks occupy a great part of the Northern Afia; they are divided into three principalbranches, under one fovereign Chan, whom they call the Kontayfha; they have no fixed habitation, but ^always live in tents. Though the Kalmucks are indiſputably the braveft of the Tartars, they are, neverthelefs, defirous of living peaceably, contenting themſelves with the fubfiftence which their cattle can afford ithem, and do no harm to any, unless they are hurt by them; but when once irritated, they become irreconcileable enemies.. Their religion is that of the Delay-Lama.454 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.And of the finalleft China-ware; of all which in pretty large quantities.Befides the goods I have above fpecified , I know of no others which they bring toPekin.The moſt valuable furniture of lackered ware, viz. cabinets, chairs, tables, baſkets,and other things of that fort, as alfo the richest porcelain-ware, come from Japan .For, when the Emperor fends any perfon to Japan, in a public character, most of theprinces and great men of the court, feldom fail to engage him to bring them fome ofthofe things at his return. Sometimes they find means to bring theſe things into Chinaclandeftinely; but that is very feldom. This is the reafon that the commodities of Japan are not always to be had at Pekin, unleſs a man would pay an exorbitant price; nevertheleſs, they are found there fometimes reaſonable enough; becauſe ſeldom a yearpaffes that the Emperor doth not amerce fome or other of the great lords in very confiderable fines, which obliges them to raife all the money they can on their moveablesand immoveables; and whoever hath money lying by him, doth, on thefe occafions,lay it out to great advantage, and buy the moft curious and valuable things for littlemoney t.After the lackered ware of Japan, that of the province of Fokien is looked upon asthe beft; but none of it comes to Pekin, becauſe the great lords of China opprefs themerchants to a great degree, and take their goods from them, upon many frivolous pretences, without leaving them the leaft hopes of ever obtaining any payment. Forthisreafon, all merchants, and others of any lucrative trade, at Pekin, have fallen into thecuftom of putting themfelves under the protection of fome one or other of the princesof the blood, or other great lords, or minifters of the court; and by this means, withthe affiftance of a round fum of money, paid annually to their protectors, they are ableto get clear ofthe extortions of the mandarins, and fometimes of thofe ofthe commonfoldiers for without fuch a powferful protection , a merchant muſt be an undone manat Pekin, where every one thinks that they have an undoubted right to form pretenfionsupon a man that lives by trade. And if any of them are fo imprudent as to attemptobtaining fatisfaction, by the way ofjuftice, they fall from bad to worfe; for the mandarins of juftice, after having drained from them all they can, feldom fail of orderingthe goods taken from them unjustly, to be brought to the college; but he must be acunning fellow, indeed, who fhall be able ever to get them from thence.They have at Pekin a people dexterous enough at lackering, but their works fallfhort of thofe of Japan and Fokien, which may be attributed to the difference of climate; and it is for this reafon that the lackered work made at Pekin is always muchcheaper than the other. Nevertheless, the lackered work made at Pekin infinitely exceeds any work of that kind made in Europe.The hips which arrive every year at Canton from England, France, Holland,Denmark, and other parts, generally bring the following forts of merchandiſe.Silver of different coins.All forts of fine cloth.Camblets.

• All merchandife of Japan is contraband in China, which is the reafon they cannot be brought into

Ruffia, with the caravans from China, at leaft without very great risk. The fmall quantity of Japangoods, which are clandeftinely brought into China, being kept very private, and paid for at very dearrates by the Chineſe themfelves.It feems to be a favourite maxim, adopted in all the eaſtern courts, to wink at the vile practices, andrapacious impofitions, of the minifters; and when they have well plucked and drained the fubftance of thepeople, the prince then fqueezes them dry for his own ufe.WoollenBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 455Woollen ftuffs.Fine Holland linen.Standing clocks and watches.Looking-glaffes of all fizes.Mathematical inftruments.Etwys from England.Pencils.European paper of all forts.Different forts of millinery wares.Some forts of European liquors, efpecially wine.A good part of thofe merchandifes are diftributed in prefents among the mandarinsof the government of that city; of the reft, the European merchants generally makea very confiderable profit. They employ the filver thefe bring in purchafing diversforts of goods, by virtue of an agreement made before hand: they carry away withthem from thence;Rawfilk.Damaſks wrought according to draughts furniſhed to them.Wrought filks.Lackered ware.Tea, green and bohea.Badians, a feed having a tafte much like anifeed.Canes, and China-ware, made according to models given them.They alfo fometimes bring away gold, but very feldom, becauſe they generally get itcheaper in the Indies. They alfo find at Canton pretty valuable ſtones, except diamonds, but not in any great quantities.They make the beft filk brocades of China, that are brought to Europe, in the provinces of Quoantung and Fokien.The filver which they bring from Europe to Canton is received at the fame rate asthat brought from Korea to Pekin; and they have the advantage of buying their goodsat Canton from 30 to 40 per cent. cheaper than they could do at Pekin.The laft year, there arrived at Canton a French commiffary, belonging to the newIndia Company eſtabliſhed in Paris *, who obtained leave of the court to refide therefor time to come; but when he wanted to difpatch the fhip loaden with merchandife, he met with fo many obftacles at the cuſtom-houfe, and from the government,doubtless to draw more money from him, notwithſtanding he had already made fufficient prefents, that at length, defpairing to fee an end of thefe impofitions, he gaveorders to the captain to weigh anchor and depart, in fpite of thofe people; which wasdone as he defired. But he was obliged, to avoid being very ill treated on this occafion, to take the Chineſe habit, and to retire to a convent of Dominicans, at the diſtanceoftwo ly from Canton † , where he kept himſelf incognito, till fuch time as the FrenchJefuits at Pekin had found means, by the force of prefents, to obtain liberty for him toappear openly, with two or three domeftics, and remain there till the court ſhouldotherwife direct; on the condition that he and his fervants fhould wear the Chineſehabit. Nevertheleſs, I was afterwards informed, that the mandarins of the governmentof Canton let no opportunity eſcape them of chagreening him, infomuch, that he found

• The Miffifippi Company.

There are many Roman Catholic convents in China, which, in the time ofthe late Emperor of China,had much the fame immunities as the convents in Europe enjoyed. No perfon durft enter but with theconfent ofthe religious of the convent, unlefs by exprefs order of the Emperor of China.4 .himfelf456BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.himſelf obliged to re-imbark the first opportunity that offered itſelf. They alſo had thelaſt year at Canton a frigate from Oftend, bearing the Emperor of Germany's colours.For the reft, they carry to China from Europe, and bring back from China, a verygreat variety of toys, and different forts of curiofities, upon which they make a veryconfiderable profit; but theſe are fo numerous that it is not poffible to furniſh a complete fpecification of them.In regard to our commerce with China, it is at prefent in a very languiſhing condition; and nothing in the world would bring more prejudice to our caravans than the-commerce which is carried on at Urga*; for from this place there is brought monthly,and even weekly, to Pekin, not only the fame forts of goods which our caravans bring,but of a better quality than thofe brought by our caravans, and in fo great quantities,that the merchandizes which the merchants of Pekin, who go continually between Pekin and Urga, to trade with our people, and the goods which the lamas of the Mongalls bring from their parts, amount every year to four or five times as much valueas the caravans that come to Pekin in the name of His Czarish Majefty. And I havebeen informed, by thofe who have been employed by the great men of Pekin to buytheir provifion of furs at Urga, that there they can buy finer, and more valuable blackfox-fkins, than they have ever ſeen in our caravan. I must add befides, that thefe greatquantities of our merchandizes brought from Urga to Pekin, do confiderably lowerthe prices. The merchants of Pekin and the lamas of the Mongalls, who bring themto Pekin, are always capable of affording them four or five per cent. lower than thecommiffary of the caravan can, of which the reader will be eaſily convinced, if he givesattention to what I am about to lay before him.AnoThe Rufs merchants, and all other people that come and go continually between Selinginsky and Urga, buy their goods where they find it moft convenient; inftead ofwhich, the commiffary is obliged to receive thoſe he brings with the caravan, out of HisMajefty's treaſury, from fworn appraiſers of the treaſury, who often fet fo high price onthem, that they find it difficult to fell them at half the price valued at to them.ther advantage which thofe who go to trade to Urga enjoy, is that they make the journey thither in ten or twelve days; and beginning their traffick immediately on theirarrival, they are ready to return in two or three days after; in place of which, thecommiffary, after having been at confiderable expence, can with difficulty enough getto Pekin in three months; and when he gets there, they keep him fhut up fix or ſevenweeks, according to the maxims practifed by the Chineſe hitherto; in confequencewhereof, the abundance of merchandize of Ruffia arrived at Pekin obliges them ſtill toſpend ſeveral months in getting quit of theirs and as by the laſt treaty, they are obligedto maintain themſelves, and all thofe belonging to the caravan, at their own proper expence, all theſe circumſtances cannot fail of occafioning a very material difference inthe balance of their trade. For, before they began to trade at Urga, a caravan, howlarge foever, was all fold off in three months, at the prices fet by the commiffary himfelf. Moreover, all the Chineſe who traded at that time with us became rich; infteadThe camp ofthe Chan of the western Mongalls, who are tributaries of China, is called Urga. Thisprince encamps on the right of the river Selinga, about 500 verfts fouth of Selinginfky, towards the frontiers of China; and though he doth not always encamp in the fame place, yet he feldom quits this countrywithout indifpenfable neceffity. By virtue of the laft convention of the frontiers, the Ruffians of Selinginfky might freely come to Urga to barter Ruffia hides, and the coarfe woollen cloth of Siberia. againſtcattle; but as, under this pretext, they brought great quantities of valuable furs, which they fold againftthe merchandiſes of China, this clandeftine commerce much injured the trade of the caravans of Siberia.+ The priests of the western Mongalls, and the Kalmucks, are called lamas;-there are different orders.7ofBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 457.of which, all thoſe who have traded with us fince that time have traded to their own lofs,and maybe deemed at prefent quite ruined. The expences ofa journey to Urga are verytrifling; for they can buy at Selinginíky as much provifion for ten roubles as will ferveten perfons for a month; in place ofwhich, ten roubles will hardly ſerve them a week atPekin. Befides, thofe who go into China to trade are obliged to buy forage for theirhorfes, &c.; in place of which, thofe who go to Urga to trade, put their horfes to grafs,without cofting them a farthing. The Chineſe merchants, on their fide, who come toUrga, are likewife at much lefs expence than the commiffary; becauſe they buy atPekin, and the towns through which they paſs, tea, tobacco, rice, and other grains, ordinary damaſks, kitaika, and other like merchandiſe, at a very low price; which theybarter on the road with the Mongalls, againſt horfes, fheep, and, in a word, all forts ofcattle; infomuch that, as the private merchants make both their journey, out and homealſo, with infinite leſs expence than the commiſſary of a caravan, it cannot be otherwiſe,than that they can buy and fell their merchandiſe on much better terms than a commiflary can, who is obliged to remain, with a number of attendants, in a city whereliving is fo dear as at Pekin, a longer time than would ſerve a merchant at Selinginſkyfor making four or five journeys to Urga. In fine, when the caravan returns to Ruffia,they find, after fuch great expences, that the quantity of Chineſe goods brought toRuffia by private traders, is fo very large, that they must fell theirs at a very moderateprice. All theſe circumftances well confidered, it is eafy to comprehend that uponclofing the accounts of the caravan, the profits cannot, at this time, be much morethan the diſburſements. But to return to our journal.Auguft.The 14th, I received a letter from Commiffary Iftopnikoff, dated from the riverTola* , 29th of July; by which he defired me to prevail on the council for the affairsof the Mongalls † to fend him an affignment for 2000 laen of filver upon the cuſtomhoufe of Kalchanna; offering to return the fame (for which he had preffing occafion,forthe neceffities of the caravan, ) as foon as he ſhould commence his trade at Pekin;and he added, that the fame favour had been formerly granted to Commiffary Ofkolkoff.The 15th, I went to the council, and having ſpoken of this affair with the afkinnamma, or vice-prefident, he promiſed to confult the regiſters of the council upon it,and to write directly about it to the preſident at Jegcholl, and that he would communicate his anſwer to me.The 17th, having fent my interpreter to the council to know if they had come toany refolution on this affair, he brought back the following anfwer. " That they hadindeed found in the regiſters, that the council had formerly advanced money to thecommiffary; but that the trade was an object of fo little confequence with them, thatthey did not think it merited the council's being incommoded with propoſals of thatfort. "Tola is a river in the country of the Mongalls, which comes fromthe eaſt, and enters the river Orchonabout 250 verfts fouth-east of Selinginíky. By virtue of the new regulation, the caravans of Siberia, whogo to Pekin, ought to enter on the territories belonging to China upon their paffing this river.The council for the affairs of the Mongalls at Pekin is a college, who have the care of every thingregarding the nation of the Mongalls, as well thofe who are the hereditary fubjects of the Emperor of China, as allo thoſe who are only under the protection of this empire. This college, at the fame time, entersindirectly into the cognizance of all the affairs which regard the powers who border on China, from thenorth- east to the weft, whence it comes that they are the court who have moſt to do of any in China.Kalchanna is the firſt Chineſe city, within the great wall, that you come to, in the road from Selinginsky to Pekin. It is here the duties, inwards and outwards, are paid by the Ruffians, as alfo for great partofthe country ofthe Mongalls.VOL. VII.3 NThe458BELL'STRAVELSINASIA.The 18th, a mandarin came to me from the council, and notified to me, that HisMajefty, calling to remembrance my being at Pekin, had given orders to the council,that I should be eſcorted to Jegcholl by a mandarin, and fome of the military. -Whereupon I anfwered him , that I would be ready the next day, with my interpreter andtwo domeftics, if they would take care to provide the relays which I fhould want forthe journey.The 19th, all being ready for the journey, I left Pekin very early in the morning.The 21st, I arrived at Jegcholl, and repaired forthwith to the court; and havingfound the chamberlain of the Chan, who is generally an eunuch *; I prayed him, according to the cuſtom of the country, to inform himifelf, on my behalf, of the health ofthe Bogdoi- Chan, and to inform His Majefty of my being there; upon which HisMajefty did me the favour of fending me a falver covered with all forts of new fruits,which were followed by another charged with divers forts of meat from his kitchen;he ordered me to be told, at the fame time, that he fent me thofe for my refreſhment,and that I would do well to keep my chamber the reft of the day, to recover my fatigue from the journey. The fame evening, fome of the Father Jefuits being come tofee me, told me that the alegada had refolved to propofe to the Emperor to make thecaravan encamp in the defert, near Kalchanna, till the court fhould return to Pekin;fuppofing that fo many of the court, and the greateſt part of the people of diſtinction,being in the country, there would be nothing to do for the caravan at Pekin; and thatthey believed that he would not fail of requiring from me an order to the commiffary,for that purpofc. It was eafy to fee, that what determined the minifter to take this refolution, was nothing elfe but his apprehenfions that the prefents he expected to havefrom the commiffary, if he fhould be at Pekin at the time of his arrival, might, if hewas abfent, fall into other hands. But, as this was a defign that might be attendedwith very bad confequences, and might have been the caufe of the lofs of men, as wellas the horſes belonging to the caravan, by being expoſed to the extremity of cold andfamine in the deferts, I became obliged to uſe all my efforts to render this intention ofthe minifter abortive.The 22d, being to go in the morning to court, the Emperor fent the maſter of ceremonies to require of me paffports for fome mandarins which were to paſs the frontiersof Ruffia; but as I could well penetrate the grounds of their errand, I thought it myduty to refufe the paffports demanded. Nevertheleſs, notwithſtanding all my excufeswhich I could mufter up, to exempt me from giving them, the mafter ofthe ceremonies came to declare to me, in the cleareft terms, the next day, which wasThe 23d, " That the Emperor was, at one time, refolved to fend thofe people away,whether I would give them paffports or not; but that I ought to confider, that in fuchcafe, I might expect an abfolute denial to every thing which I might have to propofe."Which convinced me, that it was abfolutely neceffary for me, on this occafion, to conform to His Majefty's pleafure, if I would retain the leaſt hopes of fucceeding in mydefire of oppofing the defigns of the minifter. For this reafon,On the 24th, when the maſter of the ceremonies came again to ſpeak with me onthis affair, I put into his hands a letter, addreffed to the officers commandants on ourfrontiers, in the form he defired to have it; to which I joined the condition, that ourcaravan fhould not be hindered from coming to Pekin directly; and that our commifAll thoſe who ſerve in the chamber of the Emperor of China are eunuchs, and are either Chineſe orMongalls; the Chineſe nation being not lefs jealous of the fex than other eaftern people; but the Mongalls, and generally all the Tartare, are not very liable to this malady.faryBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 459Thefary fhould, on his arrival at Pekin, immediately be at liberty to begin his commerce,without being fhut up for a certain time, as had at fome times been practifed.mafter of the ceremonies promiſed to fpeak to His Majefty about it; who had not onlythe goodness to give his confent immediately, but he, at the fame time, gave ſtrictorders to the prefident of the council, that he ſhould take ſpecial care that no perfonwhatſoever fhould go about in any manner to interrupt the commiffary in his buſineſs.The 25th, a Portugueſe Father Jefuit, called Father Maurano, came to me, and toldme, " That there was a perfon of quality, who by him, made me an offer of 10,000laen of filver, till the arrival of the caravan, which I might employ in what manner Ithought proper; and that this Lord was very much fcandalized at the difobliging anfwer I had received from the council of the direction of the affairs of the Mongalls, inregard to the 2000 laen of filver which I had required of them for the neceffities ofthecaravan. "-Upon which, preffing him to let me knowwho this Lord might be, he toldme, " That he was indeed forbid to let me know who this perfon was; but that hewould nevertheless, in confidence, own to me that it was the ninth prince, fon of theChan, who made me this offer *."-Thereupon I did not omit teſtifying to him howI was touched with the generofity of a prince to whom I had never the honour ofing my devoirs: adding, " I fhould never forget the good will which His Highneſswas pleafed to fhow me on this occafion: and that I fhould all the days of my life retainthe fame fentiments as if I had received his generous offers. "-But the Father Jefuithaving remonftrated, " That the prince might poffibly think himſelf offended if Ifhould refuſe his offer altogether;" I was obliged to accept of 1000 laen of filver †.payThe 26th, I paid a vifit to the Father Jefuits of the French nation ‡ , where I foundthe preſident of the council, who let me know, bythe mouth of theſe fathers, " Thathe was come from receiving the Emperor's orders, which were fo favourable to ourcommerce, that there is no inftance of the like liberty having ever been granted before in China. "-I answered him, through the help of thofe fathers, " That I had noreafon to doubt of the punctual execution of His Majefty's orders, fince he had thegoodneſs to charge the governor- general of Pekin with them; whofe indefatigablezeal for maintaining a good understanding between the Bogdoi- Chan and the Czar mymafter, was fufficiently known to me. "-Whereupon he caufed me to be told, " Thathe was not a man capable of receiving preſents from foreigners, for doing them a fervice, as many others did in fuch cafes; and that a ſtep of that kind would entirely prevent him from ever having the liberty of ſpeaking to His Majefty again in favour ofanyThe late Emperor of China had feventeen princes born of his feveral wives and concubines. Therewere three prefent at the firft audience of Mr. de Ifmayloff, who were all very well proportioned, havingfine complexions, and black eyes, well formed, without the leaft appearance of the deformities of the Mongall nation.There is an appearance as if this was a fnare laid for Mr. de Lange, to render him fufpected by theEmperor of China, who, in the defign which he had then formed of leaving the fucceflion to his third fon,could not fail of taking umbrage at the leaft falfe ftep which the agent of Ruffia might happen to take on this occafion, which might induce this Monarch to conſent to his being fent away, which was probably the whole aim of this intrigue.The Jefuits had great afcendency on the late Emperor of China; and as the prefent Emperor hathbeen under their hands, it ought not to be doubted but he is likewife well affected to them, whatever maybe reported to the contrary. At the firft audience of Mr. de Ifmayloff, the Emperor being feated on thethe throne, had on his left, as the place of honour, at three paces diftance, a little advanced into the hall ,three of the princes his fons; and on his right, a little more advanced, the Jefuits belonging to thecourt; at five paces behind them, a little more advanced, were placed feven Mongall princes of the Imperialhoufe; and then, on the two fides of the hall, the minifters and grand mandarins of the court, all fittingcrofs-legged, according to the manner of the Tartars . By fo remarkable a diftinction it may, in fome degree, be comprehended how much theſe good fathers were in favour with the Emperor.3 N 2perfon460BELL'S TRAVELSIN ASIA.perfon whatſoever, fhould it come to His Majefty's ear; but that, nevertheleſs, he believed he might referve to himſelfthe privilege, when he ſhould come to our houfe tobuy any thing, of being treated more favourably than others in the price. "-Uponwhich I affured him, “ That we ſhould always know to treat him with proper diſtinction in fuch a cafe. "The fame day, I defired the mafter of the ceremonies to make my most humble acknowledgments to His Majefty, for the gracious reception which he had been pleaſedto honour me with, during my ftay at Jegcholl, and to pray his permiflion for my returning to Pekin; becauſe I apprehended the caravan would foon arrive there. Hecame, fome hours after, and informed me that His Majefty intended, the laft day of thismonth, to go upon a party of hunting in the defert, fome leagues from Jegcholl, andthat I might lay hold of that opportunity of taking leave of His Majefty, and of returning to Pekin. He added, that His Majefty had likewife ordered the governor of Pekinto go thither, and deliver to me the tapeftrics he had caufed to be made for the Czar.During the rest of my ſtay at Jegcholl, my table was furniſhed daily, the fame as thefirst day of my arrival, from His Majefty's kitchen. And they fhowed me all thebuildings and gardens of this charming place, which is certainly worthy to be the delight of fo grand a Monarch, and is infinitely fuperior, in beauty and magnificence, tothe palace at Pekin or Czchanzchumniene.The 31ft, I had the honour of attending His Majefty when he parted from Jegcholl;and, on this occafion , he had the goodneſs to afk me, " If I enjoyed my health?"After having anſwered with all the refpect due to fo gracious an inquiry, he faid to mefurther, " That he thought he obferved ſome alteration in my countenance, and that Iought to take care of my health. "-After which he gave me permiffion to return toPekin, after having, bythe mafter of the ceremonies, let me know, that if the caravanhad not been fo nigh, I fhould have had the honour of accompanying him to the partyof hunting *.The 3d of September, I was returned from my Jegcholl journey, being three dayson the road.The 7th, I fent myinterpreter to Kalchanna, to the commiffary, with 1500 laen offilver.The 10th, I acquainted my mandarin, that, as the caravan was at hand, it was moſtneceffary that the houſe fhould be repaired, that I might not continue under apprehenfions of the merchandiſe being damaged, for want of fufficient cover during therainy autumnal ſeaſon . But he continually refufed me the liberty of getting it repairedof myfelf, under the promiſe that he would take care to get it repaired before the arrival of the caravan. But feeing one day paſs after another, and nothing done, I went,on the 15th, to the prefident, to pray him to give orders for repairing the houſe, atthleaft, not to oppofe my doing it at my own expence -But his anfwer was, he would inftantly hire the workmen, and it ſhould be repaired in one day. And theſe promiſes weredaily repeated, as well by mymandarin as by the prefident, till, at length, the commiffaryarrived withthe caravan at Pekin on the 29th. As it rained very hard duringthewhole day,the commiffary found, at his arrival, that there was no place where he, or any ofhis people,

• Hunting is the favourite employment of the Tartar pagans. And one may gather the inclination of

the Tartars from the pleaſure and affiduity with which the late Emperor of China followed the chace;nevertheless, he mixed much of the politician with his favourite paffion; for going every year a-hunting,escorted by a body of the army, confifting of fifty or fixty thousand men, completely armed, and generallytravelling 100 leagues in this manner, this Monarch thereby inured his courtiers and his troops to the ufeofarms, and to fatigues, and prevented their falling into the foft and indolent manner of living peculiar to the Chineſe.couldBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. '461could be covered from the rain; and he was obliged to let all the baggage of the caravan remain in the court-yard, without being able to fecure one fingle parcel. As foonas the caravan was entered into my court-yard, they reinforced the guard at the gate,and poſted centinels all around the houfe, to fecure us, as they faid, againſt thieves;but, in reality, to prevent our commiffary's having any opportunities of trading with anyperfon whatſoever, till fuch time as they fhould receive the merchandiſes, which theymight pretend to have occafion for His Majefty and the court. Befides which, theyordered two mandarins, with a clerk, to remain in our houſe, to take good care thatno merchandiſe was fold on credit, and to note down exactly the names of all thatſhould come into, or go out of our houfe; what goods, and how much they bought,and at what price.In the beginning of October, I fent again to the council, on the fubject of the repairof our houfe. Upon which they let me know, the 6th, by a clerk, that the prefidenthad fent a courier to His Majefty, to be informed if His Majefty would be pleafed tohave our houſe repaired by the treaſury, or if it was our buſineſs to repair it; the Emperor, by virtue of the laſt convention between the two empires, not being obliged tofurniſh any thing to our people. Whereupon I patiently waited till the 12th." ThatThe workmen came at length to make the reparation ſo often promiſed; but it wasdone fo negligently, that when they made an end, there was little alteration for thebetter. The commiffary employed the reft of this month to unpack the goods, thathe might put every thing in order againſt the time he ſhould be permitted to begin totrade. Inthe meanwhile, we were vifited very affiduouſly by four mandarins, whopretended to be deputed from the court to receive the merchandiſes for His Majefty,demanding from the commiffary, an exact ſpecification of all the goods brought by thecaravan, that they might chooſe what was neceffary for the fervice ofthe court. Theywere anſwered, " That they need not expect that the commiffary would give them aſpecification of all he had in the caravan; but that, if they had any orders of the courtfor us, they ought to produce letters of credit, addreffed to me or the commiffary; orat leaft, to let us fee a ſpecification of the goods wanted, figned by the mafter of thewardrobe ofthe Emperor, whereupon they ſhould know if fuch goods were in the caravan or not. " But theſe gentlemen would not quit their demand fo, alledging,they muſt go according to the cuſtoms obſerved in times paſt, when the commiffary ofevery caravan had been obliged to give fuch a fpecification to thofe deputed by thecourt to receive the goods from him; that they did not intend to be ferved at this timeas they had been with former commiffaries, when the court got goods of but indifferentquality, after the beſt goods had been diſpoſed to private perfons; that, to this end,they should be careful to examine all that the commiffary had brought, and that theywould take what they wanted, for the court, out of the beft they could find, particularly fables, at three laen per pair, as ufual. " The commiffary, feeing theſe peoplepretend to infift on his giving them goods at fuch an under price, craved from me theprotection of the Czar, our common maſter, alledging that he had fables which cofthim twenty or thirty roubles the pair; and that it was eafy to comprehend what mar--ket he ſhould make with the reſt of his goods, if he fhould be obliged to fell the fablesat fuch a lofing price. Upon which I made the deputies underſtand, " That the merchandifes ofthe caravan did not belong to the commiffary nor to me, and in cafe theydid, it was not to be fuppofed that we fhould credit them at all, at leaſt without theirbringing a ſpecification in form, figned by the perfon who hath the fuperintendance ofthefe affairs at court. But that did not fignify, they had only to bring their money,and when the commiffary had fhown them the goods, he would fee if he could agreewith462BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.with them. " Thefe gentlemen feemed to take offence at this anſwer. Nevertheleſs,they engaged at last to bring fuch a ſpecification; but they deferred it from one day toanother. In the mean time, they made ufe of all their cunning to prevail on us todeliver them, at an under price, all the goods they thought fit to take.The ift of November, having fent my interpreter to the council, to defire them toadmit the commiffary to the liberty of trading, they let me know, in anſwer, " That itwas impoffible to do it before the deputies of the court had received the goods theyhad to receive for His Majefty."The 4th, I ſpoke of this affair, not only with my mandarin, but alſo with the Kientu,or mandarins appointed to our houfe, to the end that they fhould diſpoſe thoſe peopleto give us their specification , in order to end this affair. The fame day I went to meetHis Majefty, who was returning from the hunting, and met him on the 5th at eightyly from Pekin, at the hot-baths of Tangzchang. His Majefty told me, " That he hadreceived news from Europe, that His Czarish Majefty had made peace with Sweden,by the mediation of the Roman Emperor." After which he asked me, " How longthe caravan had been arrived?" Upon which I anfwered, " That they were, indeed,fince the 29th of September, at Pekin; but the commiffary had not yet got permiffionto trade." Upon which His Majefty, difmiffing me, went to the bath.I muft, on this occafion, acquaint the reader with the cuftom ofthis empire, in ſuchcircumſtances as this of the deputies above mentioned. All the mandarins that arecharged with any commiffion of the court, be it to fubjects or foreigners, are namedand diſpatched by the miniſtry. When fuch commiffion is finiſhed, theſe people areobliged to make prefents, not only to the miniſters, but alfo to the princes ofthe blood,to the end that they may not give them too much trouble, and that they may keepfomething to themfelves. They have no caufe to fear that the people, with whomthey have to do on thefe miffions, will find accefs to the minifters, or that ever a ferious inquiry will be made into their conduct; which is ſo true, that no perſon willreadily undertake to make complaints of their tricks, becauſe there is no reparation tobe expected. No perfon can carry his complaints directly to the Emperor, but theymuſt abfolutely be made by the minifters, or thoſe who hold the firft office of thepalace, or the chamber of His Majefty; and theſe gentlemen are fo cloſely linked tothe interefts of the other great lords of the empire, that whatever party the ſufferermay addrefs himſelf to , he will certainly remain the dupe of the affair.The fame day, the deputies endeavoured again to get fome goods from us, while thefpecification might be made out; but their defign did not take effect.The 9th, I fpoke again to the mandarins of the council concerning our caravan;but I could get no other anſwer, but that this affair regarded the deputies of the courtonly.The 14th, when I would have gone out myfelf to the council, the guard, at ourgate, ſtopped me, under pretext that the four mandarins, deputies from the court, hadordered, that no perfon fhould be fuffered to go out till the goods, which they oughtto have for the court, were firſt delivered. Though I paffed in fpite of the guard, Iwas nevertheleſs obliged to return without doing any thing, as the prefident was not inthe city.The 15th, I fent my interpreter to the council to receive the refolution of the prefident, upon what I had reprefented the day before; and as he found him not there,but was told he was at home, he went thither to ſpeak with him, and brought me theanfwer following: " That the prefident would take care that this affair fhould be endedout of hand; that, to this end, it was nevertheleſs neceffary, that the commiffary fhould3putBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 463put a reaſonable price upon his goods." He defired further my interpreter to tell me,that, at this feafon, he was rarely at home, becauſe he was obliged to be all day long atCzchanzchumniene attending His Majefty; that, when I ſhould have any affair to propoſe to him, I ſhould communicate the fame, by my interpreter, to the mandarins of thecouncil, who would not fail making him the neceflary report immediately.The 16th, the deputy mandarins having made up, according to their own fancy, afpecification of merchandifes to be received by them for the provifion of His Majeftyand the court, they came to prefent it to us, in order, by means of this impofition, toget a large parcel of goods from us.Butthe 17th, this fpecification being tranſlated into the Rufs language, we found thatthe quantity of merchandiſe which they demanded was much too large to be agreed to.For which reaſon , it was aſked of them, " From whom this fpecification was fent tous; and who made it out?" Upon which, after many turns and tergiverfations, employed to no purpoſe, they were at length forced to acknowledge, that it was of theirown forming; it being their opinion, that fuch a quantity would be wanting for the ufe ofthe court. But in making this avowal, they did not fail to make the commiffaryapprehend, " That he need not flatter himſelfwith a liberty of trading with any perſon,before they fhould receive all that was contained in the ſpecification .The 18th, the alegada being come to our houſe to buy fome goods, I befought himto remember the promiſes which His Majeſty had been ſo good to make to Mr. de Ifmayloff on the fubject of freedom of commerce, feeing that by the courſe which affairstook at prefent, it looked as if they were entirely forgot. But he gave me for an anfwerto all, " That it was an affair that did not in the leaſt regard him, and that I hadnone but the council to addrefs myſelf to*."The 22d, I fent my interpreter to the council with a memorial on the ſubject of thisaffair; but the mandarins he found there refuſed to receive it, under the pretext, thatthey muſt have before hand the orders of the prefident thereupon, and knowfrom himwhether they ſhould receive it or not.The fame day the four deputies, being come to fee us, gave us to underſtand, “ Thatthe ufual time ofkeeping the commiffary at home being nigh finiſhed, they were cometo commence a trade with him, and to know how much he demanded for each fort ofmerchandiſe, to the end that, after they had finiſhed their bargain with him, they mightthen declare our houſe free for every body to enter. " Whereupon I demanded ofthem. " Who could have authoriſed them to fhut up, in the manner ufual with flaves,for any time, the fubjects of fo potent a Monarch as was the Czar my maſter?" Buttheſe gentlemen, not finding it proper to anſwer fo ticklish a queſtion, contented themfelves with faying, " That it would be well for the commiffary to refolve to give themthe merchandiſe they required, and that at a reaſonable price, unleſs he would, out ofwantonnefs, involve himſelf in expences which would much exceed the profit hethought to make by his obftinacy; and that, in the fituation he was, being obliged tofeed his people at his own expence, he acted directly contrary to his own intereſts, notto cloſe affairs with them." Thereupon I defired to know, " If they had orders to

• In China all is done by the difpofition of different colleges, to whofe cognizance the affairs may belong; it not being permitted to addrefs the court directly upon any affair whatever. In the time ofthe

laft Chineſe Emperor, thefe colleges were fo abfolute, that, on many occafions, the Emperor himfelf darednot meddle with their decrees; but fince the Tartar princes have been in poffeffion ofthe throne of China,they are not much regarded; witnefs the exercife of all forts of foreign religions publicly authoriſed, and theallowance of a Ruffian agent at Pekin, agreed to by the fole good pleaſure of the Emperor, in oppofition to the remonftrances of his minifters, and to the conftitution of the government of China.prefs464 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.prefs us, in fo violent a manner, to deliver them the merchandifes." Upon whichthey anfwered, " No; and that they were come to deal with the commiffary, but that hemuft let them have the beft goods at fuch prices as the court always paid. " The commiffary, to make his laft effort, offered them merchandifes, of the fame quality as thofewhich the court had received at other times, without advancing the price; but that didnot cloſe the affair. They went away, faying, they would confult together, to ſee if itwas feaſible for them to augment the prices of the goods above that which the courthad always given.Soon after they came from the council to inquire for my interpreter, to communicate to him the anſwer of the prefident concerning my memorial. Upon which I fenthim directly with the faid memorial, no way doubting, but after what the prefidenthad himſelf told him , it would be received at once. But on his return, he acquaintedme, that the prefident had ordered a mandarin to let me knowthe anfwer, which I wrote,word for word, from the mouth of my interpreter. "I applied to the allegamba onthe fubject ofthe memorial of the agent, and he not only forbid us to receive the ſaidmemorial, but alſo charged me to tell the agent that which he had formerly told Mr.de Ifmayloff, viz. that commerce is looked upon by us with contempt, and as a verytrifling object; that the agent himſelf was not ignorant that we had long refufed to admit the prefent caravan, and moft certainly fhould never have confented to its admittanceinto China, if His Majefty had not fuffered himfelf to be perfuaded to it, at the reiterated inftances of Mr. de Ifmayloff." That the Allegamba had, at the fame time,added theſe words: " Thefe merchants come here to enrich themſelves, not our people, which is eafy to be feen, becauſe they pretend themſelves to fix the price oftheirown goods, that they may fell them the dearer. For thefe reafons, go tell the agent,that we ſhall not only refuſe to receive the ſaid memorial, but that, in future, he neednot give himſelf the trouble of propofing any thing to us that may be relative to commerce, becauſe we will not embarraſs ourſelves hereafter with the merchants of Ruffia."Whereupon our confinement continued much the fame as before; infomuch, that itwas only permitted to the domeftics of the firſt minifter, of the preſident, and a clerkof the wardrobe, to enter our houfe, which they did very frequently, and in all appearance to ſpy what paffed in our quarters, in hopes that we ſhould be obliged, at length,to fubmit our trade to their difcretion.The 25th, I underſtood that the brigadier, who, till that time, had the charge of theguard at our houfe, was reftored to the good graces ofthe Emperor; and that His Majefty had made him Grand Marſhall of the court, with the command in chief of thearmy which this monarch keeps in the country of the Mongalls * . Whereupon I repaired immediately to his houfe, to pay my compliments; and having found an opportunity, at the fame time, of acquainting him with what had paffed regarding the fourmandarins deputed from the court; he gave me his word that he would go to courtthat day, to inform himſelf circumftantially of that affair; and that afterwards, he

• The Mongalls are Tartar Pagans, who dwell to the north of China. They are divided into two

branches, of which the firft is that of the Eaftern, or ofthe Northern Mongalls, or the Nieuchu, who inhabittowards the coaft of the fea of Japan, between the river Amoor and the Grand Wall; thefe are the naturalfubjects of the Tartar houſe which at prefent fills the throne of China; and are the very people, who, in thelaft century, made themſelves mafters of China. They are brought up in extreme grofs idolatry; and havein a manner no religion. They, for the greatest part, dwell in towns and villages, and apply themſelves toagriculture. The fecond branch is that of the Weſtern Mongalls, otherwife called Calchies. Thefe laftare only under the protection of China, without being entirely fubjects, having their own proper Chan.They live in tents, and fubfift by their cattle, without cultivating their lands. Their religion is theworship ofthe Delay-Lama..9 wouldBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 465would order them to receive what might be abfolutely neceffary for His Majeſty andthe court without further delay. He, at the fame time, feemed to be extremely furpriſed at the conduct of his brother the allegamba on this occaſion .The 27th, the firſt miniſter being come to our houfe, told me, " That he underſtoodthe interdict on our houfe was not taken off, and defired me to acquaint him with thecaufe of it." Upon which I made anfwer, " That I had for a long time, endeavouredto find it out, but I could find no perſon who would feem to know it. Nevertheleſs itmuft, in time, be cleared up, ſeeing it was a notorious injuſtice to keep a caravan fhutup fo long, that came upon the faith of treaties folemnly ratified." He replied thereupon, "That the court, for a long time, refolved to admit no caravans, becauſe all themerchants, who had traded with the Ruffes, were reduced to the loweſt ebb, by thevery great quantity of Rufs goods which were at prefent in China; that it was on thevery ſtrong inftances which Mr. de Ifmayloff had made, as well to the court as to thecouncil, offering, for this purpoſe, that the commiffary and his people ſhould ſubſiſt, forthe future, at their own expence; that, in the end, they had admitted the preſent caravan; that the commiffary, ſo far from having any regard to theſe circumſtances, refuſed now to take the ufual prices, that had been offered him for the merchandiſewhich the court had occafion for, and infifted on a very high price for them; that hewifhed I would bring the commiffary to reafon in this affair, and let him know the refult. " Upon which I told him, " That I had nothing to do with putting a new priceon goods which the commiffary had in commiffion; that it did not depend on me, as itwas the commiffary who was to account for the goods with which he was entruſted,who would not permit any other beſides himſelf, who fold them, to ſet a price; that,as to what regarded the admiffion of the caravan, it was ftipulated long before Mr. deIfinayloff's arrival at Pekin, and there could not the leaſt alteration be made in it, without fhaking the foundations of the treaties concluded between the two empires; andfuppofing any alteration was to be made, it could not be done but by mutual confent,and after deputies appointed for this purpoſe by the two empires, fhould have examinedthis affair to the bottom, and made a new plan of convention." This anſwer ſeemedto nettle the minifter, who broke up the converfation, and ordered the commiffary tofhow him fome goods.December, the four mandarins deputed from the court, finding, at length, that werather choſe to have our confinement continue, than to fubmit to their unreaſonablepretenfions; and that, on the other hand, the Grand Marshall of the court intereſtedhimſelfſtrongly in our favour, and would abfolutely have an end of this affair, the interdict on our houfe was at laſt taken off.And the 2d ofthis month, the council made publication, that it was permitted to allperfons to come and trade with us; but they ufed one piece of chicanery, which hurtus much, and really kept off all the merchants; for when they perceived the merchantsbegan to refort to our houfe, they made known to them, " That no perfon fhouldcarry out the leaſt thing, of what they bought at our houfe, without fhowing it firſt tothe four mandarins-deputies, to the end that they might take what they found properfor the uſe of the court.". This notification took away from the merchants all defire oftrading with us, feeing they were affured of being great fufferers if they were obligedto paſs through the hands of theſe greedy mandarins; which made me acquainted,more than any thing elfe, with the mifery of the profeffion of a merchant in China,who are obliged to depend onthe difcretion of mandarins and foldiers, who have none.But the Poyamba or Grand Marfhali of the court, having been informed of it, had thegoodneſs to remedy this new grievance, ordering the mandarins not to take any thing VOL. VII. 30 for466BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.for the ufe of the court, from any other perfon than from the commiffary. For thispurpoſe he fent at the fame time, his ſteward with them, to the commiffary, to tell him ,"That he came with them,' by order of his mafter, to ſee how much, and what forts ofmerchandifes theſe gentlemen would take, to the end that they might make him an exact report." Whereupon they were ſhown the goods; but they acted fo much uponthe referve, in prefence ofthis man, that they took in all but a very middling parcel ofgoods. Neverthelefs, this did not prevent their repairing every day to our houfe, totake from the Chineſe merchants what goods they thought proper. And the more tocounteract our trade, the miniſtry had reprefented to the Emperor, that there had beenbrought, during many years, from year to year, into His Majefty's magazines of fur, amuch greater quantity of fables than were neceflary for the confumption of the court;and that, as this quantity augmented annually, it was better that His Majefty fhouldorder fome of them to be fold, than to let them lie and fpoil.The 12th, 13th, and 14th, many Chinefe merchants, and other perfons from thegreat houſes, and ordinary people of Pekin, having come to our houfe, ventured to buyfome fquirrel fkins, and other goods of fmall value, in order to difcover the true defignsof the mandarins who kept themſelves at our houfe; they did not oppoſe them untilthey had fixed their bargains; but when the bargains were concluded, they fignifiedto them that they were not to carry out any of the things they had bought, till theyfhould chooſe the beſt of what they had for the court.The 15th, as they were appriſed at the court and council that we had beguntotrade, they publiſhed that they would fell, at reaſonable prices, 20,000 fables, out ofthe fur magazines of the Emperor; whereupon all thofe who had begun to trade with.us went to fupply themſelves there; fome for fear of the chicanery of the mandarins,others in hopes of buying cheaper there than with us. In fhort, they fold, by what Icould afterwards learn, the beft fables at two one-half laen, middling at one onehalf laen to one, and the leaft at 90 fun; but thefe were not Siberia fables, but thoſeof the Tongufes*, under the dominions of China, taken about the border of the riverAmoort, of which they furniſh annually a quantity to the magazines of His Majeſty..The country whence thefe fables are brought is called Solloni.The 16th, I was informed that, notwithſtanding the court had confented to a freecommerce between the two nations, free of all duties, the mandarins belonging to ourhoufe had given the ftricteft orders to our guard, not to let any the leaft thing of anykind be brought into our houfe, without producing a billet from them; and fuch abillet coft them 30 zfchoffes, which makes about four fun. But thoſe who would havefree ingrefs and egrefs to our houfe to trade, were obliged, once for all, to make afixed agreement with them, either for a certain limited time, or for the whole time wemight stay at Pekin; upon which they received a billet, which entitled them to comeinto, and go out of our houſe, as often as they pleafed. All thoſe who refuſed to payin this manner for the freedom of entry into our houfe, were fent back, as people who,came to our houſe to borrow, or perhaps. fteak on occafion..

• The Tongufes are a Pagan people of the north of Afia, who are very probably thedefcendants of the

Tartars. They occupy a great proportion of the eastern parts of Siberia; and fome branches of this people extend themſelves even to the fouthern banks of the river Amoor. The laft party of the Tongufes isTubject to China; all the other Tongufes are fubjects of Ruffia. Vide Hiftoire Genealog, des Tartares.The river Amoor is one of the largeft rivers in Afia. It takes its rife in the country of the Mongalls,near the river Selinga, and running from thence eastward, it makes the frontier of thefe parts betweenEaftern Siberia and the Oriental Mongalls;. and after a courſe of more than 300 German leagues, it difcharges itſelf into the fea of Japan. in lat . 44 degrees north.TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 467The 17th, my mandarin being come to fee me, I told him, " That I was very gladto learn that the court had alſo begun to enter into trade, which they had before lookedupon as fo contemptible a thing with them, that they always reproached us with thelittle importance of it; that, fince His Majefty had given fuch authentic marks of theeſteem he had for commerce, I hoped that, in time to come, they would fpeak of itwith more circumfpection." Whereupon he replied , " That it was not with a viewof intereſt that the Emperor had ordered the fables to be fold that I ſpoke of, but thatthe fale was made purely becauſe, having fo great a quantity of them in his magazines,he thought it better to order them to be fold, than that they fhould lie there till rotten.I thereupon told him, " That if, at the court of His Czarish Majefty, and in his empire, they could make uſe of all the furs which the country furniſhed, they would probably fee very few of them in China. " After which, I demanded of him, " Ifit waswith the knowledge of the Emperor that the mandarins placed at our gate, fold to thepeople, who had buſineſs with us, permits of paffa*ge in and out, and abfolutely deniedentrance to our houſe to thoſe who would not pay for thoſe permits?" I would likewife be informed by him, " What was the meaning that the four mandarins, deputiesofthe court, were continually in our houfe?" His anfwer to which was, " That theEmperor knew nothing of it, nor did any perfon dare to tell him ofit; the Alegadahaving given them leave to fell fuch permits, as a ſmall cafual profit; that, as to themandarin deputies, they were ignorant of the confequence of what they did. " Whereupon I told him at the conclufion, " That I did not comprehend why the minifterswere ſo averfe to us in every thing, even to the refuſing to fee us, or receive our memorials; that I wiſhed, with all my heart, that they fhould not carry it ſo far, as tooblige me to carry my complaints to the perfon of the Bogdoi-Chan direct; and further, that I aſked nothing but what was conformable to treaties, and that, if the treatieswere to fubfift in their full force between the two empires, there was an abfolute neceffity to hear what I had to fay, and to give fuch refolutions as they ſhould think proper,upon the memorials which I fhould, from time to time, preſent them on the occafion. "The latter end of this month, His Majefty made a tour to Caifa, which is a palace,with a fine park, fome lys to the ſouth of Pekin, where he paſſed ſome weeks; whichwas the occafion that nothing remarkable paffed, during this time, between the minifters and me.The 15th of January 1722, the guard at our gate refuſed entrance to ſome carts ofhay which my people had bought, becauſe the peaſants had not billets of paffa*ge, andthey would not give any thing to the foldiers; and notwithſtanding I fent to advertiſethe mandarins, and officers who commanded the guard at our gate, of this infolence ofthe guard, they, notwithſtanding, drove away the peaſants with their hay. I complainedof it to my mandarin , but to little purpoſe.The 16th, after having received the news of the perpetual peace concluded betweenHis Czarish Majefty and the Ottoman Porte, I caufed Te Deum to be fung in thechurch of St. Nicolas, and celebrated the reſt of the day in feftivity.The 2d of February, and according to cuftom, I offered fome prefents to His Majeſty on the new year, which is a ceremony that must be obferved by every perfon veſted .with any public character, unleſs he would expofe himſelf to a general cenfure. HisMajefty received my little prefents very graciouſly, and prefented me, in return, withfome of all the forts of game he had taken at the hunting the laft autumn* , and of aThe Mongalls, and other Pagan Tartars, have a particular method for drying all forts of flesh, bytheair and the fun, which entirely prevents their perifhing; by which means they keep wild-fowl from one yearto another.302good468BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.good number of fheep; and it is in this manner that His Majefty is accuſtomed to regale annually, at the clofe of the year, thoſe people of his court that he would diftinguiſh.The 4th, which is the last day of the Chineſe year, the court ended the year with afeaſt, which was very fhort, becaufe His Majefty was but juſt recovered from a fit ofillneſs which he had laboured under. On this occafion, I had the honour of fittingover againſt His Majefty, at fome diftance from the throne; and this place is alittlebelow the feat of the princes of the blood, but above that of the mandarins of thefirſt claſs. The feaft being finished, and His Majefty retired, the mafter of ceremoniescame to tell me, that I might be difpenfed with coming the next day, being new year'sday, to court, to pay my compliments to His Majefty, feeing it was the cuſtom ofthe princes of the blood, and mandarins of the empire, to be all ranged in the court ofthe caftle that day, every one according to his rank, where, as I was a foreigner, Icould have no rank.The 14th, the first minifter gave me and the commiflary a dinner. On which occafion there paffed nothing remarkable, unlefs that he asked me, "If I was not to returnwith the caravan?" Which made me think they had already fettled this affair at court.I anſwered him thereupon, " That it did not depend on my pleaſure to leave the court,where the Czar, my mafter, had fent me to refide, till he fhould recal me. "The 18th and 19th, His Majefty caufed the celebration of the feaſt of Lanthorns,which had been annually celebrated , at the court of China, for above 2000 years.This feaft was folemnized at Czchanzchümnienne with great magnificence. Duringthe grand entertainment, which was that day at court, they reprefented all forts ofplays, and other diverting fhows; and at night, they exhibited grand fire-works;which, joined to fo many illuminations, and to the prodigious quantity of lanthorns,adorned with figures, and diverfified with all forts of colours, cauſed a ſurpriſing agreeable view, during the darkneſs of the night . They placed me, on this occafion, thefame as they did the laſt time at Pekin, at the diſtance of fome paces from the Emperor's throne.The 20th, being returned to Pekin, fome of the principal of the Korea merchantscame to fee me; but when they would have entered my apartment, fome of the foldiers who accompanied them oppofed it; and they narrowly eſcaped the laſh ofthe foldierswhips, who hadlifted them againſt thofe merchants. Upon which I prefently orderedthem to be kept, by our people, in the court before my houfe, to wait there till themerchants fhould go out of my houfe. And I, at the fame time, gave them to underftand, that they, for the future, would do wifely not to make ufe of their whips at myhoufe. After which, the merchants indeed entered into my apartment, but dared not makeany ſtay there, for fear ofbeing infulted by the foldiers that eſcorted them t. The civilitywith which I received them, and to which they had not been uſed with the Chineſe,

• The Chineſe are accuſtomed to be at a very great expence at this feftival, in fire-works and in lanthorns,

having lanthorns that will coft them 10,000 laen, and upwards. The fire of their rockets is alſo remarkably beautiful. The variety and liveliness of their colours furpaſs the European performances fo much, thatwe are obliged to own they excel us in theſe performances.+ The Chineſe being accuſtomed to treat the inhabitants of Korea with great roughneſs, and having prohibited them all correfpondence with foreign nations, it is not to be expected that they fhould relax theirhard treatment of them for the fake of a minifter of the court of Ruffia; which is, as it were, the onlypower who could fupport the inhabitants of Korea, if they ſhould ever be defirous of throwing off the Chinefe yoke; feeing that, by the river Amoor, the Ruffians could fall down into the ports of Korea, withouta poffibility of the Chineſe hindering them. And it is not impoffible but this conduct of Mr. de Langemight have been one caufe of the court of China's ſudden refolution of ordering him to leave the country.6 madeBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 469made them have a defire of being more acquainted with me. For they came again onthe 22d, before my houfe, but the guard at the gate refufed them entrance.During the month of March, we continued our trade, as much as the mandarins andfoldiers of our guard would permit. There paffed nothing elſe remarkable, unleſs thatthe commiffary having fent a clerk of the caravan towards the deferts to fee in whatcondition the horfes were, which were left there in their way to Pekin; he reportedtó us, that they were all in very bad plight; and that, if we did not out of hand fendmoney, that they might be put into ftables, there was danger of the greateſt part ofthem dying.The 6th of April, I fent my interpreter, at the defire of the commiffary, to the mandarins which were placed at our houfe on account of the caravan , and let them know,that the commiffary being obliged to fend one of his people with money towards thedefert, in order that the people who had the charge of the horſes of the caravan fhouldbe enabled to put them into ftables, he would, for the greater fecurity, have occafionfor fome foldiers, or fome others, to eſcort this man; and I prayed their care of thisaffair. Whereupon they returned me anfwer, that they would make their report tothe council; for without their orders, they could do nothing in it .The 7th, two mandarins, accompanied by a clerk, came to bring me an anſwer fromthe prefident on this affair; and it being wrote on a fheet of paper, they read the fameto me in the following terms:-"The Allegamba having been informed yeſterday thatyou wanted to fend a meffenger again towards the deferts, could not but imagine that itwas for fome other buſineſs than that of horſes, that your people made fuch frequentjourneys between the deferts and Pekin; this gives him reafon to think that, by thehelp of the Mongalls, you carry on a fecret intelligence between this city and Selinginfky, which may give birth to complaints and threats between the two empires; for heis not ignorant that the Mongalls are a people capable of engaging in fuch affairs, andthat the Ruffes do not grudge money on fuch occafions. " I aſked them thereupon,"Whether this anfwer was from the Allegamba, or whether it was their own compofition?" Upon which they affured me, that they wrote it, word for word, the famethat the Allegamba gave them; and that it was for the fame reafon he would not con--fent tothe fending the perfon, as defired.After this explanation, I thought neceffary, for my greater fecurity, to defire themto acquaint the Allegamba on my behalf, " That the precaution he took was not rightto take, unleſs with prifoners, or unlefs he had any intercepted letter to produce, bywhich he would convict me of having fought to embroil the two empires; that bearing,as I did, a public character, I might write as often as I pleafed, without having any occafion either for the efcort or the confent of the prefident; and the fame, if I had acourier to diſpatch for my private affairs, as he could not prevent it without an openviolence. " Ifent forthwith my interpreter to the council, with the mandarins, to knowthe determination of this minifter. But he fent me word, that he had no defire to employ the horſes and the people of the army of the Emperor his mafter in our ſervice,on journies which muſt cauſe them to be at expences for which they were not furniſhedby their ordinary pay. Upon which I made him the propofal of being ourſelves at theexpence of the people for the efcort which he ſhould grant us, and that we wouldalfo mount them on our own horfes, that they might have no occafion for the Emperor's; or if that was ftill more fatisfactory, I would only demand a paffport, andwould run the risk of fending one of our own people without an efcort. But hecontinued firm in his denial, and would not allow of one or other of the expedients,contenting himſelf with letting me know, once for all, " That he would do nothing init.'470BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.it. " I learnt, at the fame time, from my interpreter, that they had reafoned amongthemſelves, on this occafion, in much the following manner: " Thefe foreigners comehere with their commerce, to encumber us every moment with a thouſand petty affairs,pretending that they ought to be favoured, on all occafions, no more nor lefs than ifthey laid an obligation on us; and yet we are ſtill to receive the firft aufwer from themno the fubject of our affairs."The 16th, I underſtood that, fome weeks ago, the Tufh-du- Chan ofthe Mongalls ,who encamped at Urga, had brought complaints to the court of the ill conduct of theRufs merchants who came to Urga; and that he had, at the fame time, advertiſed theminiſtry, that there never had been ſo great a concourſe of Rufs and Chineſe merchantsat his refidence, as in this year; that, thereupon, His Majefty had taken a refolution to,fend a mandarin, with orders to the Chan to chaſe out all the merchants, as well Ruffesas Chineſe, from Urga, without letting it appear that it was done by order of HisMajefty, but that it ſhould appear as the proper act of the Tufh-du- Chan, as maſter ofhis own country.The fame day, a courier, who was lately arrived from Selinginſky, with diſpatchesfrom the mandarin who refided there, told my interpreter, that the intendant of Selinginſky had tendered ſeveral packets of letters that came from Ruffia to this mandarin,in order to be forwarded to the council of the affairs of the Mongalls at Pekin; buthe refuſed to receive them, becauſe the intendant could not acquaint him with theircontents.The 4th ofMay, two mandarins of the council, accompanied with three clerks andtwo officers out of our guard, being come to my apartment at eleven o'clock at night,informed me, that the Allegamba, being returned from court, wanted to ſpeak with meon an affair of confequence; and, becauſe he was employed during the day-time, frommorning till night, he prayed me to give myſelfthe trouble of coming to him, thoughit was late at night. I was a-bed when the meffa*ge came to me; however, I made nodifficulty of rifing, to comply with this minifter's defire; the more, as the mandarinaffured me that the buſineſs he wanted to ſpeak with me about was a very preffing affair. When I came to his houſe, I was received with remarkable civility; and theAllegamba being come in perfon to meet me, even to the court, he led me to his apartment, and defired me to fit down by him. He then began to make excufes, that, info long a time, he had not been able to ſee me at his own houfe, or in other places;but that he fuppofed I was not ignorant that he was obliged to be every day, frommorning till night, with His Majefty at Czhan-zchumnienne. Upon which I replied,that his excufe was unanfwerable, and that I commiferated his being obliged to pafs histime in fo fatiguing a manner. After many other reiprocal compliments of this nature,he demanded of me, " If it was long fince I had any news from Selinginfky?" I anfwered, " That it was fome time fince I had any.' In the end, the affair which he wasabout diſcovered itſelf, by little and little, when he asked me, " If I remembered thatwhen I would lately diſpatch a meffenger, by Kalchanna, towards the defert, he told me"9

• This is the name of the prefent Chan of the weſtern Mongalls. This Chan was heretofore fovereign;

but, fince the eastern Mongalls have poffeffed themſelves of China, he put himſelf under the protection ofthat empire, in order to be the better able to make head againſt the Kalmucks, with whom they are in amanner at continual war. He is a very powerful prince. His dominions, on the weſtern ſide, reach to thebanks ofthe great river Yenifey, and even from thence, on the other fide of this river, towards the fourcesof the Oby; and, on the other fide, towards the eaft, they reach to the great wall. The Chan of theweftern Mongalls hath a great many petty Chans of this nation for his vaffals, and can bring one hundredthousand men, or more, into the field, all cavalry; but his foldiers fall far fhort of the Kalmucks foldiery.4 thatBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASTA. 471that he could not confent to it, becauſe he apprehended that, by fuch means, fecretcorreſpondence might be carried on, which might bring on fome mifunderſtanding between the two empires." I told him thereupon, " That I did remember that, and thereft of the unexpected anſwer he then gave me; but, not having ever been able to gueſswhence fuch fufpicion could arife, he would infinitely oblige me, if he would pleaſe tofpeak a little more intelligibly on this affair. " Whereupon he replied," We apprehend you have intelligence of our deferters, which you do not think fit to communicateto us ." Thereupon I remonſtrated, " That, if he would pleaſe to confider the vaſtdiſtance between St. Petersburg and Pekin, he would himfelf judge whether it waspoffible for the courier difpatched on this affair to be returned already, unleſs he couldfly; that, as to the reft, he himſelf knew that affairs of fuch confequence were not thebufinefs of a day, and required other things to adjuſt them than fecret correfpondence. "He fhook his head at this anfwer, becaufe there was then a report current at Pekin,that orders were arrived at Selinginfky, from the Czar, not to restore the deferters before ſpoken of. Some moments afterwards he afked me, " If I would communicateto him the news when I fhould receive my letters?" Upon which I affured him, " ThatI fhould conceal nothing from him, whether it regarded him in particular, or regardedthe court; feeing fuch affairs could not be communicated to me but by exprefs ordersof the Czar my mafter; which, whatever defire I might have, I dared not keep fe--cret." This miniſter, not thinking he had yet fufficient reaſon to be fatisfied, demanded anew of me, " If when I fhould receive private letters, I would let him have acopy?". I anſwered thereupon, " That it was certainly the firſt time, fince the worldbegan, fuch a propofal was made; but that I could not believe that he ſpoke in earneſton this occafion, although it was a little too late for raillery.' This anfwer being notaltogether fuch as he hoped for; he changed, for fome time, the diſcourſe, by ſaying,," That he had an intention of telling His Majefty, that the caravan was almoſt readyto depart, and of receiving, at the fame time, his orders with regard to my perfon."Whereupon I defired him , " To put His Majefty in mind of the affair, on the fubjectof which I had fo often made inftances to him. " At length he began to talk to me ofmystay at Pekin, faying, " That the term which was agreed with Mr. de Ifmayloff, formyftay at this court, wanted little of being expired." And he made me fully to com-.prehend that I ought to prepare to return with the caravan. Upon which we difputedtogether long enough; and I told him on this occafion , " That, if he would pleaſe toremember that I affifted on all the conferences that were held on this fubject; that Ihad read, and had in my cuftody, all the correfpondence of Mr, de Ifmayloff, with thecouncil, about his negotiations; and that I was at all the audiences which His Majeftyhad granted to that miniſter, he could not doubt but that what was tranfacted byMr. de Ifmayloff, from his arrival till his departure, was as well known to me as tohimfelf. " Í further alledged to him, on this fubject, the refolution of the month ofFebruary 1721 , which he himſelf ſent to Mr. de Ifmayloff; wherein it was faid, “ That

• The Tongufes, as well as the Mongalls, and other people of Tartar extraction, who inhabit on the

confines of Ruffia and China, are accuſtomed to defert very often, by hundreds of families, from the lands ofone empire to thoſe of the other, according as their caprice or intereft prompts them, which is often thefubject of altercations between the two empires. In order to remedy theſe inconveniencies, it was agreed,.in the laft treaty, that, for the future, fuch deferters ſhould not be received by either power, but ſhould ho- .neftly be returned to the place from whence they came. From this article, the Chineſe pretend a right toreproach the Ruffes with not acting candidly in deferring fo long the reftitution of feven hundred families oftheir fubjects, which went over to the Ruffian territories fince the conclufion of this treaty; and the Kuffes,on their fide, alfo reclaim a good number of families, and infift on its being equitable to come to a liquidationof their reciprocal pretenfions..His's1472 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.His Majefty had given his confent to the refidence of an agent at his court, without anymention regarding the time, directly or indirectly." But this lord, notwithſtanding hehad nothing to anfwer to what I advanced, held himſelf ſtrictly to his firft decifion, thatmyſtay had been agreed to only till the return of the prefent caravan. And this altercation did not ceafe till I gave him, for a final anfwer, " That the Czar, my maſter,not having ordered me to enter this empire in ſpite of the court, or to continue torefide in it contrary to the good pleafure of the Bogdoi- Chan, I was obliged to conformmyſelf, on this occafion , to all that His Majefty fhould think fit to determine in regardto me. " After which he fhewed me a fmall letter, with an addrefs in the Rufs language,faying it came from Naniti Turfoff, interpreter at Selinginſky, and that the Kutuchtu *had fent it to Pekin, that it might be delivered to me. He added, " That he knew verywell , that, fince the departure of Mr. de Ifmayloff, I had received a good number ofletters, the contents of which I had communicated to nobody; but, as to this letter, Imuſt determine to open it in his prefence, and let him take a copy of it, if I wifhed tohave it; for, if he could not prevail ſo far upon me, I fhould not read it neither, as hewould take care to return it whence it came." He gave orders for this purpofe totwo tranflators, who were then preſent, to fet themfelves by me, and to read the letterat the fame time I did. As I had not yet opened the letter, I aſked him, " What occafioned a curiofity fo unallowable? and if he did not know that this procedure was directly contrary to the rights of nations?" His anfwer was, " That he was well enoughapprifed, that what he did on this occafion was a little irregular; but this letter happening to fall into his hands, he expected that I would not make much difficulty ofcommunicating the contents to him; and that I might determine on the alternative hehad propofed." Thereupon I delivered him the letter, fealed as it was, and defiredhim to reflect ſeriouſly on the confequence fuch an unwarrantable curiofity might produce; and, in the mean time, I fhould fee to what lengths he would carry his authorityover my letters. After which, I left him, and retired to my quarters.The 5th, two mandarins came to me, on his part, to fee, " If I would not reſolve tocomply with his will in regard tothe faid letter?" I charged them to tell him, on mypart, " That I aways found myſelf ready to do him all imaginable ſervice which hecould in honour expect; but what he defired on this occafion was ſo unreaſonable,that I could not but confider it as an affront which he had an intention wantonlyto give me, and that he might depend on being obliged, at a proper time, to give mefatisfaction."The 6th, the two tranflators above mentioned were commanded to Czchan-zchumnienne, by order of this minifter, which made me think they had proceeded as far as toopen my letter; but I was foon convinced of the contrary; for,The 7th, a mandarin, accompanied by a clerk , came to bring me the faid letter,which had not the leaſt mark of having been opened. He, at the fame time, made mea compliment from the Allegamba, faying, " That he defired I would conceive no illopinion of him, upon what had paffed between us on the fubject of this letter; inafmuchas he affured me there was nothing ferious on his fide in this adventure; and that heonly took the liberty of having a little pleaſantry with me; not altogether without flattering himſelf, that I might not be averſe to comply with his defire on this occafion. But

• The Kutuchtu is an high-prieft belonging to the Mongalls and the northern Kalmucks. He was

formerly no more than a fub-delegate of the Delay Lama, in theſe parts; but he hath, by degrees, foundmeans to withdraw from the obedience of his maſter, and to deify himſelf at the expence of the Delay Lama.now,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 473now, being convinced that I was firmly refolved against this fort of complaifance, to anyperfon whatfoever, he would no longer delay fending methe letter in queftion; and atthe fame time, to affure me of his friendship. " After having received the letter, I lethim know in anſwer, " That I had myfelf, in the beginning, looked on this affair as ajeft; but finding he pushed it too far, I had been obliged to regard it in another light;feeing I had never looked on the talking in fuch a manner to be jefting. Nevertheless,that, after the pofitive affurances that the allegamba gave me, there was nothing feriouson his part of this affair, I ought to confider it in the fame light; defiring him, in timeto come, to make ufe of other perfons, not of me, for his diverfion."After which, having opened the letter, I found indeed that it was from the faid Turfoff, dated Urga, 20th of April, 1722. And as the mandarin and clerk, who broughtthe letter, were ſtill in my chamber, when I began to read it, I made my interpretertranſlate it to them by word of mouth, in the Mongall language, to the end that theymight communicate the contents to the allegamba, and know of him if he would grantme a conference on the fubject of this affair, or would rather receive from me a memorial thereupon.The 8th, the ſame mandarin came to my houfe, and upon my defiring to knowif hehad acquitted himſelf ofthe commiffion I gave him the day before, to the allegamba, heanfwered in the affirmative, and that he was ordered to bring me his anfwer, whichwas, "That the Bogdoi- Chan would hear nothing for the future talked of any commerce ofthe Ruffes, in his empire, until all the difturbances on the frontiers were entirely adjuſted; and as, for this reafon, there might continue a long fpace of time before any caravan might come again to Pekin, the Bogdoi- Chan found it proper thatthe agent ſhould return with the prefent caravan; and when the commerce betweenthe two empires fhould come to be renewed, he fhould likewife be permitted to returnto Pekin." Whereupon I made anfwer to the allegamba, " That the orders I receivedfrom the Czar were, as he himself well knew, to remain at Pekin till he ſhould recalme; but as I was in no condition to oppofe the orders of the Bogdoi- Chan, I wasobliged to have patience, and refolved to do what I had no power to avoid doing; nevertheless, that this was no anſwer to what I defired to know from him, and that Iwaited for it with impatience, as I did for a clear explanation upon this precipitate manner of breaking off all commerce and correfpondence between the two empires, without waiting for a refolution upon the affairs of the frontiers, and without any declaration of war, or other previous mark of hoftility on either fide. " But the mandarin declined to charge himſelf with fuch a meffa*ge, he not thinking it proper for him to repeat fuch terms as it was couched in to the allegamba, faying I muft either feek anopportunity to tell him myfelf, or demand a conference for that purpoſe, by my interpreter.Thefame day, in the afternoon, I fent my interpreter to the council, to acquaint theallegamba, by means of the mandarins he might find there, that I had, the fame day,received the orders of the Bogdoi- Chan for my return to Ruffia; but I had receivedno anſwer on his part, upon the affair which was the fubject I wanted to confer withhim upon; for which reafon, if he could not fpare time to fpeak with me himſelf, hewould at leaſt let me know whether he would receive a memorial on that fubject fromme or not.The 9th, another mandarin came to me, and acquainted me, that the allegamba hadbeen informed of the fubject, concerning which I had fent my interpreter to the council the day before; and as he had not a moment to fpare to confer perfonally with me,VOL. VII. 3 P he474 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.he had fent the fame mandarin to me, to whom I might explain myfelf on what I hadto fay to him, as the allegamba had given orders to make him a faithful report of everything which I fhould charge him with. Upon which I told him, that I wished hewould inform the allegamba that I prayed him to give me, under his hand, a preciſeanfwer to the points following, viz." I. If the Bogdoi- Chan was difpofed, before my departure, to receive and to anfwer the credentials which I was charged with from His Czarish Majefty?" II. If any fuitable fatisfaction was to be expected for the injuries done to HisCzarish Majefty's fubjects by the Tuſh- du- Chan, or at leaft by his orders?" III. What was the reaſon that they would not grant a free paffa*ge to the lettersaddreffed to the council and to me, which remained on the frontiers?" IV. In cafe the Bogdoi- Chan fhould perfift in the refolution of fending me home,what I fhould fay to the Czar, my mafter, regarding the perpetual peace between thetwo empires?" V. Suppofing that, contrary to expectation, my departure might be deferred, Idefired to know, if, in conformity to the treaties of peace, the Bogdoi- Chan wouldgrant me poft- horfes for my journey, or whether I muft find them myfelf?"" That The 10th, there cameto me a mandarin, from the allegamba, to inform me,there was no likelihood that the Bogdoi- Chan would alter his refolution with regard tomy departure; that no perfon had the boldneſs to ſpeak again to His Majefty, after hehad once explained himſelffo pofitively on this affair. But that the allegamba, in histurn, wifhed to be informed why I demanded fo precifely to knowthe motives of mybeing fent away; and why I infifted fo ftrenuoufly to have a clear explanation of theBogdoi- Chan towards the Czar; that he did not know whether I durft make ſuch demands, in cafe the Bogdoi- Chan fhould be pleaſed to ſpeak perfonally to me, withoutmy being afraid that he would make complaints of it to the Czar my mafter." Uponwhich I returned him as follows, viz. " That it was abfolutely neceffary for me to befully informed of what I defired to know; that, without this being cleared up, I couldnot well refolve to depart, feeing it appeared evidently, that fince the departure of Mr.de Ifmayloff, the court had intirely changed its difpofition regarding the preſervation ofthe good underſtanding between the two empires; that the allegamba himſelf could notbe ignorant howmany of His Czarish Majefty's fubjects had, immediately after the conclufion of the laft treaty of peace, deferted, and come to fettle on the lands in the dominions of the Bogdoi- Chan, without the Czar's having fhown any refentment to thistime, notwithſtanding the fame was directly contrary to the ſenſe of the treaty; thatthe Czar on this occafion, far from forbidding the ſubjects of China entrance into hisdominions, had always permitted them, without interruption, to enjoy, in his dominions, an entire liberty, as well in regard to trade as all other affairs which could concern them, not even excepting fome of thofe very deferters, who having affairs totranfact at fome places in the Czar's dominions, had been no leſs welcome than theothers, fubjects of the Bogdoi- Chan; but now, that 700 of the fubjects of China hadpaffed the frontiers, and would eſtabliſh themſelves on the lands belonging to Ruffia,that would forthwith forbid all commerce, not receive any more letters, and in fine, atone ftroke, break off all communication between the two empires; and that withouteven waiting the anfwer of the governor general of Siberia to the letter wrote to himon the fubject; which was the only certain means of knowing whether His CzarishMajefty intended to retain theſe people, or to make them return. That, to conclude,I prayed the Allegamba to confider, if it was not much more eafy to accommodate this affairBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 475affair by treating it with more mildnefs, than to push it with an haughtinefs not to beborne with*."Whereupon the mandarin told me, he could not pofitively undertake for his daringto fay all this to the Allegamba; but that if a proper occafion offered, he would notfail of doing it faithfully. He told me further, on the part of that minifter, that themandarins, who had been fent laſt year by command of the Bogdoi- Chan, to paſs thefrontiers of Ruffia, were returned, they not being permitted to proceed on their journey, before the governor-general of Siberia was made acquainted with it; that theAllegamba might expect to wait long enough for an anfwer, as well upon this affair asupon all other affairs which regarded the intereft of the two empires, fo long as theydid not allow of a free paffa*ge to the letters written concerning them to the court. Ireceived no anſwer then.In the mean time, I had made a demand fome time ago of the council, for a freepaffa*ge for the caravan by the old road of Kerlinde, (which the former caravans hadbeen uſed to take), to fave them the inconveniencies attending the route by the deferts,where the people and the cattle had much to endure for want of water; and for thispurpoſe, I fent my interpreter, with a clerk of the caravan, on the 14th, to the council,to know ifthe Bogdoi- Chan had given his confent or not. But they told him for anfwer, " That they expected to have been freed from their importuning the councilabout their beggarly commerce, after they had been told fo often, that the councilwould not embarraſs themſelves any more about affairs that were only beneficial to theRuffes, and that of courſe they had only to return by the way they came."The fame day, I fent to the houſe of the firſt minifter, to know if I could have thehonour of feeing him. But he excufed himſelf, faying, that being far advanced inyears, he wanted to be at eaſe.Nevertheless, I did not refrain going myfelf next day, which was the 15th, to hishoufe; and the guard at the gate fuffered me to pafs without interruption . I entereddirectly into the court-yard, and acquainted him with my being there, by one of hisfervants, defiring he would afford me a quarter of an hour's audience: but he fent me -word, " That he was not at leifure to fee me, and that, as the affairs about which Iwould fpeak to him very probably only regarded the council of foreign affairs , he defired I would addrefs myfelf to them." I thereupon let him know, by the fame domeftic, " That I was come to ſpeak to him, as the first minifter of the Bogdoi- Chan;and if I not had a very preffing occafion of applying to him, he might be fure I wouldhave been very averfe to have come to give him trouble; but that as it concerned usequally, both him and myfelf, that I fhould have the honour offeeing him, therefore Iwas determined not to leave his houfe without ſpeaking to him." Upon this fo precifea declaration, the fame domeftic returned, a few moments after, and fhowed me into agrand faloon, well enough furnished after the Chineſe manner, where the mafter ofthehouſehold of this minifter came to prefent me tea and milk, till his mafter fhould come.After I had waited about a quarter of an hour in this apartment, the allegada at lengthcame, and defired my excufe, with a number of compliments after the Chineſe manner,that he was not always able to fee me when I might require it, becauſe his great ageIt is certain, that the judgment of the late Emperor, either from jealoufy, or the artifices of fomefecret enemies, was fo altered, with regard to the Ruflia trade, a little before his death, that there was noother way of adjufting it butthe having recourfe to arms; which was fully refolved on, on the part of Ruffia , whenthe news of the death of this Monarch arrived there, which fufpended the execution of this defign,till they fhould fee clearly into the defigns of his fucceffor. But the death of Peter the Great, entirely broke thefe meafures; fo that the affairs between Ruffia and China are ſtil , at this time, on the fame termathey were on the departure of Mr. de Lange from Pekin; and fince the laft caravan that left Pekin withhim, no caravan hath been fent from Siberia to Pekin.3P 2 and476BELL'S TRAVELSIN ASIA.and multiplicity of affairs with which he was charged, did not permit him. Whereupon,webeing both feated, I told him, " That if the affairs which I had to reprefent to him, regarded only my own perfon, I fhould not have ventured to incommode him; but as theyregarded our common mafters, and the prefervation of a good underſtanding between thetwo empires; or, to fay all in two words, peace or war between the two nations, I thoughtit mydutyto feek before my departure, by every waypoffible, an opportunity ofexplainingmyfelfthereupon withhim; that he knew that the free paffa*ge ofthe caravans of Siberia wasmade, in fome degree, an effential point in all the treaties between the two empires; thathe knew, moreover, that Mr. de Ifmayloffhad declared, more than once, that His CzarishMajefty could never allow that they fhould any more cavil on that article; that he furtherknew, that the free trade ofthe fubjects of Ruffia, at Urga, was pofitively ftipulated by thelate treaty, in which they could not make the leaft alteration , without a manifeft violationof the faid treaty, that he knew, in fine, that it was with the agreement of the BogdoiChan, and by virtue of a refolution of the council, in writing, that I remained at Pekin,after the departure of Mr. de Ifmayloff, in quality of agent, impowered by the Courtof Ruffia, till fuch time as His Czarifh Majefty fhould be pleafed to recal me. Notwithſtanding which, not regarding fuch folemn engagements, they had, in regard tothis laft caravan, treated us fo ill, that, ifthey had been at open war with Ruflia, theycould not have done worſe; that they had kept fhut up, during many months, thecommiffary of the caravan, with all his people, juft as if they had been flaves; thatthere was no kind of infult to which they did not expofe thofe who had a defire tocome and trade with our people. And yet more, they had cauſed the Rufs ſubjects tobe fhamefully driven out of Urga, who had come to trade there on the faith of publictreaties. And as to what regards myſelf, they had made me fuffer more affronts, onall occafions that offered, than can be imagined; in the end, not yet fatisfied with allthofe fteps, the prefident ofthe council had made it be declared to me pofitively, thatthere fhould not abfolutely, for the future, any caravan be admitted before the affair ofthe frontiers fhould be regulated to the fatisfaction of the Bogdoi- Chan; and at thefame time, cauſed it to be fignified to me, that I must prepare to depart with the caravan, becauſe His Majefty would not fuffer me to remain any longer at his court, in theuncertainty that affairs flood in between the two empires. That, if this order regardedme only as a private perfon, there would be nothing in it which did not depend entirelyon the pleafure of the Bogdoi- Chan; but having been once admitted by him to refideat his court, in quality of agent of His Czarifh Majefty, it was a maxim , practiſed byall civilized nations in the world, not to fend away, in a manner fo indecent, a perfonvefted with a public character, unleſs entirely to break off all good underſtanding withhis mafter. That, if they defired very ardently, as they afferted on all occafions, thereftitution of the deferters in queftion, and an amicable convention in regard to thefrontiers, he would permit me to tell him, that it appeared to me they took quite thewrong way to obtain them; and that the fending me away, fo far from facilitating thofeaffairs, was moſt certainly the greateſt obftacle they could think of. That I thought itmyduty to remonftrate in the foregoing matters at this time that they might be remedied; becaufe, after my departure, I did not well fee how it would be poffible toget out of this embarraffinent by amicable means." The minifter thereupon anfweredme, " That being already fo long a time fince the Ruffes had given them the expectation of regulating the affairs of the frontiers, conform to the treaties concluded betweenthe two empires, without their taking the leaft thought of bringing things to a clofe,His Majefty had come to a refolution not to admit any caravan before he ſhould befully fatisfied, on the part of Ruffia, of their adherence to treaties; and as thereby myrefidence at his court became quite unneceffary, His Majefty faw nothing that fhouldobligeBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 477oblige him to keep me longer in his empire. That in regard to what paffed at Urga,the Tufh-du-Chan had good reafons for removing our people from his refidence, whohad committed great infolences, noways conform to treaties. That as to what regardedthe ill uſage which I pretended the caravan had fuffered, he did not well know of whatI fpoke; but as to their being kept fhut up a longer time than ordinary, it was ourownfault, who would have made innovations in the trade of the caravans. In fine, inone word, that His Majefty was tired of receiving the law, in his own country, fromforeigners, of whom his fubjects reaped no profit; and that if the court of Ruffia delayed longer doing him juftice, he fhould be obliged to do it himſelf, by fuch ways ashe fhould find moft convenient." Upon which I replied, " That I was much furpriſedto find the Bogdoi- Chan in a difpofition fo little favourable towards His Czarish Majefty, after he had the goodneſs to teftify himſelf, on more than one occafion , to Mr.de Ifmayloff, that he defired nothing more than always to live in a good underſtandingwith the Czar, my mafter; and that I could not conceive what caufed his change offentiments fo fuddenly, with regard to His Czarifh Majefty. That if the court ofChina had reftitutions to demand from us, we had the like to expect from them; andthat, in any ſhape, there was no reaſon that could in juftice oblige us to reſtore theirdeferters, fo long as they retained ours. That ifthe indulgence of the Czar, my maſter,in the affair of Albazin* , had raiſed raſh hopes in any perſons, who are ill informed ofthe forces of Ruffia, and of the Monarch who reigns over them, I was perfuaded, thata Monarch fo enlightened, as was the Bogdoi- Chan, would not fuffer himſelf to beblinded by fuch delufive appearances; and that he knew full well how to diſtinguiſhan indulgence, arifing from magnanimity and efteem for a prince, his friend and ally,from a forced compliance, grounded on weakneſs and indolence. That as I had, inmy inftructions, orders to apply my utmoſt endeavours for the prefervation of the goodunderſtanding between the two empires, I thought I might tell him, that I was exceedingly furpriſed at the proceedings of the Chineſe miniftry on this occaſion; that hecould not be ignorant that it depended only on His Czarish Majeſty to finiſh the warwith Sweden, in the moft honourable manner; and that perhaps this peace was actuallymade at the time I was fpeaking to him; after which, I faw nothing that could preventthe Czar, my mafter, from turning his arms to this fide, in cafe they exerciſed his patience too much. That I gave him my word, that all the great difficulties which perhaps might be imagined in China to attend fuch an enterprife, would vanifh immediately, if ever His Czarish Majefty fhould refolve on tranfporting himſelfto the frontiers;for he was a prince that did not fuffer himſelf to be hindered by difficulties; and thatthey might then have fufficient cauſe to repent their having defpifed the friendſhip of aMonarch who was not accuftomed to receive offences with: impunity, and who was inferior to no Monarch in the world, neither in grandeur nor power.' This was not atall to the allegada's taite; therefore, after fome filence, he demanded of me, " If Iwas authoriſed to talk to him in the manner I did? and if I was not apprehenfive ofbeing difavowed by the court of Ruffia, in cafe they fhould make complaint upon themenaces I uſed to them?" I thereupon replied to him, " That, in the ftate to whichI faw affairs were brought, I thought it neceffary not to difguife any thing to him, tothe end that the Bogdoi- Chan , faithfully informed by him, of all he had to confider forand againſt this affair, might thereby determine with himſelf thereupon, in a manner

• Albazin was a little town of about 500 or 600 houfes, which the Ruffes had built in a very fertile

country, upon the fouth fide ofthe River Amoor, near the mouth of the river Albazin . But at the endof the year 1715, the Eaftern Mongalls, fupported by the Chineſe, befieged it, and having carried it aftera fiege oftwo years, rafed it to the ground.fuitable478BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.fuitableto his great wifdom and juftice. That nevertheless, it was wrong to take what I hadfaid on this occafion for menaces, ſeeing they were only mere reflections, which I was defirous he fhould make on the unhappy confequences which the difdainful conduct theyfhowed, in regard to us, mightin time produce; and that I was fo little apprehenfive ofbeing difavowed by the Court of Ruffia, that I was ready to give him in writing every wordI had faid to him, and that it would be the greateſt ſervice he could render me to ſpeakout of hand concerning it to the Bogdoi- Chan, the more as I was well affured, that ifthey would give the leaft attention to the irregular manner in which they had acted inthis affair, with a friendly and allied power, they would not fail of comprehending thatmy intentions were fincere, and only had for its aim the prefervation of the harmonybetween the two empires." The anfwer of the minifter to this was, " That it beingHis Majefty's cuftom never to make any refolution , without firft well weighing all circumftances, he never changed his meafures for any reafon whatfoever; and after whathe had declared pofitively, in regard to the caravan and my perfon, he had no inclination to propofe to him a change of fentiment in this regard. That we had nothing todo but to make a beginning in complying with our engagements, after which theywould fee what they had to do as to the reft." Upon which I concluded, by tellinghim, " That the cafe being fo, I faw plainly, that it was in vain, on our fide, to ufemore endeavours for preferving the good underſtanding between the two empires, aslong as they would contribute nothing towards it on their fide; that, therefore, the game muft go on, feeing the dice was thrown already. That, however, I had at leaſtthe fatisfaction of having done my duty in advertifing him, as firft minifter of the Bogdoi- Chan, of the unhappy confequences which would- enfue from all this; and thatwas the fole reafon which made me think it abfolutely neceflary for me to give him thetrouble ofthis vifit." After which I rofe up and took leave of him. On parting, bere-conducted me to the entrance of the faloon , where he ftaid till I was mounted onhorfeback.The fame day I was likewife to take leave ofthe poyamba, or great marfhal of thecourt; and after having returned him thanks, which were truly due to him, for all thegoodnefs which he had fhewed to me ever fince I had the honour of being known tohim, I profited myfelf of the prefent opportunity to reprefent fuccinctly to him thefame things which I had reprefented to the allegada. He thereupon affured me, " Thathe was forry to fee that the fuccefs of my negotiations did not anfwer my wishes. Thatit was true that the Bogdoi- Chan was very much piqued that he faw there was no endmade to the affair of the deferters; and that he had certain advice that our court hadno defire to fatisfy him on this article, and that we only fought to protract time: thatit was on thefe confiderations that he had been prevailed on by the miniftry to ordermy return. That for his part, he was aftoniſhed to fee that our court could heſitate amoment to facrifice fome hundreds of families, who were in the utmost poverty, to thefolid advantages which we might promifè ourſelves from the friendship which the BogdoiChan had conceived for the perfon of the Czar my mafter; and he made no manner ofdoubt, but that, if the Czar had been well informed ofthe justice ofthe pretenfions ofthecourt of China, and the little importance of that affair, he would inftantly have givenorders for reftoring the families reclaimed. " I would have had him confider the diſtanceof the places, and that it was in a manner impoffible that an anfwer could have arrivedfrom St. Peterburg on this affair, fince the departure of Mr. de Ifmayloff. But heftopped my mouth by telling me, " That he could not fay precifely what the diftancewas, but he knew very well that, on other occafions, our couriers had made the journey in much lefs time. That he adviſed me to do my best in this affair when I fhould9 arriveBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA, 479arrive on the frontiers, and that he could affure me, that when the Bogdoi-Chan wasmade eafy on this point, he would explain himſelf very reaſonably on all the reſt ofwhat we ſhould wish to have done; that however, as to myſelf, I had caufe to be wellfatisfied with the fentiments the court entertained of me, and that His Majefty had himfelf declared, that, in cafe affairs fhould come to be accommodated, he would not beforry to fee me return to Pekin."The 16th, I went to pay my court to the Bogdoi- Chan, upon his departure fromPekin to pafs the fummer at Jegcholl, but had not the honour of fpeaking to him atthis time; His Majefty letting me know by the maſter of the ceremonies, " That herecommended the fame thing to me which he had charged Mr. de Ifmayloff with, totell His Czariſh Majefty *. That for the reft, he wifhed me a good journey; and expected that I would not fail to write from the frontiers, in cafe I fhould there be informed of any news from Europe."Alittle before I received the meffa*ge from His Majefty, I had an interview with the allegamba, who, afteran infinite deal of carefling and flattery, begged of meto labour, as muchas poffible, to forward the returning their deferters; at the fame time adding, " Thatthe Bogdoi- Chan had great reliance on me in regard to this affair; in expectation that,according to all appearances, I would not be backward to return foon to China, eitheron the fubject in queftion, or on the fubject of commerce." I affured him thereupon," That His Czarish Majefty, having fubjects in abundance, had at no time the leafttemptation to keep the vaffals of neighbouring powers unjustly. " And I promifed, atthe fame time, to write to him, if, at my arrival on the frontiers, I fhould learn thatany refolution was taken on this affair. Afterwards I demanded of him, " For whatreaſon they refuſed conveyance of the letters which were on the frontiers? At thefame time, I led him to imagine fome appearance that thofe letters bore fomething relating to their affair. " Whereupon he anfwered me, " That if it was poffible to be--lieve it to be fo, he would not make the leaft difficulty of inftantly ordering the lettersto be brought hither; but that, if they contained orders for the rendering back theirdeferters, they would not have failed to communicate the fame to the mandarin, whokept himſelf at Selinginſky purely on that affair. "At length, not feeing any appearance of being able to prolong my ftay as Pekin tillthe recal of His Czarifh Majefty, I preffed the commiffary to neglect nothing thatmight facilitate his departure as foon as poffible; and thereupon he difpatched beforehand,On the 25th, a part of his baggage for Krafnagora, which is a place, a day's journey without the great wall, appointed for the rendezvous of all the caravans. On thisoccafion they did not give a guard of Chinefe foldiers to the caravan as had been formerly practifed; but they had ordered all the towns where they ſhould ſtop to givethem guards; befides which, there was a boníka or courier, of the council of the affairs of the Mongalls, ordered to attend the baggage, who was not to leave them without a new order..

• When Mr. de Ifmayloff had his audience of leave of the late Emperor of China, this Monarch de

clared exprefsly that he would permit Mr. de Lange to remain at Pekin in quality of agent of the courtof Rufia, expecting that Mr. de Ifmayloff would on his return, prevail with His Czarith Majefty to fendback the deferted families in queftion; but in cafe that ſhould not be effected inftantly, he would not onlyfend away the faid agent, but would receive no more caravans , till he fhould be entirely fatisfied on this article. But Mr. de limayloff, on his arrival at Moſcow, found the court fo bufily employed about the expedition to Perfia, that he found no opportunity of getting a final refolution on this affair.June480BELL'S TRAVELSIN ASIA.June 6th, a mandarin, namad Tulufhin, let me know that, having received ordersfrom the Bogdoi- Chan to accompany me to Selinginfky, and to furnish provifions andpoſt-horſes on the road, he would be glad to be informed when I thought I fhould beready to depart, that he might take his meaſures accordingly, and difpatch, in goodtime, the couriers neceffary for the deferts, to make the requifite difpofitions for mypaffa*ge.The 8th, the commiffary went to the council, to demand a guard for the caravan;but they granted none; acquainting him, at the fame time, that the Mandarin Tulufhin was alfo charged with the care of the caravan; and that as he would be obligedfrequently to leave the route of the caravan, for providing victuals and horfes which Ifhould have occafion for on my journey, he was to have with him a clerk and twocouriers under his command, who were not to leave the caravan before they fhould fafelyarrive at Selinginfky.The fame day, thirty- fix carriages were diſpatched, laden with merchandiſe, for theplace of rendezvous, without any other eſcort than fome of our own people, and acourier of the council.The 16th, the allegamba invited me to come to him at the palace of the BogdoiChan; and, when I arrived, he preſented me with two pieces of damaſk on the part ofthe Chan; telling me, " That His Majefty having received prefents from me ontheentrance of the new year, he was pleaſed, in his turn, to make me a prefent of theſe two.pieces of damafk." I received this prefent with all due refpect; affuring this minifterthat I fhould eternally cherish the remembrance of all the gracious favours which theBogdoi- Chan had deigned to honour me with during my refidence in his empire; andthat, in whatever place I ſhould be in time to come, I would never fail of making it afubject of particular glory to me.July 4th, the allegamba fent a mandarin to me, to fhew me a letter, which he hadvery lately received from the mandarin who refided at Selinginſky, in which he madeheavy complaints of the chicaneries that he was forced to bear with, during his refidence in that place, as well as from the officers of His Czariſh Majefty, as the other inhabitants of that city; adding, " That every body demanded of him perpetually thereaſon why he tarried there ſo long, and if he did not intend foon to return home?That thereupon having demanded of them, if they had come to any refolution on theaffair which was the caufe of his being there, they had anfwered him, that they had noother orders but to conduct him back, with all civility, when he fhould think proper toreturn." He related, befides, in this letter, " That the allowance they gave him, forthe ſubſiſtence of himſelf and retinue, was fo very ſcanty, that, if he had not had of hisown money wherewithal to fupply himſelf, he fhould have been reduced to great extremities. They had, befides, preffed him very hard on the ſubject of the letters, forthe council and for me, that were arrived on the frontiers; and they would, by force,know ofhim the reafon why he refuſed to receive the letters, and to forward them toPekin; but that he had always anfwered them, that his fole errand to Selinginíky beingon the affair of the deferters, he could not charge himſelf either with letters or any otheraffair whatſoever." After the mandarin had explained to methe contents of this letter,he told me that the allegamba demanded to know of me, " Whether it was poffiblethat all this could be done by order of His Czarish Majefty?" I let him know, in anfwer, " That, if he had formed ideas of the perfon of the Czar mymafter, by thoſepaffa*ges, he would do well entirely to efface them; for that, as His Czarish Majeftywas more magnanimous than to treat, in the manner there laid down, even priſoners2 ofBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 481of war in his dominions, he would certainly not begin fo bad a practice with the fubjects of an empire in amity with him, who came into his country. " I added, that, notwithſtanding I had reafon to complain of things of more confequence than this mandarin, I was nevertheleſs fo far from approving the want of complaifance uſed towardshim, that, if the Allegamba thought fit to give me a copy of that letter, I was ready totake charge of it, and to make it my bufinefs that the Czar my mafter ſhould be acquainted with it. But, with regard to the orders which this mandarin hinted he wascharged with, not to receive any letters, though even for the council itſelf, before hefhould receive the deferters in queftion, I could not help obferving that fuch a procedurebeſpoke much coolnefs on their fide.

The 8th, the Allegamba fent to me, in the evening, a mandarin, who told me, aftermaking me a compliment from him, that he would be the next day at the counciland that, if I had time to come there likewife, he would explain the reaſons which determined the court to refolve on my return; and that he would give me the fame inwriting. Upon which I told him, I ſhould come there with great pleaſure, that I mightbe informed of them.The 9th, having notice that the Allegamba was already arrived at the council, Ì forthwith mounted on horſeback to go there alfo. He came in perfon to receive me at thedoor, and deſired me to place myſelf at a little table with him. After which he gaveme to underſtand, " That it were to be wifhed that my refidence at that court mightcontinue longer, as the Bogdoi- Chan himſelf, and all the miniſtry in general, were fowell fatisfied with the conduct I had obferved during my refidence, that they hadnothing to ſay againſt my perfon; that they had remarked, with much fatisfaction , that,bythe good order I had kept, the prefent caravan had begun and finiſhed its commerce,without producing the leaft difpute between the merchants ofthe two nations *. It hadalfo formerly been too uſual to ſee the fervants and people of the caravan do numberleſsinfolencies in the streets, and commit all forts of exceffes, but that, for this time, theycould not without furpriſe obferve that nothing of this fort had appeared; but thatevery thing paffed with all defirable decency t.After I had paid this compliment by another, I told him, " That it was with intention of maintaining the like good order that His Czariſh Majefty fent me to China; andthat it would be owing to themſelves, if things, forthe future, fhould not be carried onin the fame order, and if any other petty incidents did not come to an accommodationwith the like eafe. " After which, I prayed him to let me knowthe true ſource of thediſorders which happened at Urga, between th fubjects of the Czar, my maſter, andthe Mongalls; and " wherefore they obliged the Ruffia merchants to leave that placebefore they had finiſhed their trade. " He anſwered me thereupon, " That it was done

• The Chineſe ufually bought, from the caravan, goods on credit, for which, at the time when due,

they could not pay.; which occafioned very frequent difputes between the two nations . To remedy this,the court of Pekin had been accuſtomed to put into the hands of the commiffary, at his departure, all thofewho could not pay what they were indebted to the caravan, in order that he might compel them to payasthey beft could. In which cafes, the commiffaries had frequently committed great abuſes, and treated thepoor Chinefe, whom they had in their cuftody, in the moft barbarous manner; which very much difguſtedthe people of Pekin, and rendered them very averfe to trading with the Ruffian caravans .The exceffes committed by thofe of the caravan had been but too frequent till this time; and thecommiffaries, in place of redreffing thofe diforders, had been very often themfelves the authors of them,without giving themſelves the trouble of making the leaft fatisfaction for them to the Chineſe, notwithftanding the great complaints to the Ruffian minifters thereupon on many occafions. In all appearance,what contributed principally to the good order obferved by the Rufs-fervants of this caravan, was theirnot getting brandy at free coft, as they did when the Chineſe furniſhed the ſubfiftence for the caravan.VOL. VII. 39 by482 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.by orders of the Tufh-du-Chan and his council, as fupreme judges in their country.Upon which I demanded of him, "Whether the Tufh- du- Chan was a fovereign princeof the Mongalls, or a fubject of the Emperor of China?" He replied, " That in truth,the Chan was a vaſſal of the Bogdoi- Chan's; but that did not hinder his being mafter in his own country I then prayed him to tell me, " Whether the Tufh- du- Chanwas obliged to conform himſelf to the engagement ftipulated by treaty between the twoempires, to the end, that I might know if we ought to addrefs the court at Pekin, onthe fubject of fatisfaction we had to demand on that affair? Or were to take it of theTufh-du-Chan? As it was not to be expected that affair would be let paſs without anexact inquiry. That, for my part, I thought the beft means of terminating that affairamicably, was, that they fhould order the mandarin, who was to accompany me on thejourney, to go with me to Urga, in our way to Selinginfky; to the end, that afterhaving full information of this affair, I might be able to fend a circumftantial accountof it to our miniſtry. " But he anſwered me thereupon in thefe terms;" With us nojudge, who hath given a juft fentence, can be made refponfible for his judgment, was heno more than a mere clerk. Your people who were at Urga have affronted the lamas, aswell by words as deeds; and they have, moreover, attempted to carry off fome Mongall families from thofe quarters. It is for this reafon that the Tufh- du- Chan was in the right to remove them from his territories." I answered him thereupon, " That thisjudge ought moft certainly to render account of his judgment, becauſe he had judgedpeople who were no manner of way under his jurifdiction. But he would have actedwith juftice if, after having fent the culpable to Selinginſky, he had profecuted for fatiffaction at that place. Whereas, now that he hath puniſhed the innocent equally withthe guilty, and hath infringed the treaty of peace in fo effential an article, his judgmentcannot be regarded but as a manifeft act of violence." The Allegamba, finding meinfift fo ftrenuouſly for an inquiry into this affair, fmiling, told me, " Mr. Agent, youdo well to make fo much work about this affair; but I do not know how to explain.myſelf more preciſely upon it at prefent; all that I can fay to you is, that all of it willbe easily accommodated when we fhall receive a fatisfactory anfwer upon the affair ofour deferters." After which, he prefented me with a writing, which he ſaid had beendrawn up by order of the Bogdoi- Chan, to ferve for my information regarding thereafons of my being fent away. Upon which, we again entered into diſpute together;but as theſe gentlemen, on thefe occafions, hold themſelves ftrictly tied down to a fingleword, whether effential to the affair they are upon or not, it was impoffible for me to drawfrom him any other anſwer than that they had not defigned to grant my remaining atPekin longer than the time of the preſent caravan; and that, when the affair of thefrontiers ſhould be accommodated , they would not be wanting to give a definitive refolution, as well upon this article as upon the other propofitions which Mr. de Ifmayloffhad made to the court. He afterwards prefented to me a letter, faying it was writtenby order of the Bogdoi- Chan, to Prince Cherkaſky, Governor-general of Siberia †;Though the Chan of the weſtern Mongalls is tributary to the Chineſe, they have nevertheleſs a greatregard for him at the court of China; the more as he is a very powerful prince; and that, in cafe of a revoltin China, it is from him that the prefent Imperial Houfe is to expect the greateſt affiftance; his fubjectsbeing beyond comparifon much better foldiers than the Mongall Chinefe; infomuch, that if they fhouldbe difobliged, and fhould join themſelves to the Kalmucks, or to the Ruffes, nothing could prevent hisentrance into China when he pleaſed, and probably bring about another revolution.+ The Prince Cherkaſky, Governor- general of Siberia, was recalled by the court of Ruffia, in the year1772, upon his own folicitations; and they afterwards fent thither a perfon in quality of Vice-governor,who remains there ftill.butBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 48366but 1 having refuſed to receive the faid letter, it difpleafed him a little, and made himfay, " That it was hardly civil in me to refufe a letter, which the Emperor his maſterhad ordered to be written, and to be put into my hands. " I answered thereupon," That I would not chufe to do what I did on this occafion, if the letters which thefaid Prince Cherkafky, in quality of Governor- general of Siberia, had written to thecouncil, were not likewife written by order of the Czar my mafter. That he couldgive this letter to the mandarin, who was to accompany me to Selinginfky, with ordersto receive the letters for the court which were lying there; and that being done, Ifhould not then make the leaſt difficulty to receive the faid letter." He declared to meafterwards, that it was the pleaſure of the Bogdoi- Chan that I fhould take Jegcholl inmy way, to have my audience of leave of His Majefty. And again refuming the articleof the letter from the court for the Prince Cherkafky, he told me, " That what I haddone on this occafion was not altogether fo right; feeing it was not allowed to anyperfon, when in China, to oppofe themfelves to the will of the Emperor." Upon whichÌ anſwered him, " That I was perfuaded His Majefty would put a different conftruction on this affair, from what he did. " But that I wifhed in my turn to know fromhim, Upon what he grounded his fufpicions, when he refuſed us, the laſt ſpring,the paffa*ge to the deferts for fome of our people, whom we would have fent withmoney to provide fubfiftence for our horfes; and that under the pretext, that by fuchexpeditions fecret correfpondence might be carried on, which might produce mifunderſtandings between the two empires. " Thereupon he faid ſ, " That in reality he hadno fuch fufpicions; but that he would willingly prevent the diſorders which mighthave happened on the journey of thefe people; feeing, that if they had been robbed,or affaffinated on the road, we would not have failed to demand fatisfaction from thecourt. " Thereupon I put him in mind, " That he was now brought to explain himfelf; that it was not to hinder fecret correfpondence that he refuſed us paffa*ge, and thathe might very well have ſpared himſelf that ufelefs precaution, as to what regarded us,which had caufed an expence of fome thouſands of laen, for not being able to putour horfes into ftables, to which purpofe the money we wanted to fend to the defertswas appropriated; and had occafioned the death of a great many horſes; and eventhofe that furvived were in fuch a miferable condition, that they were by no meanscapable of ferving in the waggons; which obliged our commiffary to tranſport thegreateſt part of his baggage to Selinginíky by carriages hired at Pekin, which could notbe done but at a very confiderable charge. " This anfwer made him a little thoughtful; but at length he replied to me, " That he did not ſay fo; but, be it fo or not,we muſt now part good friends; to which end he prayed me to have no ill-will towardshim upon account of the liberty he had taken to trifle and to jeft with me on the ſubject of the letter from Turfoff; that he could affure me he had no ill intention on thatoccafion; and hoped that I would be fatisfied with this explanation , and not thinkotherwife of that affair in time to come, than as a piece of innocent raillery. " To whichI answered him , " That as to what regarded myfelf in particular, he might dependthat I fhould abfolutely think no more of it; but, for the reft, I could not do in it according to my own pleaſure. " Whereupon he asked me, if, at my return to Ruffia, Ifhould be obliged to give a relation in writing to our miniftry, of every thing that paffedduring my refidence in China, in regard to my negociations; and having anſwered himyes; he faid to me, that in this cafe, I would do well not to infert a number of triflingthings which could anfwer no good end, but might embroil matters more; for that itwas much better that a good underſtanding between the two empires ſhould continue,322 than484 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.than that differences between them ſhould be widened. I replied thereupon, that, nothaving been fent to the court of Pekin as an inſtrument for creating miſunderſtandings,I would make it my buſineſs in my relation, not to touch upon any things but fuch aswere neceffary for our court to be informed of. After which we both roſe up, andhaving mutually embraced, we took leave of each other, reciprocally wiſhing to meetfoon again.The 12th, the commiffary having left Pekin, with all the reft of the caravan , I like.wife departed for Jegcholl, where I arrived on the 15th; and having forthwith madeknown my arrival to the Chamberlain of the Chan, he let me know he would inftantlyinform His Majefty; and, till he fhould receive his orders for appointing the day of myaudience, the intendant of His Majeſty's kitchen would take care that my table ſhouldbe furniſhed with every thing I might have occafion for.The 17th, I had my audience of leave of the Bogdoi- Chan, with the ceremoniesufual at this court.The 18th, I left Jegcholl, and met the caravan the 24th; which being ftill withinthe Great Wall, I paffed it the 26th, with the caravan, which I left on the 28th, nearKrafna-gora in the deferts. And, on the 26th of August 1722, I arrived at Selinginſky,after having refided near ſeventeen months at the court of China.A SUCCINCT( 485 )A SUCCINCT RELATION OF MY JOURNEY TO DERBENT IN PERSIA, WITH THEARMY OF RUSSIA , COMMANDED BY HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY PETER THE FIRST,IN THE YEAR 1722 .UImy return with the embaffy from Pekin, as hath been formerly mentioned,I found His Imperial Majefty, all the court, the general officers, and the nobilityand gentry, from all the empire, affembled at Mofco; and great preparations makingat that city, for the celebration of the feſtivals, appointed to be folemnized there, onaccount of the peace, concluded at Aland in 1721 , between Ruffia and Sweden, after awar which had lafted more than twenty years.Theſe feftivals were accompanied with maſquerades, grand fireworks, balls, affemblies, &c. the detail of which, though it would fwell this work to too large a bulk,yot I think it will not be unacceptable to the reader, briefly to relate one part of it, Imean the magnificent fhows exhibited on this occafion; which I am induced to bytheconfideration, which at that time ftruck me, of Peter the Great his having always inview, even in his amuſements and times of diverfion, all poffible means of influencinghis people to a liking of whatever tended to promote the good of his empire.In The Ruffians, in general, had a ftrong averfion to fhipping and maritime affairs.order to apprize them of the great advantages arifing from a marine force, in his triumphant entry into Mofco, he reprefented to his people that the peace, the rejoicingsfor which were now celebrating, was obtained by means of his naval ftrength.The triumphant entry was made from a village, about feven miles from Mofco, calledSefwedfky.The first of the cavalcade was a galley, finely carved and gilt, in which the rowersplied their oars as on the water. The galley was commanded by the High Admiral ofRuffia. Then came a frigate, of fixteen ſmall braſs guns, with three mafts, completelyrigged, manned with twelve or fourteen youths, habited like Dutch ſkippers, in blackvelvet, who trimmed the fails, and performed all the manoeuvres as of a ſhip at fea.Then came moſt richly decorated barges, wherein fat the Emprefs and the ladies ofthecourt. There were alſo pilot-boats, heaving the lead, and above thirty other veffels,pinnaces, wherries, &c. each filled with maſqueraders in the dreſſes of different nations.It was in the month of February, at which time all the ground was covered with fnow,and all the rivers frozen. All theſe machines were placed on fledges, and were drawnby horſes through all the principal ſtreets of Mofco. The fhip required above fortyhorfes to draw it. In order to its paffing under the gates, the top-mafts were ftruck,and, when paffed , ſet up again; befides which, the gate-way was dug as low as wasneceffary for admitting it to pafs.Thefe feftivals being ended, His Imperial Majefty prepared to undertake an expedition into Perfia, at the earneſt requeſt of Shach Huffein, the Sophy of Perſia, in orderto affift that prince againſt the Affghans, his rebellious fubjects, who, under the conduct, firft, of Myrvais, afterwards, of Myr Mahmut, had not only feized upon the cityand ſtrong fortreſs Chandahar, but alſo had poffeffed themſelves of ſeveral provinces onthe frontiers towards India, making frequent incurfions towards the capital of Ifpahan.As I had formerly been at the court of Perfia, I was engaged by my friend Dr. Blumentroft, His Majeſty's chief phyſician, to accompany him in that expedition.Accordingly, about the beginning of May 1722, all things neceffary being in readineſs,the troops embarked at Mofco, on board of half gallies, built for that purpoſe, and felldown486PELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.down the river to Kolumna; near which town the Mofco river falls into the Oka, aboutninety verſts from the city of Mofco. Kolumna was the place of rendezvous, andwhere the troops waited till the arrival of His Imperial Majefty and the Emprefs his confort, who accompanied him in this expedition.May 13th, their Majefties, and all thofe of the court who were appointed to attend themin this expedition , fet out from Moſco by land , and arrived the next day at Kolumna.The 15th, His Majefty employed himfelf in reviewing the troops, in infpecting thecondition ofthe fleet, and in giving the neceffary orders. The fleet confifted of aboutthree hundred fail of veffels, of all forts, on board of which were about fifteen thoufandregular troops, including half the guards.The 16th, in the evening, His Majefty and the Emprefs, attended by a few ladies,went on board a magnificent galley, of forty oars, with all proper accommodations, builton purpofe for the voyage.The 17th, at break of day, the fignal was given, by firing three great guns from HisMajefty's galley, for the fleet to get under fail. The galley led the way, and all thereft of the fleet followed in a line. His Majefty's galley, carried the ftandard of Ruffia,the other veffels their enfigns difplayed, with drums beating, and mufic playing, whichaltogether made an appearance, perhaps not to be equalled in any other country. Inabout an hour's time, we came into the river Oka, where the veffels had more roomto ſpread.Having, in my former journey to Perfia, mentioned the feveral places from hence toAftracan, I need not repeat them here.I have formerly noted, that, at this feafon of the year, the rivers of thefe parts may,in fome meaſure, be compared to the Nile; for, from the melting of the fnow, theyoverflow all the flat gounds adjacent to a very great diſtance.The 21ft, fome of our people going afhore, to take leave of their friends, did notreturn on board till late in the evening, which caufed our being at ſome diſtance behindthe fleet; upon which we ufed our beft efforts to regain our ſtation: but, in the night,our pilot falling afleep, the bark drove out ofthe channel of the river into a wood. I,being in the cabin, heard a great noife upon deck, not unufual on fuch occafions: atlaft I perceived the veffel to itrike againſt fomething, when, coming upon deck, I wasnot a little furpriſed to fee the people climbing up trees; for the bark was jambed in between two birch-trees of very large fize. All our endeavours could neither move herbackwards nor forwards, until we got people from a neighbouring village, by whofeaffiftance we got her warped off with little damage; which being repaired, we proceededagain on our voyage.The 25th, we came up with the fleet at the town Nifhna-Novogorod, where theirMajefties and all the court were moft fumptuously entertained at the houfe of BaronStrogonoff. We flaid here fome days to take in provifions and other neceffaries.The 30th, being His Majefty's birth-day, the fame was folemnized, in the uſualmanner, byfiring guns, &c.The 311t, His Majefty failed in his galley for Cazan, efcorted by fome of the ſmallgallies, leaving the reft of the fleet under the command of the Lord High AdmiralApraxin.June 5th, we left Nishna-Novogorod, and, in fine calm weather, proceeded downthe Volga.The 8th, we arrived at the city of Cazan; the Emperor had left that place thepreceding day.The 9th, we again proceeded on our voyage.2 TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 487The 20th, we arrived at the town of Saratoff. Nothing very material occurred bythe way, in which we were fometimes detained by ſtrong gales of foutherly winds, andby calms, during which we were incommoded by infinite numbers of mufkito- flies.At this place we came up with the Emperor, who had appointed an interview withthe Ayuka- Chan, King of the Kalmucks. The Chan, for that purpoſe, had his tents.pitched on the eaſt banks of the Volga, not far from the river.Next day, His Majefty invited the Ayuka-Chan and his Queen to dinner on boardthe galley; which, for the accommodation of the royal gueſts in getting on board, wasbrought as near the fhore as poffible, and a gallery made from the fhore to the galley,for them to walk on.The Ayuka-Chan came on horfeback, attended by two of the Princes his fons, andefcorted by a troop of about fifty of his officers and great men, all exceedingly wellmounted. About twenty yards from the fhore, the King alighted from his horſe, andwas received by a privy-counfellor and an officer of the guards. When the Emperorfaw him advancing, he went on fhore, faluted him, and taking him by the hand, conducted him on board the galley, where he introduced him to the Empreſs, who wasfeated on the quarter- deck, under a very rich awning.Soon after the Ayuka- Chan was got on board the galley, the Queen arrived on thefhore, in a covered wheel-machine, attended by one of the Princeffes, her daughter, andtwo ladies, who were alſo eſcorted by a troop of horſemen. When fhe was alighted,the Emperor went on fhore to receive her, and, conducting her on board, introducedher to the Emprefs.The Ayuka-Chan is an old man about ſeventy years of age, yet is hearty andcheerful. He is a prince of great wiſdom, and prudent conduct; is much reſpectedby all his neighbours for his fincerity and plain dealing. And I recollect that, when Iwas at Pekin, the Emperor of China made very honourable mention of him. By hislong experience, he is very well acquainted with the ſtate of affairs in the eaſt.The Queen was about fifty years old, of a decent and cheerful deportment. Theladies, her attendants, were young. The Princefs, in particular, hath a fine complexion;her hair a jet black, which was difpofed in treffes round her fhoulders; and fhe was, inthe eyes of the Kalmucks, a complete beauty. They were all richly dreffed in longrobes of Perfian brocade, with little round caps, on the upper part of their heads, bordered with fable-fur, according to the faſhion of the country.TheEmperorintimated to the Ayuka- Chan , that he would be defirous of ten thouſandof his troops to accompany him into Perfia. I he King of the Kalmucks replied, thatten thouſand were at the Emperor's fervice, but that he thought one half of that numberwould be more than fufficient to anſwer all his purpoſes; and immediately gave ordersfor five thousand to march directly, and join the Emperor at Terky.Both the Emperor and Emprefs were highly pleafed with their guests, and, in theevening, difmiffed them with fuitable prefents. The Emprefs gave the Queen a goldrepeating-watch, fet with diamonds, which feemed very much to take her fancy, befidesfome pieces of brocade, and other filks of value.It is well worth remarking, that this treaty between two mighty monarchs was begun,carried on, and concluded, in lefs fpace of time than is ufually employed, by the plenipotentiaries of our weſtern European monarchs, in taking a dinner.The 22d, we left Saratoff, and failed down the river Volga with a fair wind.The 23d, in the evening, we came to the town of Kamofhinka, where we remainedtill the next morning.The488 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.The 28th, we came to the town of Zaritzina; and the 30th, to another town calledTzorno-yarr.July 4th, we arrived at the city of Aftrachan. Little remarkable occurred duringthe voyage. We were fometimes detained by contrary winds; and for the moſt partof the way, were much incommoded by mufkitoes, which plagued us much in the daytime, and interrupted our reft during the night.The 5th, the weather being exceflive hot, the Emperor quitted his houfe in thecity, and went to lodge in one of the adjacent vineyards.The 6th, the dragoons, whom we found encamped on the weft bank of the Volga,to the number of five thoufand, were ordered to march directly to Terky, there to waitthe Emperor's arrival.The 8th, the Lord High Admiral Apraxin arrived with the fleet and troops onboard. The next day the troops encamped on one ofthe iſlands in the neighbourhood.During our stay at Aftrachan, nothing of moment occurred.The 16th, all the neceffary preparations being completed, the troops re-embarked,and lay on board that night.The 17th, the Emperor, Emprefs, and all the court, went on board; and the windbeing fair, failed down the river; drums beating, and mufic playing. The fleet wasinfeveral diviſions, under their reſpective chiefs; and being joined by a number of largetranfports, and other veffels, made a very grand appearance, fuch as had never beenfeen before in this part of the world, nor frequently in any other.The 18th, the wind being contrary, we made but flow progrefs. In the evening itfell calm; all the fhoals being covered with high reeds, contributed to increaſe the innumerable quantity of mufkitoes, with which we were intolerably peſtered.The 19th, we got out of the river Volga into the Cafpian Sea. The wind beingcontrary, the heavy tranſports were warped out as far as poffible, to get out of thereach of thoſe troubleſome infects. At night we came to an anchor, in eight feetwater, near a flat iſland called Tulney-Lapata.The 20th, we continued warping out the whole day. At night, we came to an anchor, near the four fandy hillocks called Tzateerey- Buggory.The 21ft, at break of day, the Admiral made ſignal for failing; the fleet got underfail, and put out to fea, with a fair wind.The Emperor, accompanied with the half-gallies, on board which were the troops,ſteered to the weſt, clofe under the fhore. But I being on board one of the large fhips,we kept the fea, and ſteered a direct courfe for Terky. It is to be obferved, that theEmperor and the gallies took their courfe to avoid being ſurpriſed with a gale of windat fea, which might have been attended with bad confequences.The 22d, we came into falt water, four fathoms deep, out of fight of land, and alſoofthe gallies.The 23d, we had calms, and eafy breezes at north-weſt.The 24th, in the evening, we came to an anchor in the road of Terky.The 25th, the Emperor, and all the gallies arrived fafe.The 26th, the Emperor went afhore; and having viſited the town and fortifications,returned on board in the evening.The town of Terky is a frontier ſtrongly fituated by nature, being encompaffed bya deep marſhy ground, having only one entrance to it, on the land-fide, which is welldefended by batteries. It takes its name from a ſmall rivulet running by it, calledTerk. It is governed by a commandant, and hath a garriſon of about one thouſand6 men,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 489men, of regular troops and coffacks, and is at all times well ftored with ammunitionand provifions. This place is of fingular ufe for keeping the Tzercaffian mountaineersin order, who are well known ' to be an unruly and reftlefs people. I fhall hereafterhave occafion to ſpeak more of this nation. The fame day, the Emperor fent an officer to the Aldiggery, commonly called Shaffkall, to notify his arrival in theſe parts.The Shaffkall is a prince of confiderable authority among the mountaineers, and afriend to the Ruffians.The 27th, the fleet weighed anchor, and failed, fouth by eaft, to the bay of Agrachan, fo called from a river of that name. In the evening, we anchored in the bay, asnear the fhore as we judged convenient.The 28th, the Imperial ſtandard was fet up on the fhore; all the troops landed andencamped. The fame day, a coffack arrived in the camp with diſpatches from GeneralVeteranie, who commanded a body of dragoons, giving an account that, in his march,he was attacked by a ftrong party of mountaineers, near the town called Andrea; that,after a fmart difpute, in which feveral of each fide had been killed, and fome wounded,he at laft difperfed them, and took poffeffion of the town. Thefe people having previouſly fent all their families and effects to fome diſtance in the mountains, it feems thisrash attempt of thefe mountaineers was premeditated; for the General demanded nothing but a free paffa*ge through the country, and engaged to leave them unmoleſted.The place itfelf is of no defence, though they had barricaded the ſtreets and avenuesleading to it. The poor people felt to their coft the effects of attacking regular troops,of which they had never feen any before. However, this was a certain proof of theboldneſs of theſe people. Several of them were brought prifoners to the camp; theywere ſtrong able-bodied men, fit for any fervice.The Emperor, before he left Aftrachan, had fent manifeftos to all the petty princesand chiefs of Daggeftan, declaring, that he did not come to invade or make war againſtthem; that he only defired a free paffa*ge through their territories, and would payready money for what provifions, or other neceffaries, they might furniſh, and that tothe full value; to which fome of them agreed, others of them did not. Such is oftenthe cafe with free independent ſtates, as are thoſe of the Daggeftan.The 29th and 30th were ſpent in landing the provifions, artillery, &c.; after whichthe whole army and baggage were tranfported, on boats and rafts, to the eaft bank ofthe river Agrachan. This proved a work of labour, there being no woods at hand tomake a bridge, nor water enough, at the mouth ofthe river, to admit our half-gallies,which were defigned for the bridge.The army being tranſported over, and encamped on the other fide of the river, theEmperor made a plan, and ordered a ſmall fortrefs to be raiſed; he named it Agrachan,from the river on which it was built. This place was intended to keep fuch ftores aswecould not conveniently carry along with us, and as a place of retreat, in caſe of un- forefeen accidents.Auguſt 2d, the chief named Aldiggery came to pay his refpects to the Emperor,who gave him a gracious reception , as he did to feveral other chiefs, of leſs note, whocame in a friendly manner. The Aldiggery was accompanied by a ſmall troop of hisprincipal officers; moſt of them were handfome young fellows, very well mounted.After this chief had ftaid fome hours, and fettled matters relating to the march, he tookhis leave.In the mean time, the foldiers were employed in raifing the works of the fortrefs;and ten thouſand coffacks arrived from the river Don, all horſemen, under command ofKrafnotzokin and other chiefs; and alfo the five thouſand Kalmucks, fent by the AyukaVOL. VII.3 R Chan,490 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.Chan, according to agreement, as formerly mentioned. They were all well mounted,and had many ſpare horfes, which were of great ufe. They all encamped in the plaintowards the mountains.The troops being now all affembled, we only waited for the carriages which the Aldiggery had engaged to furnish for the artillery and baggage.During this interval, our great leader, the Emperor, was not idle, but daily on horfeback, reviewing the army, which was now increafed to more than thirty thouſand combatants, including the Coffacks and Kalmucks; a number fufficient to have conqueredall Perfia, had it been intended. Befides the army which were then affembled, the Aldiggery made a tender to the Emperor of a confiderable body of his troops, which theEmperor declined the acceptance of.At length, about three hundred waggons arrived at the camp, drawn by two oxeneach; but their harneffing not being fuch as we were uſed to, we were not a little embarraffed in fetting them a-going.About the middle of Auguft, the army was put in motion, and marched, in feveralcolumns, from Agrachan; leaving there a force fufficient to complete the works, andgarrifon the place. In the evening, we encamped at a brook of brackish and muddywater. This day our road lay about equal diſtance between the fea and the Tzercaffianmountains, commonly called Daggeftan.Next morning we decamped, marched along the valley towards the mountains, andat night, came to another brook of bad water, where was a little wood of oaks, andplenty of grafs, among which I obferved great quantities of a certain herb, called Roman wormwood, which the hungry horfes devoured very greedily. Next day, wefound about five hundred of our horfes dead in the wood and adjacent fields. In ourprefent circumſtances this was no fmall difafter. The caufe was afcribed to theit eatingthe wormwood, which, perhaps, might be the cafe. We avoided, for the future, asmuch as poffible, the encamping where large quantities of this plant grew.Yet the dead horfes, having been in good cafe, were not entirely loft, as our Kalmucks feafted on them for feveral days. It is to be obferved, that theſe people preferhorfe-fleſh to beef; and in all their expeditions, their baggage is very compendious,carrying no other provifions than fuch a number of fpare horfes as they think theyI was often diverted in feeing thefe hardy people, round a fire, broilingand eating their horfe-fteaks, without either bread or falt.The lofs of fo many horfes detained us fome hours later than ufual; but, as both thewater and grafs were bad, we decamped, and at night, came to a fpacious plain op 、pofite to the town of Tarku, where the Aldiggery refides. Here we found fresh waterand good pafturage.This place is pleafantly fituated in a hollow between two high hills, rifing, like an` amphitheatre, to within a finall diftance of the top; having a full view of the CafpianSea. The Prince's houfe is the uppermoft, and overlooks the whole town. It confiftsof feveral apartments, with a fpacious hall, after the Perſian manner, having a terraceand ſmall garden adjoining.Next morning, the Aldiggery came and waited on their Majefties, and invited themto dinner, which was accepted of.Towards noon, the Princefs, fpoufe to the Aldiggery, came and paid her refpects tothe Emprefs, and gave Her Majefty a formal invitation . This lady came in the equipage ofthe country, that is, in a covered waggon, drawn by a yoke of oxen, with afew footmen to attend her, and efcorted by a finail party of horfe. The lady, thoughfomething advanced in years, had fill the remains of an handfome perfon. She hadalong 5BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 49Lalong with her, in the waggon, a young lady, her daughter, who was fo pretty that thewould have been deemed a beauty in any part of Europe. When they entered theEmprefs's tent, Her Majefty ftood up to receive them; they then took off their veils,and behaved with great decency. They were richly dreffed after the Perfian faſhion.After they had drank a diſh of coffee, they took leave, and returned to the town.Soon after their departure, the Emperor and Emprefs went to the town to dine.The Emperor went on horſeback, the Emprefs in her coach, attended by ſome of thecourt ladies, and eſcorted by a battalion of the guards. The ftreet was fo narrow, andnear the palace fo fteep, that the coach and fix horfes could not proceed quite to thepalace, which, when Her Majefty perceived, fhe alighted from the coach, and walkedthe reft of the way on foot. The Emperor was much pleafed with the romantic fituation ofthe place. In the evening they returned to the camp.Auguft 22d, the army marched from Shaffkal. The day being exceeding hot, nowater to be found on the road, together with a continued cloud of duft, to that degreethat we could fcarcely know one another, made this day's march very difa*greeable andfatiguing to all, more eſpecially to the heavy armed troops and the cattle. Notwith.ftanding theſe inconveniences, the Emperor kept on horfeback the whole day, and tookhis fhare of whatever happened. At night, we came to fome wells of freſh water,where the army encamped; but there was hardly water enough for the people todrink, which obliged us to fend the horfes and cattle to a brook at fome diftance, anda ftrong party of Coffacks to guard them, left the enemy ſhould attempt to carry themoff.The next day, we halted at the wells. The Emperor having received intelligence,that a certain chieftain of the mountaineers, named Uffmey, was affembling fometroops in order to harafs us in our march, which lay through fome hollow grounds;accordingly, towards noon, we perceived a number of horfe and foot, on the tops ofthe neighbouring hills, about three Engliſh miles diftance from the camp; after theyhad reconnoitred our difpofition for fome time, about one half of them, compofed ofhorſe and foot, came down into the plain, with intent to drive off fome of our cattle,which brought on a fkirmish between our irregular troops and the mountaineers,wherein ſeveral were wounded, and fome were killed on each fide. Our people tookmany of their foot, and offuch as had been difmounted, prifoners. During the action,our infantry kept clofe in the camp. The Emperor rode out to the field; he orderedthe dragoons to march, and fupport the irregulars: on their advancing, the enemyfoon difperfed themſelves, and fled to the hills, where a confiderable number had remained firm on the heights. The carrying off fome cattle is fuppoſed to have beentheir principal aim, as it would not have been lefs than downright madneſs in them tohave expected to have gained any advantage by attacking ſuch an army of veterantroops, well provided and well conducted.In the meantime, our dragoons and irregulars were in purfuit of the enemy, on theother fide of the firft ridge of hills, and quite out of fight. The Emperor, being apprehenfive of an ambuſh, and of a large body of mountaineers being lodged on theother fide of the hills, about three o'clock, afternoon, ordered the army to decamp, andmarch towards the mountains, which was performed in fix columns. The Emperorhad hourly intelligence of the proceedings of the dragoons and irregulars, who atlength entirely difperfed the enemy, and had taken poffeffion of the town where thePrince Uffmey refided. However, it being then too late to return to our former camp,the army encamped that night on a plain between the hills on the banks of a fmall3 R 2 rivulet,492 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.rivulet, where we had but indifferent quarters, as there was no more time than to fet upthe Emperor's tent, and a few others.The next day, the army decamped, and marched back to our former camp at thewells, leaving the dragoons and irregulars to manage the rest of the bufinefs, whomade the Daggeftans, particularly the Uffmey and his people, pay dear for their rafhattempt of endeavouring to interrupt the march of an army fo far fuperior to any forcethey could mufter. We ftaid here two days, waiting for the return of our dragoonsand irregulars.The 27th, the troops being all re-affembled, the Emperor decamped, and marchedagain to the fouth- eaftward, towards Derbent, through a dry parched plain. At night,we came to a brook, near the foot of the hills, where we encamped, not having feenany enemy that day.The 28th, we marched again, and paffing a defile, or hollow way, with ſome difficulty and delay to the carriages, at night we came to wells of brackish water, wherewe fet up our tents, at no great diſtance from the hills, the fea being about a mile fromus to the left hand.The 29th, being within a fhort march of the city of Derbent, the Emperor haltedto give the troops time to put themfelves in order for an entry into the town, as it isthe frontier belonging to the Shach of Perfia.Near our camp, there are feveral pits flowing with that bituminous liquid callednaphtha. The naphtha here is of a blackish colour, very inflammable; it is ufed bythe Perfians to burn in their lamps, and not eafily extinguiſhed by rain. But, as Ihave formerly ſpoken of this kind of petroleum, I do not enlarge on that fubject here.The 30th, the army fet forwards, the Emperor being on horſeback at the head ofhis troops, which made a fine appearance. At the diftance of about three Englishmiles from Derbent, the governor of that place, attended by his officers of diſtinction,and the magiftrates of the town, came in a body to wait on the Emperor, and to prefent him with the golden keys ofthe town and ofthe citadel, which they did on a cuſhioncovered with very rich Perfian brocade; the governor and all his attendants kneelingduring this fhort ceremony. The Emperor received theſe gentlemen very graciouſly,and gave them fignal marks of his favour. They accompanied him to the city, where,being arrived, the army halted fome time; during which, guards were placed at thegates, and a garriſon in the citadel, under the command of Colonel Yunger, with a fupply of cannon and ammunition, both which were wanting in the place.The foregoing being completed, the Emperor at the head of his army, marchedthrough the city, and encamped among the vineyards, about an English mile to thefouth-eastward of the town, and about half a mile from the fea-fhore.Soon after which the Emperor, accompanied by all the general officers, returnedagain to the city, and examined the condition of the fortifications. On this occafion,the Perfian governor made His Majefty an offer of his houfe, and quarters for as manyof the troops as the place could accommodate; but to avoid putting the inhabitants toany inconveniency, or perhaps for other reafons, the Emperor declined accepting theoffer of lodging in the city, and at night, returned to his camp.In this fituation, we continued fome days, and were making the needful preparationsfor advancing farther into the country, as foon as the tranfports with provifions, ftores,&c. from Aftrachan, which were daily expected, fhould arrive.They did arrive in fafety; but a moft unfortunate accident happened; the nightfollowing, after their arrival, a violent ftorm of wind, from the north- eaft, drove thegreatestBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 49greateſt part of them afhore, where they were wrecked and dafhed to pieces; but, bygood providence, not many lives were loft.This misfortune difconcerted His Majefty's meaſures, and put a stop to the fartherprogrefs of his arms for the prefent, having nothing before him but a country exhauftedof all neceffaries; and the feafon of the year being too far fpent to wait a fresh fupplyfrom Aftrachan, the Emperor determined to leave things in the fame ſtate they thenwere in, and to return again to Aftrachan, by the fame way we came, leaving a garrifon at Derbent fufficient to fecure the advantages he had gained.Before I leave Derbent, I fhall endeavour to give a fhort defcription of the place. Itis faid to have been firſt built and fortified, according to the ftyle ofthe fortifications ofthat age, by Alexander the Great; though it is not eafy to afcertain that tradition, orthe æra ofits firft conftruction; yet, by variety of circumftances, it appears to be veryancient.The prefent citadel, walls, and gates, feem to be of European architecture, and nomean performance.The citadel ftands on the higheft grounds of the city towards the land-fide. Thewalls of the city are built of large blocks of fquare ftone; they reach into the fea, beyond which many huge rocks are tumbled into the fea, to prevent any approach, orpaffa*ge on that fide. The haven is now ſo choaked up with fand, that there is hardlyentry for a finall boat.Derbent may be called the key to the Perfian empire on this fide, and ferves to keepthe mountaineers, and other neighbours on that fide in awe.The fituation is verypleafant, rifing gradually from the fea to the top of the hill, commanding a very extenfive profpect, efpecially towards the fouth-eaft. About thirty miles due fouth ftandsone of the higheft mountains in Perfia, called Shach-Dagh, which is always coveredwith fnow. To the eastward of the town are many large vineyards, producing plentyof grapes, of which they make a confiderable quantity of both white and red wine, offtrength fufficient to preferve it round the year, and longer if required. The people offubftance there keep their wine in jars, buried under ground, by which method it willkeep good for years.They have alfo fruitful plains in the neighbourhood, and at ſome diſtance, is a largeforeft of walnut trees, oaks, &c. As this place is a frontier of great importance, theSophy of Perfia always appoints a perfon of diftinction for its governor.His Majefty having placed a fufficient garrifon in Derbent, which he left there underthe command of Colonel Yunger, upon September the 18th, the whole army marchedback through the town, keepingthe fame route by which we came. Little of momentoccurred on our march, though we were almoſt daily alarmned by fmall parties oftheDaggeftans, who frequently made their appearance on the tops of the hills, but fledalways at the approach of our coffacks. As we had feen no rain fince our landing onthis coaft, our people fuffered not a little from the great heats, continual clouds of duft,and want of water.On the 29th of September, after a moft fatiguing march, their Majefties and all thearmy arrived in fafety at the fort of Agrachan, and found the fleet in the bay where weleft them.Octoberthe ift, we began to fhip off the baggage, and what artillery, &c. was notwanted at the fort of Agrachan; in which place the Emperor left a fufficient garrifon.I fhall now endeavour to give the reader a fhort view of the country commonlycalled Tzercaffia, or Daggeftan, by the inhabitants of country, from dagh, which fignifies a mountain in their language. The country fo called is fituated between the8 Euxine,494 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.Euxine, or Black Sca, and the Cafpian Sea: thefe two feas confine it from N. W. toS. E. Southward it reaches to the province of Gurgiftan, commonly called Georgia.It ſtretches northward into a part of the Stepp, or defert, which lies between Afophand Aftrachan.The country is divided into feveral free independent principalities, as Kaberda, Shaffkall, Uffiney, and many others, under their reſpective chieftains, who are at firſt electedby the people; and though that office is fometimes known to continue in the family ofthe perfon elected for ſeveral generations, yet it hath frequently happened, that, eitherthrough mal- adminiſtration, or in confequence of wars among thofe different flates , achieftain with his family have been depofed or banifhed, and another appointed in hisplace. It hath alfo been known, that the Sophy of Perfia hath placed and difplacedfome of thofe princes among the Daggeftans who lie the moft contiguous to Perfia.Both the Sophy and the Ottoman Porte lay claim to the fovereignty of Daggeftan; butof late years, thefe people, trufting to their own valour and the natural ftrength of thecountry, pay little regard to either of thefe mighty monarchs, who fometimes threatenthem, at other times court their friendſhip.The whole extent of the country is hilly, with fome mountains of great heighth; yet,I am informed, they have fruitful vallies, producing corn, vines, and fruits, natural tothe climate. Beſides a breed of excellent faddle-horfes, they have great ſtore of cattle,particularly of fheep, which produce the fineſt wool I have feen in any part.Whether the famous golden fleece was the produce of theſe parts or not, I fhall leaveothers to determine.The men are, for the moſt part, well made and ftout; many of them are employedin the fervice ofthe Sophy, and frequently raiſed to high ftations. The Etmadowlett,or prime miniſter, Aly- Begg, was a native of this country. As to their women, theyare eſteemed to be the moit beautiful of any in Afia, as well for features and complexionas alfo for fine fhape; on which account many of theſe poor girls are purchaſed at highrates, or ſtolen away, for the uſe of the feraglios at Ifpahan, Conftantinople, and othereaftern courts.The religion ofthe Daggeftans is generally Mahometan; fome following the fect ofOfman, others that of Haly. Some of thofe people are Chriftians of the Eaftern orGreek Church. Their language, for the most part, is Turkiſh, or rather a dialect ofthe Arabic, though many of them fpeak alfo the Perfian language.One article I cannot omit concerning their laws of hofpitality, which is, if theirgreateſt enemy comes under their roof for protection , the landlord, of what conditionfoever, is obliged to keep him fafe from all manner of harm or violence, during hisabode with him, and even to conduct him fafely through his territories to a place offecurity. With which I conclude what I have to fay of the Daggeftans.On the 5th of October, His Majefty and the Emprefs went on board their galley, thefleet being ready, and all the troops embarked.Before I quit Agrachan, I am defirous of bringing the reader, in fome meaſure, acquainted with the character of the magnanimous commander of this expedition , duringwhich I had daily frequent opportunities of feeing that great man Peter the Firft; andduring the whole time, was in company, and converfed with thoſe people who had attended his perfon for very many years; feveral of whom poffeffed, in fome degree, hisfavour, and were well regarded by him. Therefore, I hope, what I am about to offer,concerning this great monarch, will not be unacceptable to the candid reader, whofetaking in good part what I fhall fay, I have fome right to expect; for I fhall ſay nothingof fact, but what is true, nor any thing of opinion, but what is fincere.SeveralBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. -495Several foreign writers have mifreprefented and traduced the real character of Peterthe Great, by relating mean ſtories, picked up at ale-houſes, and circulated among theloweft clafs of people, moft of them without the leaft ground of truth, whereby manypeople of good underſtanding have been mifled, and, even to this prefent time, look onhim to have been a vicious man, and a cruel tyrant, than which nothing can be morethe reverfe of his true character.Though he might have had fome failings, yet it is well known, to many living at thetime of mywriting this, which is above thirty-feven years after his demife, that his pru--dence, juftice, and humanity, much overbalanced his failings, which principally, if notfolely, arofe from his inclination to the fair fex.I fhall here take the liberty to infert a paffa*ge or two, which, though trifling, yet asfo great a perfonage is the fubject, will not, I truft, be altogether unacceptable or unentertaining to the reader, as they are inſtances of his affiduity.About the middle of October 1714, I arrived at Cronstadt in an Engliſh fhip. TheCzar having notice of the fhip's arrival, came on board the next morning, from St.Peterſburg; being attended only by Dr. Areſkine, who was his chief phyfician at thattime, and on that occafion ferved him as interpreter. After His Majefty had inquirednews about the Swedish fleet, &c. he eat a piece of bread and cheeſe, and dranka glaſs of ale; then went on fhore to vifit the works carrying on at Cronstadt; andreturned, the fame evening, in his boat, to St. Peterſburg, diſtance about twentyEngliſh miles.The firft winter after my arrival at St. Peterſburg, I lodged at Mr. Noy's, an Engliſhfhip-builder in the Czar's fervice. One morning, before day- light, my fervant cameand told me that the Czar was at the door. I got up, and faw him walking up anddown the yard, the weather being feverely cold and frofty, without any one to attendhim. Mr. Noy foon came, and took him into the parlour, where His Majefty gave himfome particular directions about a fhip then on the ftocks; which having done, heleft him.His Majefty's perfon was graceful, tall, and well made; clean, and very plain in hisapparel. He generally wore an English drab- colour cloth frock, never appearing in a drefsfuit of clothes, unlefs on great feftivals, and remarkable holidays; on which occafions,he was fometimes dreffed in laced clothes, of which fort he was not owner of abovethree or four fuits. When he was dreffed, he wore the order of St. Andrew; at othertimes, he had no badge or mark of any order on his perfon. His equipage was fimple,without attendants. In fummer, a four-oared wherry was always attending, to carryhim over the river, if he fhould want to crofs it, which he frequently did. When hewent about the town by land, he always made ufe of an open two-wheeled chaife, attended by two foldiers or grooms, who rode before, and a page, who fometimes ftoodbehind the chaife, and often fat in it with His Majefty, and drove him. In winter, hemade ufe of a fledge, drawn by one horfe, with the fame attendants. He found theſe tobe the moſt expeditious ways of conveyance, and ufed no other. He was abroad everyday in the year, unlefs confined at home by illneſs, which rarely happened; fo thatfeldom a day paffed but he was feen in almoſt every part of the city.I have more than once feen him ftop in the ftreets to receive petitions from perfonswho thought themfelves wronged by fentences paffed in courts of judicature. Ontaking the petition , the perfon was told to come next day to the fenate; where theaffair was immediately examined and determined, if the nature of it would admit of itsbeing done in fo fhort a time. It will naturally follow, that fuch free accefs to his perfon was not only productive of great relief to many poor widows and orphans, but alſoa ftrong496 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.a ftrong check upon judges; and tended very much to prevent any fort of influenceprevailing on them to pronounce unjuft fentences, for which they were fo likely to becalled to account.His Majefly might truly be called a man of buſineſs, for he could difpatch moreaffairs in a morning, than a houfeful of fenators could do in a month. He rofe almoſtevery morning, in the winter time, before four o'clock; was often in his cabinet bythree o'clock; where two private fecretarics, and certain clerks, paid conftant attendance. He often went fo early to the fenate, as to occafion the fenators being raiſedout of their beds to attend him there. When affembled, after hearing caufes betweenſubject and ſubject, or public affairs, regarding the interior of the empire, read by thefecretary, and the opinion of the fenate recited thereupon, he would write upon theprocefs, or upon the affair, under deliberation, with his own hand, in a very laconicftyle, " Let it be according to the decree of the fenate; " and fometimes would addfome particular alterations, ſuch as he thought fit to mention, and underwrote, Peter.His Majefty knew fo little of relaxation of mind when awake, that he never allowedhis time of reft to be broken in upon, unleſs in cafe of fire. When any accident ofthat kind happened, in any part of the town, there was a ſtanding order to awake himon its first appearance; and His Majefty was frequently the firft at the fire, where healways remained, giving the neceffary orders, till all further danger was over.example of paternal regard of the Czar for his fubjects, was of courfe followed by allthe great officers, and thofe of the firft quality; which was frequently the means offaving many thouſands of his fubjects from utter ruin, whofe houfes and goods, withoutfuch fingular affiftance, muſt have ſhared the fate of their ruined neighbours.ThisIn acts of religion he appeared devout, but not fuperftitious. I have feen him at hispublic devotions at church many times. I have been prefent, when His Majeſty, notliking the clerk's manner of reading the pfalms, hath taken the book from the clerk,and hath read them himfelf; which he did very diftinctly, and with proper emphaſis.His Majeſty was allowed, by the best judges of the Sclavonian and Ruffian languages,to be as great a mafter of them as any of the moft learned of his fubjects, whetherchurchmen or laics. He wrote a very good hand, very expeditiously, yet the charactersdiftin&t enough. Of this I myſelf am fome judge, having feen many of his letters, allwritten with his own hand, to Mr. Henry Stiles, and others. As to his ſtyle, ſome ofhis fecretaries, and other competent judges of the language, affirmed, that they hadnever known any man who wrote more correctly, or could compriſe the ſenſe and meaning of what he wrote in fo few words as His Majefty.The following I had from a certain Rufs gentleman, of very good family, and whowas a general officer of unexceptionable character in the army, who had attended HisMajefty, from his very youth, in all his expeditions. This officer being an old friendof mine, I went to pay him a vifit one evening, long after the death of Peter the Great,when he told me, that fuch and fuch old officers, naming them, had dined with himthat day, and that the principal ſubject of their converfation turned on the actions oftheir old father, (as he termed him by way of eminence, ) Peter the Great. He toldme further, that, though His Majeftyfeemed to be fevere, on certain occafions, yet no one .of them all could produce or recollect one fingle inftance of his having puniſhed anhoneſt man, or that he cauſed any perſon to fuffer any puniſhment who had not welldeferved it.He hath been reprefented as making too frequent ufe of fpirituous liquors to exceſs,which is an unmerited afperfion; for he had an averfion to all fots, and to thoſe too muchgiven to drink. It is true, he had his times of diverfion, when he would be merryhimſelf,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 497nimfelf, and liked to fee others fo; this may have been neceffary and proper, for theunbending his mind from affairs of great weight; but fuch amufements occurredgenerally during holidays, and feſtival times, and was, with him, at no time of long continuance. It has been imputed to him, and not without fome appearance of reaſon,that he had political views in encouraging drinking at theſe times of merriment; for,on thefe occafions, he mixed with the company, and converfing with them on the footing of a companion, had better opportunities, at fuch times, ofdiſcovering the real ſentiments of thoſe about him, than when they were quite cool.Thoſe who, by their offices about the perſon of Peter the Great, might be fuppofedto be the best acquainted with his difpofition, always difavowed his drinking to excefs,and infifted on his being a fober Prince. I can aver that, during the campaign of theexpedition to Derbent in Perfia, he was not once guilty of the leaſt exceſs, but ratherlived abftemiouſly. In this point, I could not be miſtaken, as the tent of Dr. Blumentroft, His Majeſty's chief phyſician, with whom I lodged, was always the neareſt tent tothat of His Majefty.I fhall give one inftance, in proof of what I have advanced concerning the temperance ofthis great man, viz. In our third day's march, on our return from Derbent, wewere kept in continual alarm by confiderable bodies of mountaineers, both of horſe andfoot, whom we ſaw hovering on the tops of the adjacent hills, though they dared not tocome down to the plain, to attack any part of our army, yet it was neceffary to bewatchful of them; which, in fome meaſure impeded our march. The evening ofthat day, we had a hollow way to pafs, which took up much time, and obliged thegreatest part of the army to remain there all night; fo that none reached the camp,except the guards, and fome light horfe, who attended their Majefties. On myarrivalthere, about midnight, I found only His Majefty's tent,fet up, and another ſmall one forMr. Felton, the Czar's principal cook, and maſter of his kitchen. I went into Felton'stent, and found him all alone, with a large fauce-pan of warm grout before him, madeof buck-wheat with butter, which he told me was the remains of their Majeſties ſupper,who eat of nothing elfe that evening, and who were juft gone to bed.During the whole march, His Majefty, for the moſt part, rode an Engliſh pad, aboutfourteen hands high, for which he had a particular liking, as it was very tractable andeafy to mount. His picture is drawn by Caravac on this horfe. He did not wearboots, as he very often walked on foot. In the heat of the day, when the army halted,he ufed to get into the Emprefs's coach, and fleep for half an hour. His drefs, duringthe march, was a white night-cap, with a plain flapped hat over it, and a fhort dimitywaiſtcoat. When at any time he received meffengers from the chieftains of themountaineers, he put on his regimentals, as an officer of the guards, being lieutenantcolonel of the Preobrafhenfky regiment.During the whole courfe of his life, His Majefty avoided all forts of ceremony, except on public occafions. His manner of living in his houfe was more like that of aprivate gentleman than of fo great a monarch. I was once at court on a holiday, whenthe Emperor came home from church to dinner, with a large attendance of his minifters, general officers, and other great men. His table was laid with about fifteencovers. As foon as dinner was ferved up, he and the Emprefs took their places, andHis Majefty, addreffing himſelf to the company, faid, " Gentlemen, pleaſe to take yourplaces as far as the table will hold, the reft will go home and dine with their wives,"On fuch occafions, the princeffes, his children, dined in another room, to whom hefent ſuch diſhes, from his own table, as he thought proper for their dinner.VOL. VII. 3 SThis498BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.This great monarch took all the pains, and uſed all the means poffible, in order tobe intimately acquainted with every thing proper for a man who ruled a mighty empire to know. He entered into the detail of every branch of the arts ufeful to mankind; into that of all the manufactures which regarded the conftruction of ſhips, andfitting them for the fea; into that of the making of arms, artillery, &c. If he had aruling paffion for any one part of thefe acquirements, it muſt have been for fhipbuilding; into which he entered himſelf very early, in the quality of a common workman, with his hatchet, and proceeded regularly through all the degrees, to the rank ofmafter-builder, which he attained but a few years before his death. After he got thatlength in the art, he made the draughts, formed the mouldings, and directed thebuildings of feveral men of war, of the fecond and third rates, himſelf; and he dulydemanded, and received his falary as a mafter-builder. The day of launching thefhips, which he himſelf built, he celebrated as a holiday, and put on laced clothes;but, before he went to work, to ſtrike away the ſtaunchions, blocks, &c. he always putoff his fine coat.He was very frugal in what regarded his perfonal expences, and thofe of his houſehold. Notwithſtanding his frugality in what related to himſelf, he ſpared no coftin whatever concerned the public, in the ſtructure of his men of war, in the artillery,fortifications, arſenals, canals, &c. all which bore marks of very great magnificence.Nor was he fparing in his buildings, and the decorations of his gardens with ftatues,grottos, fountains, &c. of which the buildings of the fummer-palace, and the gardens atSt. Peterſburg, at Peterhoff, Strealna, Czarfky Sealo, and many others are fufficientproofs. I fhall not detain the reader longer on the ſubject of this very great man'scharacter, or way of living, than to acquaint him, that, as His Majefty was very earlyup in the morning, he went abroad generally without breakfaft; came home to dinnerabout eleven of the clock; after dinner, went to fleep for about an hour; after which,if buſineſs did not intervene, he fometimes diverted himſelf at his turning loom; thenwent to viſit thoſe he had a regard for, as well foreigners as Ruffians, with whomhe would be very fociable, and eafy in converfation. He ſometimes fupped withthem; which, generally in his latter days, was on hare or wild-fowl, roafted verydry, drank fmall beer, and fometimes a few glaffes of wine; and generally was in bedbefore ten of the clock at night. He neither played at cards, dice, or any gameof chance.The reader will pleaſe to take along with him the following obfervations, viz. thatthis monarch was, at no time, even during maſquerades, feaftings, affemblies, and allother diverfions or amufements, by day or night, without the attendance of fome orother of his ininifters, and of thoſe who poffeffed his confidence; by which means bufinefs, and fuch affairs as were of the greateſt confequence, went on regularly; and fomeofthem even concerted during thofe times of relaxation.I now return to the 5th of October 1722; at which time, the Emperor and Emprefs being embarked on board their galley, and the whole fleet being ready, and thewind fair, we weighed anchor and got under fail, from the bay of Agrachan, for Aftrachan, at which place we arrived on the 14th ofthe fame month, little material happening in the paffa*ge, only fome rough gales of contrary wind.Having finished what I had to do at Aftrachan, I joined company with Simon Gregoritz Nariſhkin, one of His Majefty's general-adjutants, and Commodore Coſslar, whoalways commanded the ſhip in which His Majefty hoiſted his flag, when he went to fea;and with theſe two gentlemen returned to Mofco.Accordingly,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 499Accordingly, we fet out from Aftrachan in a ſmall fhallop, and came by water tothe town of Zaritzina. The winter approaching, we got fuch carriages as the placeafforded, and continued our journey, along the lines, to the river Don; thefe lines aredrawn from the Volga to the Don, being a deep ditch, about thirty feet broad, pallifadoed on the top, with high wooden towers at certain diſtances, in fight of each other,well guarded. They effectually anſwer the end propofed by His Majesty, in erectingthem, and making the ditch, which was for the preventing of incurfions from theCuban Tartars.The 25th of November we arrived in Mofco; at which place His Majeſty and theEmpreſs arrived about the middle of December 1722.The following are the poſt-ſtages and diſtances between Mofco and Aftrachan.From Mofco to theSkopinaReafkyVillage of BlagoyOloviachTown of KozloffTo theTown of Pravotorſkoy YurtuKalinoffskoy KuftikyZatoffsky-YurtuKulmifhkom-Yurtu -Verfts.20242124Uft-Chaperfkoy Koluditz 21RofsleeveUft- MedvedeſkyKletzkoy-TzaganockKlementſky StantzyNovo GregorioffskySiropeníky StantzyRetzky- SokaryVillage of OftroffsachVerfts.25Ulianinin Sealo 38Town of Kolumna 32Zarayfky 39Prudach Sealo 37Pod Offinka 35 12Bogoyavleníko 35 13Gorlovy 25 1830 2340 2037 2335 3032 Gratfefsky Stantzy 12Retfky Yaroflafky 25Zaritina 28Lyffiach- Gorach Sealo 22Tamboff 22Kufminoy-Gatty Sealo 21Retzky-Tziny 127Panoffskich Kuftack 24Retzky-Savally 20Retzky-Shinkoffy 20Retzky-Tagaiky 26Retzky-Tavolfhanky 20Reka-ActubaTzareofa-PudaUrotzifha-TzarevaTayunleyKulavaAfhlagataySakuley OkorebaBefstzara26332 33322313026303030252656Chaperfkoy Krepoft 22 Kravala 30Michailofsky Gorodky 27 Achfarava 27Yuripiníky Stanu 17 Reka-Bolfhoy Bereketa 20Tepinſky-Yurtu 20 Aftrachan 39The diſtance from Mofco to Aftrachan, the poft-road, by land3821412( 500 )AN ACCOUNT OF MY JOURNEY FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO CONSTANTINOPLE,AND THENCE BACK TO ST. PETERSBURG, IN PART OF THE YEARS 1737 AND1738, UNDERTAKEN AT THE INSTANCES OF COUNT OSTERMAN, CHANCELLOROF RUSSIA, AND OF MR. RONDEAU, MINISTER FROM GREAT BRITAIN AT THECOURT OF ST. PETERSBURG,AWAR having broken out in 1734 between Ruffia and Turkey, which had beencarried on with great fuccefs on the part of Ruffia, by their taking from theTurks the ftrongly fortified cities of Afoph, Otzakoff, together with the Perecop, andother places of the frontiers of great importance, the Emperor of Germany, throughvarious connections, came, fome time after its commencement, to be engaged in it.In the autumn of 1737, a congrefs was appointed to be held at Nemiroff, a town onthe frontiers of Poland, in order to accommodate and determine all differences betweenthe belligerent powers, by the mediation ofthe miniſters of Great Britain , France, andthe States of Holland, then refiding at the Ottoman Porte, who were Sir EverardFawkner, the Marquis de Ville- Neuve, and Mr. Kalkune. But before theſe miniſterscould reach Nemiroff, the plenipotentiaries of the powers at war differed fo widely intheir refpective demands, that the congrefs broke up without effect.The court of Ruffia determining to fend a perfon to Conftantinople, with new pro--pofals of accommodation; and, as no fubjects of Ruffia or Germany are admitted into the dominions of the Grand Seignor, while he is at war with thofe powers, I was prevailed upon to undertake the journey, at the carneft defires of Count Ofterman, thechancellor of Ruffia, and of Mr. Rondeau, at that time His Britannic Majeſty's miniſter.at the Court of St. Petersburg.On the 6th of December 1737, I fet out from St. Peterſburg, with only one fervant,who underſtood the Turkiſh language. Having, in a former journey, taken notice ofthe places on the road between St. Petersburg and Mofco, I wave the repeating them.The 9th, I arrived at the city of Mofco, which had greatly fuffered the precedingfummer by a dreadful conflagration. As I purpoſe at the end of my journey, to givean account of the ſtages and diftances, I fhall here only mention the time, and chiefplaces through which I pafs.The 11th, I left Mofco, early in the morning, and proceeded to the fouth-west to--wards Kioff.The 12th, in the night, I came to Kalugua, a large and populous town, fituated onthe banks of the river Ocka, inhabited by ſeveral ſubſtantial merchants, very confiderable dealers in hemp, pot-afh, wax, &c.The 15th, I got to Siefky, another town, which is reckoned to be at about equaldiftance from Mofco and from Kioff, and is the laft town in Great Ruffia, bordering onthe Ruffian Ukrain. At night I reached Glukova, the firft town in the Ukrain, a largeand populous place, where, having changed horſes, I proceeded thence the ſame night to another town called Korolevitz.The 16th, I paffed through Batturiff, a large rambling town, formerly the refidenceofthe Hetmann Mazeppa; it ftands on rifing hills upon the river Semm. The countryadjacent is very pleafant, and exceeding fruitful, being moftly plain, interſperſed withwoods of oak and other timber. The place is almoſt encompaffed with cherry andother fruit trees. What is remarkable, and demonſtrative of the great fertility of thefoilBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 501foil is, that they have about fixty water-mills for grinding corn, all built within thediſtance of two English miles.At night, I got to Nefhin, another confiderable town. At this place, for want offnow on the ground, I was obliged to leave my convenient fledge, and ride all the reſtof the way on horfeback. This detained me much longer on the road than I ſhouldhave been if I could have proceeded in my fledge.The 18th, I paffed the Boryfthenes, in a boat, and in the evening arrived at Kioff,fituated on the weft bank ofthe Boryfthenes, now called Dnieper. This famous rivertakes it riſe on the borders of Poland, near the city of Smolensko, and, after a longcourſe pointing to the fouth, difcharges itfelf into the Black Sea, near Otzakoff.The city of Kioff ftands on a high hill, and overlooks the river, and a ſpacious plainto the eastward, as far as your eye can reach. To the weftward the country is hilly;and many of the hills are covered with woods. There are feveral vineyards about thetown, which produce good grapes for the table.This place is adorned with many magnificent churches, and is famous for being therepofitory of faints, and holy men of the Greek church, whoſe ſhrines are vifited bydevout perfons from diftant places. Befides, they have an univerſity at Kioff, of confiderable repute in theſe parts.I cannot but obferve here, that this part of the country, commonly called the Ukrain,(though it is fometimes called Little Ruffia, ) doth, for fertility of foil , and rich pafturage, exceed moſt parts of Europe, producing vaft quantities of various forts of grain,the crops of which are always very great, as well as of hemp and flax, of the moſt excellent quality, and that with little labour; for they plow the ground with one horſeonly, and but with one man, who holds the plow, and drives the horſe at the fame time.The Ukrain produces good horfes for the faddle, and large fized black cattle, invery great numbers, more than fufficient for their own ufe, and for ſupplying theirneighbours with as good beef as the world affords. The woods are well ſtored withgame ofdivers forts, as are the rivers and ponds with fiſh. Afparagus, which in otherparts requires cultivation, grows naturally in fuch plenty in the Ukrain, as to be termeda weed. The people are very civil and hofpitable among themſelves, and alſo to allſtrangers, living very clean and neat in their houſes. I now refume my journey.At Kioff I met with my worthy friends General Romanzoff, and the privy counfellor Mr. Neptuof, who gave me all the affiftance and diſpatch I could defire. Theyordered a lieutenant and a troop of coffacks to eſcort me through Poland, to the confines of Moldavia..On the 20th, I fet out from Kioff, and at night, came to the frontier town, calledVaffilkoff, which ftands on the declivity of a hill , and is the laft town belonging toRuffia in that part. The place is but fmall, though well fortified, and provided with aftrong garrifon, &c.The 21ft, early in the morning, I left Vaffilkoff, accompanied by my trufty coffacks;and after riding about an hour, I came to the borders of Poland , where is an out-poft,and a ſtrong guard of Ruffian foldiers. This place is called the Zaftave, very neceffaryin time of war. The territory of Poland is divided here from that of Ruffia by a deepditch drawn acrofs the middle of a fpacious plain..From the Zaftave I continued my journey, in a ftrong froft, which made the roadvery rough, and keeping to the fouthward along the fame plain, I faw neither houſenor tree till I came to Belozerkoff, the first town appertaining to Poland in this part.The gates being fhut before my arrival, it was fome time before I could be admitted.However, at length, the gates were opened; I took up my quarters at a public-houſebelonging502 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.belonging to a Jew. The fame evening I waited on Mr. Becherfky, the governor, anddefired he would give me a paffport. He treated me with great civility, and orderedthe paffport to be ready againſt the next morning.The 22d, by the excefs of the governor's hofpitality, I was detained till the evening,waiting for his Excellency's paffport, which was abfolutely neceffary, and proved ofgreat uſe to me on the road.Thetown of Belozerkoff, fo called from a white church there, is a pretty large place,and is fortified. It ftands in a pleaſant plain. The inhabitants are, for the most part,Poles, mixed with not a few Jews, who keep public-houſes, and are generally farmersof the revenues all over Poland. There is fcarce a village without fome Jews, whekeep inns for lodging and entertaining paffengers.In the evening, I took my leave of the kind governor, who, after treating me withgreat politenefs, gave me a guide to the next village, called Shamaryafka, about twoPoliſh miles diftant from Belozerkoff, where I lodged that night.The 23d, early in the morning, I left this village, in a ſtrong froft, without any fnow,and, after paffing a few ftraggling villages, at night I came to Goloquaft, where I tookup my lodgings at a Jew's houfe. It is to be obferved, that the country is moſtly plain,with fome rifing grounds, interfperfed with woods of oak, afh, and elm, and otherforts of timber, but chiefly of oak; is very pleaſant and fruitful, but thinly inhabited;which muſt proceed from their being expofed to the incurfions ofthe Tartars and Haydamacks, who at times make cruel inroads into theſe parts.The Haydamacks were, the foregoing winter, at this place, with a body of five orfix hundred horſe, where they committed many diſorders; after which, and afterhaving tortured all the Jews they could light upon, to oblige them to diſcover theirmoney, they marched off with their booty, before the Polish troops could be affembledto oppoſe them.I was well informed, by people who knew fomething of theſe lawleſs banditti, whoare called Haydamacks by the Poles, and Zapourofky coffacks by the Ruffians, thatthey are a parcel of vagabonds, compofed of idle fellows of different nations, who,having fled from juſtice, find a ſafe retreat among this crew. They are, for ſeveralreafons, protected by the Turks, who lay claim to the iſlands, and places adjacent, onthe river Dnieper, where they inhabit, and have fortified themſelves fo ftrongly as noteafily to be attacked; nor canthey be attacked without danger of breaking peace withthe Turks.They profeſs the Chriſtian religion; but have no wives nor any women among them,having erected themſelves into a wild kind of military order, if it may be fo called.Every perfon, who is defirous of entering into this community, is obliged to ſerve acertain number of years, before he is admitted into the brotherhood. The grand mafter is called Caſhavar, which fignifies chief cook, who is chofen from among thefraternity for his conduct and courage. I think I need not enlarge on the ſubject of fuch a worthleſs fociety.The 24th, I left Goloquaft, and came, towards noon, to a fmall town called Pogrebifha, where I halted. The people, at firft fight, taking my coffacks for Haydamacks,fhut the gates, and alarmed the place. My paffport foon convinced them of their error.After a ſhort ſtay, I proceeded again on my journey. At night I reached a ſmall village, named Otzeredno, where I lodged.The 25th, leaving Otzeredno, I gotto Vitofftzy, another village, where I lay that night.The 26th, I arrived at Nemiroff, where the late congrefs was held, as I have mentioned above. This town is pretty large and populous, well fortified and garriſoned.6 TheBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 503The governor is General Ruffotfky, who hath Colonel Wangenheim, and ſeveral otherGerman officers under him.The country about Nemiroff is very pleaſant and fruitful, having many orchards inthe neighbourhood, which produce the largeſt apples and pears that I have ſeen anywhere. They have alſo plenty of grapes, very good for the table.The 27th, about noon, I fet out again on my journey. I got that night to the village Petzory, where I remained that night.The 28th, I halted at Spikoff, travelled thence to Lefkovitz, a large village, whereI paffed the night.The 29th, I halted at Tamaz-poly, and lodged at Kleimbofka.The 30th, I arrived at Tzikanofka, the laft place belonging to Poland on that frontier. It is a large ftraggling village, fituate on the eaft bank of the river Ifter, nowcalled Dniefter, and is the boundary between Poland and Moldavia. On the oppofitefhore ftands the town of Soroka, the firft in the principality of Moldavia, now annexedto the Turkiſh dominions. The fame evening, I fent my man to Soroka, to acquaintthe commandant or Perkulab, as they are called of my arrival.Next morning, the 1ft of January 1738, the commandant of Soroka, whoſe name isPetroky, a Greek, came over upon the ice to vifit me, and told me that he was veryforry he could not let me pafs without a ſpecial order from the Prince of Moldavia,who refides at Yaffy, to whom he would immediately diſpatch an exprefs for that purpofe; and hoped I would wait patiently for an anfwer. In the evening, Mr. Petroky paid me another vifit; he ſhowed me much civility, and brought me a prefent of wine, fruits, &c. which was very acceptable in a place where little was to be got formoney.January 2d. Mr. Petroky acquainted me, that his expreſs was returned, with ordersfrom the Prince to furniſh me with horſes, and a proper convoy to Yaffy.Having no more occafion for the coffacks, I fent them back again to Kioff; butMr. Noroff, the lieutenant, was permitted to accompany me to Yaffy. This gentleman is an officer of a marching regiment. The coffacks had their own officer befides.Soroka is but a ſmall town, pleaſantly fituated on the weft banks of the river, aboutthirty leagues fouth- eaft from Chotyn, and the fame diſtance north-weft from Bender.The place is inhabited chiefly by Moldavians, mixed with a few Greeks, Jews, andTurks. It is defended by an old tower, in which are fome cannon of little ufe. Thechannel of the Dnieſter runs deep there, between two high green banks. The countryadjacent is fruitful in grain, and abounds in very rich pafturage.The 2d, early in the morning, I left Tzikanofka, and paffed the river on the ice toSoroka, where, the horſes being ready, I took leave of the commandant, Mr. Petroky,and proceeded on my journey. Towards noon I halted at a large village called Kaynar. The preceding fummer many of the inhabitants of this place were carried off bythe plague; but it was now, by the rigour of the feafon, much abated. As foon asthe horſes were changed, we left Kaynar, and, after travelling over a very fine country,came at night to another large village, called Meygura, where we lay.The 3d, I left Meygura. After paffing the river Pruth, I arrived in the evening, atYaffy, where I found good and warm quarters.Next morning, being the 4th, I was conducted to the palace, and waited on thePrince, who is alſo ftyled Hofpodar of Moldavia. He takes the title of Serene Highnefs, though he is only promoted to that dignity by the Sultan, or rather by the GrandVifier, and holds it only during pleaſure, being truſted with no other power than theadminiſtration of civil affairs. His name is Gregory Ducas, of a reputable Grecianfamily;504 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.family; he enjoys a general good character. This gentleman treated me with greatcivility and politenefs, regretted that it was not in his power to allow of my going directly to Conftantinople, and that I must go to Bender firft, where I fhould find theSerafkier, who had the chief command in theſe parts. I was not willing to go fo farout of my road; but as there was no remedy, I complied. The Prince ordered a Bofniac captain, and two Moldavian foldiers of his guards, to eſcort me to Bender, whichwas all he could do for me in the prefent juncture of affairs.From Soroka to Yaffy the country is fomewhat hilly, the foil rich, the pafturage excellent. About the river Pruth are fine woods of various forts of timber natural to theclimate. About Yaffy, and in other parts, there are large vineyards, producing grapesin great abundance, whereof are made confiderable quantities of wine, of inferior quality, the greateft part of which is confumed in Poland, and others parts adjacent, forwhich the Moldavians receive confiderable fums in ready money.The city of Yaffy ftands in a ſpacious plain, on the rivulet called Bachluy, aboutthirty-five leagues towards the north-weft from Bender; it may contain between twoand three thouſand houſes, moſtly built of wood. The inhabitants are Chriftians of theGreek church. The Prince's palace is an ancient pile of Gothic building, of ſtone andbrick; it hath the appearance of a venerable old caftle, for which I ſuppoſe it was intended, as this unhappy country hath been at all times expofed to the ravages of barbarous nations.The 5th, having taken leave of my companion, Mr. Noroff, who returned back toKioff, I fet out from Yaffy, accompanied by my Bofniac captain, the two Moldavians,and my own fervant. We came, at night, to a village called Voltzinitz, about tenleagues fouth-eaſt from Yaffy, ſtanding in a fruitful valley, where we took up ourquarters.The 6th, we left this village in the morning, and came at night to Kiſhanoff, anothervillage, where we lodged.The 7th, we left Kiſhanoff. On the road we met with many troops of Tartars,going to the eastward, on an expedition , notwithſtanding the weather was feverely cold,with ſtrong frofts. Theſe hardy people accompanied me all the reſt of the way toBender, where we arrived in the evening.The country from Yaffy to Kiſhanoff is very fine; but towards Bender, it growsmore dry and barren, and does not appear of fo good foil, nor to have ſo good pafturage,as the countries which I paffed through.The Moldavians are all Chriftians, and the Sultan indulges them with a governor orprince of their own religion. This privilege they have enjoyed for many years, whichmay be eſteemed no fmall favour under fuch an iron government as is that of the Turks.Yet it may be obſerved, that their yoke is much eafier, and their manners much morehumanized, than at their firft entrance and fettlement in Europe, though, I am perfuaded,that two-thirds of Moldavia lie wafte at this time. It ſeems to have been an eſtabliſhedfyftem in Turkish politics to depopulate all the countries bordering on Christendom ,referving no more than may be fufficient to furnish their garrifons and troops withprovifions.As the plague had raged all the preceding year in the town of Bender, and hadalmoſt depopulated the place, about a mile fhort of the town, we turned off the road,to the right hand, towards the Turkish camp, where the Serafkier, or general in chief,lay in the field, with all his army about him. The general's quarters were ſtrongly fortified, with a deep ditch pallifadoed and mounted with cannon; but the troops werelodged in cells under ground, laid over with ſticks and earth, having a hole at the top2toBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 505to let out the fmoke, fenced with a dry hedge about it. In this miferable condition,thefe poor people paffed the winter. I and my Bofniac captain were conducted to oneof thefe holes, which at night was crowded with Turkiſh officers of diftinction. Suchmiferies, and many more, are the frequent attendants on deſtructive war. The Serafkier's name is Gengy Aly Bafha, or Young Aly Bafha, though he is now about ſeventyyears of age, and hath the character of a brave and active general.The 8th, the Serafkier ſent his fecretary to me, who asked me feveral queſtions relating to myjourney, and hoped that neceffity would be admitted as an excufe for thebadnefs of my quarters. In the evening the fecretary came again, when he told me, that,in two or three days, their feaft of Bayram would be over, and then I fhould proceed onmy journey to Conftantinople with a proper convoy. In the mean time, he ordered anofficer to furniſh me with fuch neceffaries as the place afforded. In this no agreeablefituation I was obliged to wait till the feaft was over, being five long nights, all thewhile confined within the precincts of my hut. One alleviation was,One was, the company ofmy Boſniac captain, who tarried with me the whole time.The 12th, in the morning, the ſecretary came and acquainted me, that the Seraſkierhad ordered a chivadar, or officer, belonging to the Grand Vifier, and two Tartars, toefcort me to Conftantinople; at the fame time, he told me that I might depart when Ipleaſed. This welcome news was very agreeable; for I had been but little better thana priſoner from the time of my arrival at the camp; though, I must own, they werevery civil, and made me as eafy as the accommodations and the circumftances of affairswould admit of.I could only fee Bender at a diſtance. But it is well known to be a place of importance, being ſtrongly and regularly fortified, with out-works in proportion. Itſtands in a plain, near the river Dniefter, and is frequently mentioned in the annals oflate times, for being the place of refuge of that intrepid, inconfiderate monarchCharles XII. of Sweden, after the Ruffians had beat him out of the field at Poltova, inthe year 1709.Notwithſtanding the contagious diftemper was not entirely ceaſed at Bender, we hadour daily proviſions from that place.As foon as the horſes were ready, I mounted, and left this plaguy camp, which is foin a literal as well as an allegorical ſenſe. Although our horfes were in exceeding badcafe, from the fatigues of the laft campaign, and from the want of due accommodations, of ſhelter, &c. during the fevere weather that followed, yet we made a ſhift tocome, in the evening, to a large rambling town, called Kaufhan, inhabited by BudjackTartars. It ſtands fouth-weft from Bender. Here I had good quarters; the peoplewere friendly and hofpitable. At fupper I fat by an old Tartar, who feemed to be aperſon of diſtinction among them. This old gentleman afked me many queſtions aboutEurope, through an interpreter, particularly about the illuſtrious family of Lorrain,which furpriſed me not a little. The firſt diſh that came before us was pilaw, made ofbarley; then he told me, in French, that it was not dreffed after the French faſhion,This brought on a converfation between us in that language, which he fpoke well, inwhich he informed me, that, in his youth, being withthe Turkish army in Hungary, hewas taken priſoner by the Duke of Lorrain, who then commanded the Imperial army.His Highneſs took him into his fervice, in which he lived many years; and, after treating him with great humanity, at laft gave him his freedom, with liberty to return intohis own country; which extraordinary favour he acknowledged with great reſpect andgratitude.VOL. VII. 3 T The1506 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.The 13th, having got freſh horfes, I left Kauſhan, and travelled to the westward, towards the Danube, leaving the rifing grounds, and came along the plain called the Steppof Budjack, which is flat, dry, barren, and uncultivated; yet there is fome good palture, eſpecially for fheep, of which the Turkish army have left few remaining. At night,we came to Kongly, where are about a dozen ftraggling cottages, inhabited by Tartars.We made our quarters that night in the corner of a large fhed, along with our horfes.The 14th, as there was nothing tempting to detain us at Kongly, we fet forwardvery early in the morning, and proceeded along the fame barren plain, without feeing ahoufe or tree all that day. In the evening we came to a Tartar village, called TartarKew, where we were tolerably well lodged and entertained.The 15th, weleft Tartar-Kew, and came in the evening to the town of Ifmayl, ftanding on the north bank of the famous river Danube, called Dunay in thefe parts. Theplace is very pleafant, within fight of the Black Sea. The inhabitants are chieflyTurks. Here I was well lodged, and had good bread and wine. The river here isvery broad, and divided into feveral branches, by iſlands, confiderably large; though,when the river falls into the Black Sea, all the branches are united, and form but onemouth at its entrance into that fea. The north bank confifts of rifing grounds; thefouth is fenced with high hills. I think the Danube, at this place, may be comparedwith the Volga at Aftrachan, both for breadth and quantity of water. By what Icould obferve, all the great rivers, from the Volga to this place, have, for the moſtpart, high lands for their weſtern banks, and low flat lands to the eastward.The 16th, we paffed the north branch ofthe Danube in a boat, to the next iſland;but the other branches being faft frozen over, we mounted, and rode and walked byturns, the rest ofthe way upon the ice; which was, in many places, very rough, anduneven, with great ridges, confifting of pieces of ice driven together, and heaped uponone another, by ſtrong easterly winds, and the rapidity of the current. Some oftheridges of ice were at leaſt feven or eight feet high, which obliged us to walk on footmoſt part of the way. However, in the evening, we arrived fafely at a town calledTultzin, ftanding on the fouth bank of the river, four leagues from Ifmayl, where wehad quarters, and other means of refreſhment.Tultzin is the firſt town in the ancient kingdom of Thrace, now reduced to a Turkishprovince, known by the name of Bulgaria. The Bulgarians, who are Chriftians oftheGreek church, live for the most part in villages; the towns, in general, being inhabited bythe Turks. This place hath an old abandoned caftle, feemingly of European conftruction; and, as it ſtands among hills, on the banks ofthe river, the fituation is very pleaſant.The 17th, we left Tultzin in the morning; towards noon we arrived at a largetown called Babbadach, ſtanding in a delightful valley environed by hills. At fomediſtance from the top of the hills to the eastward, is a moft extenfive profpect; particularly a full view of the Black Sea.It is fuppofed that the poet Ovid was banifhed and confined to this place; whichmuſt have been no agreeable fituation, to a man who had paffed his young days in thecourt of Auguftus, and had entered into all the pleafures and amufements of thatcourt, during the time of its politeft and gayeft period; in the gallantries of which hewas fuppofed to act no inconfiderable part. This amorous poet's book, De Triftibus,exhibits a melancholy picture of the manner of paffing his latter days at this place, fodifferent in climate from the happy temperament of that of Italy.After changing horfes at this place, we fet forwards. At night we came to a villagecalled Kaybaly, at a fmall diftance from which we were fo bewildered, in a drift offnow,BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 507 •fnow, that we loft the road; and, had it not been that the barking of a dog directed us,we muſt have lain in the fields all night.The 18th, leaving Kaybaly in deep fnow, we proceeded, and came to Danna-Kew,another village, where we paffed the night.The 19th, we travelled through a very fine country, whereon we found very littlefnow, and came at night to Kabady, where we lodged.The 20th, we proceeded, and came to a town called Bazar-tzick, and ſpent thenight there. The town is inhabited by Turks, Greeks, and Bulgarians.The 21ft, we came to Provady, a pretty large town, inhabited as the former.ftaid there all night.WeThe 22d, we left Provady; came that evening to Tzengy, where we lodged .The 23d, we continued our route; halted at a caravanfera, four leagues fromTzengy, and after that at a town called Aydofs; where, having changed horſes, weproceeded on our journey, and flept that night at Benglyr.The 24th, we came to Kanara, and lay there. I cannot but take notice of this finecountry, adorned with many beautiful woods and coppices, a very rich foil, and excellent paſture; but a great deal of it lies wafte; and it is but thinly peopled.The 25th, we came to the town of Kirkglifs; from thence to that of Burglaſs, wherewe remained that night.The 26th, we went on. We lodged that night at Tzorley.The 27th, we reached the town of Silivry, which ſtands on the White Sea, or thefea between the Dardanells and the Porte.The 28th, we paffed through a large town, called Buyk-tzeckmidgy; from thencethe laft ftage to Conftantinople.I muſt here take notice, that, at Silivry, I was met by another chevadar, who, inſteadof conducting me directly to the city, as I expected, turned fhort to the left hand, outof the high road, carried me through by-paths, over fteep and moorifh hills, uninhabited, till at laſt we came to a little village; on the top of the hill called Karamackly,where is a neat country-houſe belonging to Muſtapha-caffa Bafha, the chief butcher tothe Sultan, a place of great truſt and honour.I was lodged in the Bafha's houſe, and met with a friendly reception from his kaya,or fteward, who furnished me with what neceffaries I had occafion for. In the meantime, I waited patiently for the return of a meffenger whom they had diſpatched to theBafha. This place ftands very pleaſant and airy, within the view of the city, and is aretreat for the Baſha and his family, in times of the plague.1It will be readily imagined, that I did not much like being carried out of the common road. But, without asking questions, I followed my conductors.The 29th, the meffenger returned from the city, with orders that I ſhould proceed,which was very welcome news to me. Accordingly, we fet out about ten of the clock.Towards noon, we arrived at Conftantinople. They conducted me directly to thehoufe of Muſtapha Baſha, who received me with great civility. And, after afking afew queſtions relating to my journey, he then defired that I would wait till fuch time ashe fhould acquaint the Vifier of my arrival. Muftapha Baſha did not return till theevening. Upon his return, he fent an officer with me to Sir Everard Fawkener, theBritish ambaffador, to whom I was addreffed, and in whofe houfe I lodged during myabode at Conftantinople.I fhall fay nothing relating to the effects of my commiffion, farther, than that I punctually conformed to the terms of my inftructions.13 T 2Here,508BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.Here, it may be obferved, that, although the Ruffians under Count Lacy, and underCount Munich, were very fuccefsful every campaign, from the commencement of thewar in 1734, and made great acquifitions onthe Turkish frontier, on that fide, by theirtaking Afoph and Otzakoff, poffefling themfelves ofthePerecop and the Crimea, and carrying their arms, the laft campaign, into Moldavia, which was ended by a confiderableadvantage gained by the Ruflians at the battle of Chotim; in confequence of which'victory, the Basha of Chotim brought the keys of that important fortreſs to the generalof the Ruffian army, who fent the Bafha, and the principal officers under him, priſonersto St. Petersburg; yet the Emperor of Germany's arms in Hungary were by no meansfuccefsful; the Turks gaining on the Emperor's frontier there, as much as they loft oftheir own frontiers towards Ruffia. Elated by their fucceffes in Hungary, during thelaft campaign, the Ottoman Porte rofe in their demands, and infifted on higher terms.than Ruflia thought proper to agree to.This famous city is fo well known, that I need not enter into a minute defcription, fofhall only give a tranfient view of fuch remarkable things as occurred to me during myfhort ftay at this place.Conftantinople is fituated in forty-one and one-half degrees north latitude, twentynine degrees eaft longitude, upon a point of land, on the European fhore, in the province of Romania, and is eſteemed one of the moſt delightful fituations in the world;for which reafon Conftantine the Great chofe it for the feat of empire; by whom itwas rebuilt and beautified about the year of our Lord 330.At a diſtance, the city makes a very fine appearance, having a great number of gildedfpires and domes, or cupolas, which multiply as you approach; but, when you enterthe city, the general irregularity and narrowneſs of the streets do in no degree correſpond with the magnificent appearance it makes at a diſtance; which is, indeed, the cafeof many of the cities and great towns of Europe, feeming to be built at random. Ihave often thought, that, had a Chineſe been confulted, he could have taught bothGreeks and Romans how to lay out towns, and that by the fimpleft rules; viz. Letthere be ſpace enough, fufficient breadth of ſtreet, and the houſes on each fide built ina ftraight line; which rules are obſerved in all the towns I have obſerved in China, particularly Pekin. This common error, in laying out towns in Europe, muſt be owing tothe remiffneſs of the government of nations; though this great inconvenience, in fogrand a city as Conftantinople, hath no relation to the fituation of the place, yet it isthought by many, I think very juftly, that, were the ſtreets of this city fpacious and regular, it would in fome meaſure prevent the frequent peftilential difeafes with whichthis place is affected, and which prevail here more than in any other place I know;there feldom paffing a year without its making a dreadful havock among the populace.This mortal diftemper being almoſt always, more or lefs, in this city, may in partbe attributed to a defect in Turkiſh policy, which fuffers all fhips to enter the port,without requiring bills of health, at any time; even the fhips from infected places areadmitted. I do not know butthat the belief of predeftination, prevailing fo univerfallyamong the Turks, with whom it is a fundamental article of their creed, may likewifecontribute to the continuance of the devaſtations made, by this terrible diſeaſe, amongthe human fpecies.A very great nuifance, attending this place, is its being peſtered with a great numberof nafty dogs which belong to nobody; they kennel in every corner of the ſtreets; itis unlawful to kill them; and they are generally fed, which is looked upon, by manyof the Turks, as an act of charity.ItBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 509It is without difpute a populous city; but far fhort of the numbers reported by common fame, which feldom keeps within bounds in things of this nature. It is true, thatmany ſtrangers refort hither daily, both from Europe and Afia, and many of them remain here; but then it must be confidered how many are carried off annually by thepeftilence and other difcafes. I do not think the whole number exceeds four hundredthoufand fouls. In walking the ſtreets, you often meet with people, who, to avoidconverfing with you, walk on the other fide of the ſtreet, for fear of catching the diftemper; and moft people endeavour to get to windward of each other; which, withmany other inconveniencies, renders the place not very agreeable to ſtrangers.From Pera, a diſtrict of Conftantinople inhabited by Europeans, and by the foreignminiſters refiding at the Porte, there is a fine profpect of the city, and of the GrandSeignor's feraglio; which laſt ſtands on an eminence, with floping gardens, down tothe edge ofthe canal, planted with rows of cyprefs, and other evergreens. It hath theappearnce of a moft delightful place; but, though the walks are well fhaded, it is notthought good manners, or even fafe, to look at them with a fpy-glafs.Oppofite to the feraglio, on the Afian fhore, ftands the ancient city of Chryfopolis,or the Golden City, now called Skutary, a pretty little place.Along the fhore of the Propontis, towards the fouth-weft, runs a ridge of very highmountains, called Olympus, which are covered with fnow fummer and winter. Themountain of that name, mentioned by the poets, ftands in Greece.February the 3d, there was a great fall of fnow, followed by a ſtrong froft, whichcontinued for the ſpace of fourteen days. I thought myſelf happy in eſcaping it; but this .weather is very acceptable to the people here, as it tends to ftop the contagious distemper..I fhall now take a view of fome of the moſt remarkable ftructures in and about thisancient city, which are commonly fhown to travellers. Indeed there are but few remains of antiquity to be ſeen at prefent; for the Turks, according to their principles,deface and ruin every thing that hath an air of idolatry, as they call it, whether Paganor Chriſtian. What Chriftian churches they have ſpared are converted into mofques.March 2d, the weather being fine, I made a party with fome friends to ride out andfee the aqueducts, which are curious fabrics erected in order to fupply the city withfreſh water. They are faid to be built by the Emperor Valens. They are now keptin repair by the Grand Seignor. They ftand at unequal diſtances, from four to fevenor more miles to the northward of the city, according to the reſpective ſupplies ofwater from fprings and brooks.The long aqueduct is about feven hundred yards in length, and near thirty in height;it confifts of two ſtories or ranges of arches, one above the other, having about fiftyarches in a range, all of hewn ſtone, neatly wrought.The crooked aqueduct, fo called from its form of zig- zag, runs in this figure VVVV;the intent of which is to divert and leffen the force of the current, and hath a triplerange of beautiful arches.At ſome diſtance from this ftands the high aqueduct, the most magnificent of all, "being near three hundred yards in length, about forty in height, having four ſtatelyarches with the fame number over them. Befides, there are feveral others of leffernote, which I need not mention. They are all built to convey the water, over lowvallies and hollows, to the city.At night we came to Belgrade, a pleaſant village, inhabited by Greeks, where moſtof the foreign miniſters have their country-houfes, to which they retire in time of theplague.The510 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.The next day we remained at this village, and walked through the woods, to aneighbouring hill, to the eastward, from whence there is a full view of the BlackSea. Thefe woods are of fine oak, beech, and other timber, fit for the conftruction of a royal navy. They are well furniſhed with wild-fowl, and various forts of other game.The 4th, we left Belgrade, when, riding to the fouthward, through pleafant woodsand fields, we came about noon to a large village, called Buyuckterey, ftanding on thenorth fhore of the canal, or Thracian Bofphorus. This canal is natural, buriting outfrom the Black Sea, between two high mountains, and runs, in a ſtrong current, aboutfixteen Engliſh miles, to the city, where it difcharges itſelf into the Propontis. Thedepth is from ten to fifteen fathoms; the breadth from about one mile to half a mile;very well ftored with moft forts of fea- fifh, particularly cyfters , of a fmall kind, but verydelicious. The land on both fides is very high, with many pleaſant villages along thefhore. At the mouth of the canal , where it begins from the Black Sea, the Turks havebuilt two forts to defend the paffa*ge, one on the fhore of Afia, the other on that ofEurope; they may well ferve to prevent fudden incurfions, but of little uſe againſt aftrong fquadron of men of war, and an eafterly wind.I was informed that, in the reign of Sultan Amurat, a ftrong party of Coffacks came,in open boats, before thefe caftles were built, or when they were neglected, enteredthe canal, and put all the city in great confternation. After they had plundered manyvillages, they returned again to their own country, with little or no lofs.From the Buyuckterey we fent our horfes home, and returned to the city by water.Some days after this, I went to fee the Sultan, as he came from his devotions at themofque called Jeney-Jamey. He was on horfeback, attended by a ſmall troop of ſpahison horſeback, and fome janiſaries on foot. Mahmuth hath a good aſpect, and bears thecharacter of being of a humane peaceable difpofition. This Prince fucceeded Achmet,who was depofed, about feven years before, by one named Ali-Patrone, or Kalyll, ajanifary, and his affociates, all people of low degree; the next in command to AliPatrone, or Kalyll, as he is commonly called, was Mufs-luch, a dealer in melons andother fruits; the third was Emy-Aly. Theſe three chiefs governed the Turkiſh empire near a month. After they had placed Mahmuth on the throne, they depofed theGrand Vifier, and diſpoſed of all offices civil and military, at pleaſure. Ali-Patrone, inthe mean time, was very fober, never changing his habit, came every morning to thejanifaries' hall, where he fat as fovereign judge, and gave fentence on all caufes thatwere brought before him without delay; was very charitable to the poor, and rectifiedmany abuſes in the ftate. That magnificent Vifier, Ibrahim- Bafha, who had introducedprinting, fell a facrifice to the rebels.One action ofthe Kalyll's I cannot omit relating, as it evinces, that his high ſtationdid not produce forgetfulneſs of his old friends. There was one Janaky, a Greek, abutcher by trade, who had formerly lent Ali-Patrone half a dollar. He fent for thisbutcher, and made him Hofpodar or Prince of Moldavia. Poor Janaky would willinglyhave been excufed from accepting fo high an office; but his patron infifted on histaking it.However, theſe mighty chiefs being intoxicated with power, began to intoxicate themfelves with wine alfo; and they were at length caught in a fnare, laid for them by SultanGeray, Chan ofthe Crim Tartars, who had been fent for by fome of the grandees forthat end. Sultan Geray fucceeded fo well, that the chiefs were cut off, the reft difperfed, and the government re- eſtabliſhed on the fame footing as heretofore, with very4 littleBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. girlittle bloodshed; the particulars of which being, in general, well known, I fay no moreof that affair.The next place I was carried to was the mint, where I faw them coining money ofdifferent forts. It ftands in the outer court of the feraglio.From thence I went to the famous church of Sancta Sophia, now converted into amofque. There being already many defcriptions extant of this ancient fabric, I fhallonly obſerve, that it was rebuilt and adorned by the Emperor Juftinian , about the yearof our Lord 500. It is highly efteemed by architects, for the flatnefs of the dome, orcupola, which, it is faid, the moderns cannot imitate.In time of war, Chriftians are not permitted to enter the mofque. Nevertheless, wewere conducted up a pair of back ſtairs to the gallery, from whence we had a full viewof the whole. The floor is laid with clean mats and carpets, having no feat, only onepulpit for the Mullah. The gallery is laid with marble, fupported by about one hundred marble pillars, of various colours and fizes, most of them, at leaſt, between fiveand fix feet diameter. The whole of the infide hath a noble and grand appearance.At the entry into the gallery, is an old veftry, with the door clofed up, of which a Greek,of my acquaintance, told me the following fhort ftory, viz. a certain Mullah being inthe veftry, faw, or fancied that he faw, a man on horſeback , with a ſword in his hand,who bid him begone out of that holy place, &c. This, like other tales of the famenature, was not long a fecret, and was interpreted to have been no other than Conftantine the Great. However fabulous the ſtory appears, the door of the veftry hath been.condemned fince that time.ap-.From Sancta Sophia I was conducted to the Hippodrome, where the Greeks ufed formerly to train their horſes to the menage, now called the Att-Maydan, and is ſtillplied to the fame ufe by the Turks. It is a fpacious oblong fquare, having a prettymarble obelisk in the middle. On one fide of it is a pillar of brafs, with ferpents twininground it; this is fomewhat defaced , and is about ten feet high.In the great ftreet, at fome diſtance from the Hippodrome, ftands another venerablemonument of antiquity; a large and tall pillar, called the Burnt-pillar, becauſe it hathgreatly fuffered by fire in the neighbourhood, which hath cracked it in divers places;this is a misfortune common to narrow streets, and not to be remedied without a well:regulated police. This pillar is of porphyry, about twenty yards high.We went thence to fee the grand refervoir, built with intent of fupplying the citywith water in cafe of a fiege, This muſt have coft an immenfe fum of money; for itis all of it under ground; above it are ſtreets and houfes. It is not far from the Hippodrome. Towards the water-fide, the covering of it is fupported by a great numberof arches, and many hundreds of ſtone- pillars, of which not a few are fallen down, andthe whole of it is going a-pace to decay. There was no water in it ..There is another ancient fabric, known by the name of Edikuly, or feven towers,standing on an eminence to the weftward; which is now a common prifon . Near themiddle of the city ftands a fmall tower called Bellifarius; whether or not it was thehoufe of that great and unfortunate general, I could not learn.Oppofite to the feraglio, near the middle of the canal ſtands a ſmall round tower,upon the fummit of a fmall rock, called Leander's Tower. This, with the foregoing,are the few remains of antiquity commonly fhown to ftrangers.The haven, which divides the city from that diftri&t of it, called Pera, for its extentand depth of water, may probably equal, perhaps furpafs, the beft in the known world,well fenced on all fides by rifing grounds. Near the bottom of the haven is a fpaciousand moſt convenient yard for building fhips and galleys, with fuitable magazines andwarehouſes512 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.every material requifite warehoufes for keeping the cordage, guns, ammunition, and forfor building and fitting men of war and galleys for the fea.Adjoining is a place called the Bagnio, appropriated to the lodging and accommodating galley-flaves; where, it may be fuppofed, they do not país their time veryagreeably.My next walk was to fee the Dervifes at worship; they are a religious order ofthe" Mahometans, who have a mofque in Pera, built in a circular form , with a pulpit for theMullah, and a gallery built in a niche made in the circle for the mufic. The fermonbeing ended, the muficians began on various inftruments, which were like the Europeanflutes and hautboys; upon which five of the dervifes ftood up, and danced round themofque, in a frantic manner, turning themſelves round, as they advanced, with fo quicka motion, that their faces were hardly diftinguiſhable from other parts of their heads.They followed each other at certain diftances; but an old man of fourfcore years outdid all the reft in quickneſs of turning round. Yet, when he left off, he did not feemto be all difcompofed by the violence of the motion. This extravagant fect make vowsof poverty and chaſtity, travel over all the eaft, where the religion of Mahomet prevails,and are held. in great efteem by the devout of that profeffion.The 9th of March, the army intended for Hungary, under the command of EggenyMahomet- Bafha, the Grand Vifier, began to file off to the camp affigned for them,about three miles to the northward of the city. The proceffion continued four days;and, as uſual, when the Sultan himſelf, or the Grand Vifier, takes the field in perfon ,the troops are attended by all the different trades and artifans to the place of encampment, each trade having the proper dreſs and badges of their reſpective profeflion, withbanners, mufic, &c.The first day the janifaries marched, with their Aga, or chief commander, at theirhead, followed by a numerous multitude of artifans. The firft in proceffion was aplough drawn by painted oxen, with gilded horns. It would be tedious to mention thereft particularly; I fhall only obferve, that fome of this ragamuffin crew made frightful figures, being naked to the waift, with fabres run through the fleshy part of theirarms, and befmeared with blood-A fhocking fpectacle!The fecond day's proceffion was the pioneers and miners, with their different toolsand utenfils.The third day, the cannoniers marched.The fourth day, the Vifier marched out, attended by the general officers of the army,a great many ſpahis and janiſaries, and all the different trades of the town; amongwhich rabble, were many fuch banditti as above defcribed, naked for the most part ofthe body, all bloody. The Grand Mufti was in the fame coach with the Grand Vifier,and hadthe Alcoran carried by a Mullah, who fat likewife in the fame coach, oppofiteto the Mufti; which was preceded by a number of fingers, in their proper habits, finging as they went along. Before the coach was carried the ftandard of Mahomet, whichis a horſe's tail, faid to be brought from heaven by the Angel Gabriel to Mahomet,and is held in great veneration, feldom appearing but on great folemnities; after whichit is carried back to the feraglio, where it remains till the next occafion.When war is declared againſt any prince or ftate, the horſe- tail is fet up at the gateof the feraglio, called Alla- Capy, or the Port of God, from whence the Grand Seignordates all his diſpatches; and, on that account, the court ofthe Grand Seignor is commonly called the Ottoman Porte and the Sublime Porte. But when the Sultan is inthe field, at the head of his army, he dates all his letters and orders from his ſtirrup.All generals who have three horfe-tails, are called Vifier; but the Grand Vifier, who6isBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA. 513is always prime minifter, governs and directs all affairs relating to the ftate, bothforeign and domeftic: next to him in power is the Kaymacan, who is his lieutenant;after him Nifangy Bafha, keeper ofthe feals; then Kap- adgee Bafha, chief porter; Kiflar-agaffy, the chief eunuch. Thefe are the principal great officers at court.It happens often, that the Kiflar-agaffy hath more to fay than all the reft put together; foralthough the ladies live very retired, yet they are not fo ignorant as is generally imagined. And, if I am not mifinformed, matters of the greatest confequence are canvaffed, and often fettled in the feraglio, before they are prefented to the miniftry. Onething is certain, that whoever wants a favour at court needs no better recommendationthan a friend among the ladies.Soon after my arrival, I had an invitation from the famous Count Bonneval, whothen was ill ofthe gout; but, in time of war, it was not thought fit that I ſhould vifit.that gentleman.March 15th, Sir Everard Fawkener went to the camp to take leave of the GrandVifier, as is ufual for all the foreign minifters to do, on the like occafions. We difmounted at fome diftance from the tent ofthis great man, were conducted by an officerto a magnificent tent, near to that of the Vifier, and entertained with coffee, &c. forabout a quarter of an hour; after which the ambaffador, accompanied by the gentlemen of his retinue, went to the Vifier's tent, where a ftool was prepared for his Excellency. The gentlemen ftood during the time the ambaffador remained. The Vifierfat cross-legged on a fopha raiſed about half a foot from the floor, which was all laidwith rich carpets. Very near him ftood a frame, on which were hung fome mufkets,' fabres, &c. of a very curious workmanſhip, ornamented richly with gold, filver, andftones of value, as emeralds, rubies, &c. The Turkiſh camps are, in general, veryregular and clean.The fhort ceremony being over, we returned again to the city. After fome daysthe Grand Vifier marched to Adrianople, in his way to Hungary.Being about to leave this city, I fhall detain the reader with no more particularsthan the following fhort obfervations.In Turkey there are fewfamilies who have any diftinguiſhing titles or honours appertaining to them which defcend to their children. All titles of honour, and placesof power and profit in the Sultan's dominions, depend on perfonal merit, or the Sultan's favour, which dies with the poffeffor. The only two families who have a juſtclaim to nobility, are thofe of Dgiggal- Oglu and Kuperly, who, for fignal fervice donethe empire, have peculiar privileges; one in particular, that the Sultan, as it is faid ,cannot condemn them to death. It feems that, on a very critical conjuncture, whenaffairs were in great diſorder, the Sultan died, Kuperly kept it a fecret for fix weeks;in which time, by his prudent conduct, the government was eſtabliſhed on a properfooting. Befides thefe, there are defcendants of their prophet Mahomet's family, ofwhich there are great numbers, who are diſtinguiſhed by wearing green, and enjoyfome privileges.Having nothing more to do at Conftantinople, I am now about to return to St. Peterburg. As I had a commiffion from Sir Everard Fawkener for the Grand Vifier, whowas then at Adrianople, I took that road.April 8th, after taking leave of my friends, I fet out from Conftantinople, accompanied by a tzaufh, or meffenger, a janifary, and my own fervant.The 13th, in the morning, I came to the city of Adrianople, where I lodged at thehoufe of Mr. Damiral, a Greek gentleman, who is agent at this place for our ambaffador, where I found a friendly reception. The city of Adrianople is about fortyVOL. VII. 3 Uleagues514 BELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA.·leagues north-weft from Conftantinople, in a pleaſant country, inhabited by Turks,Greeks, and fome Jews. The Capuchins have alfo a convent here. The town ispretty large, and is remarkable for having a very noble grand mofque, with very highminorets, of excellent workmanſhip. The architect was a Greek, of whom it is reported, that the Grand Seignor, being amazed at the extraordinary contrivance andexecution which the architect exhibited in thoſe buildings, thought that nothing of mechaniſm was out of his reach, and ordered him to make himſelf wings, and to fly offfrom the top of one of the minorets, which the poor builder was forced to attempt.After flying a confiderable diſtance, he fell among fome tombs, and broke his neck. Ido not vouch for the truth of the ſtory; but I was ſhown the tombs in the neighbourhood, among which it is faid that he fell.The 14th, I had a viſit from Monfieur Peifonell, the French agent, and ſome of theCapuchin fathers.The 15th, I went to return the vifit at the convent. In coming through the marketplace, in the way to my lodgings, I met with a very difa*greeable fpectacle; which wastwo men, lying ſtark naked, without their heads, which had been juſt before cut off.They were ſaid to have been ſpies.After diſcharging my commiffion to the Grand Vifier, which I effected throughMr. Damiral, and obtaining an order for poſt-horſes, I left Adrianople the 17th, andproceeded on myjourney to the northward; in which I need not be particular, havingmentioned moſt of the places in the former part of this relation. I took the neareſtway for Yaffy in Moldavia.The 26th, we paffed the Danube in a boat, at a place called Kalafs, a few leaguesabove Ifmayl.The 29th, we arrived at the city of Yaffy. The next day I waited on the Prince,who received me in a moſt friendly manner. He gave orders for horfes, and two ofhis guards, to conduct me to the frontiers of Poland. He likewiſe ſent an officer, toaccompany meas far as Nemiroffe. I then diſcharged my tzauſh and janiſary, who returned back to Conftantinople.May ift, I left Yaffy, and came the next day to Soroka.The 3d, I left Soroka, paffed the Dneifter, and came to Tamas-Poly, where I lodged.The 5th, I got to Nemiroffe; and at this place delivered all my diſpatches for Europeto General Ruffotfky, to be forwarded according to addreſs.The 10th, I arrived at Kioff, and ſet out again the ſame day.Onthe 17th of May I arrived at St. Petersburg.It is to be noted, all my dates are old ftile.I fhall fubjoin a lift of all the ſtages and diftances from St. Peterſburg to Conftantinople. As I have in a former journey, particularized the ſtages to Mofco, I need notrepeat them here.From St. Peterſburg to the Verfts.City of Moſco ·734to theTown of Belof Verfts..40From Mofco towards Kioff, toSela PackraBolfhof · 4030Village of Tzenifkoy 35Selo GlotovoKartzof35Lykof- VragueDobrichachCaluga40 Selo Samova35 Selo Tzainaka40 Village of LieubuſhLykvyn 30 Town of Seyeffkiwwwwwc 3530303030ToBELL'S TRAVELS IN ASIA, 515to theTown of Tolfto DubovoGluchovoKorolevitzBatturinBorznàNefhinaNofofkaVerfts.to the Verfts.40 Town of Koffelitz 3830 Semipologue 25.39 Brovary 2944 City of Kioff 183348From St. Peterſburg to Kioff 158628The verft in Ruffia confifts of 1166 Engliſh yards; fo that the diſtance fromSt. Peterſburg to Kioff, being 1586 verfts, is 1051 Engliſh miles.From Kioff to Soroka.From Kioff toVaffilkoffBelozyrkoffShamarayofka -SqueerSamgorodGolochuaftPogrebifhaSpitzinitzOtzerednoLipovitzPolifh miles.3656to NemiroffPetzery21II2SpykoffLefkovitzTamaz- PolyKleynbofkaPolifh miles.I22I32Tzikanofka on the Dnieſter,on the bank oppofite isVytofskyKavalefkaI2ISoroka 339Computing 6 Engliſh miles to a Poliſh mile, the diſtance from Kioff to Soroka willbe 253+ Engliſh miles.From Soroka, the frontier, to Yaffy, the capital of Moldavia, reckoning the Turkiſhfahat, or hour, to be three Engliſh miles.From Soroka to English miles.English miles.Kaynar -12 to the City of Yaffy 12Hetfh 12Meygura 24 From Soroka to YaffyRiver Pruth22137212From Yaffy to Bender.From Yaffyto English miles. English miles.Rofinar -12 to Bender 24Volzinitz 15Kofhuſhna 24 From Yaffy to Bender 81Kiſhanoff 6English miles.From Bender to the Danube, along the defert of Budjack.From Bender to English miles.Kaufhan 12 to the Town of Ifmayl 21KongleyTartarken2430 From Bender to Ifmayl 873U2From516BELL'STRAVELSIN ASIA.From Ifmayl to Conftantinople.English miles.English miles.From Ifmayl, crofs the Danubeto Tultzin 12to A CaravanferaAydofs1212Babbadach 18 Benglyr 9Kaybaly 18 Kara-Bunar 15Kodjalo 6Faky 12Intere 6Kangry 12Danna Kew 6Kirglifs 24Kara-Su 12 Bourgafs 24Kabady I 2 Tzorby 30Aly-Beg-Kiew 12 Silivry 24Bazartiek 2.1 Buyuck Tzeckmiday 18Ufheny 6 Conftantinople 18Provady 24Yeny Kiew 9From Ifmayl to Conftantinople 381Tzenggy 6The whole diſtance from St. Peterſburg to Conftantinople, I take to be about 1295Engliſh meaſured miles, of 1760 yards each mile.The feveral diſtances as follow, viz.From St. Peterſburg to Kioff 1051 meafured miles.From Kioff to Soroka, the frontier. of Moldavia, 253 computed miles.From Soroka to YaffyFrom Yaffy to BenderFrom Bender to Ifmay!From Ifmayl to Conſtantinople7281873111925Thus, I have finiſhed my fourth eastern journey, which, in all probability will be mylaft to that quarter of the globe. I would not adviſe any man to undertake this laft, atfuch a ſeaſon ofthe year as I did, or in time of war.( 517 ){{GFDL}}