The scouts returned to the camp with this intelligence, and the Jews, having collected their forces, offered battle on the day following to the Persians, The king declined this, declaring that his only object was against the Copheral Turks, and that if the Jews attacked him he would revenge himself by putting all their brethren in Persia to the sword; but he demanded free passage for his army, and to be supplied with provisions for ready money. Out of regard for their brethren in Persia, the Jews agreed to this proposal, and the Persian army remained fifteen days in the country of the Jews, where they were honourably entertained. In the mean time the Jews sent intelligence of the situation of the Persians to their confederates, and the Turks, gathering their forces, assailed the Persians at certain passes in the mountains, and gave them a terrible overthrow; so that the king escaped with great difficulty into Persia, with a small remnant of his host. On this occasion, one of the Persian horsemen seduced a Jew, named Moses, to accompany him into Persia, and then made him a slave. On a public exhibition of archery in the king's presence, this man appeared to be the most expert archer in all Persia, and being called before the king, declared how he had been trepanned and made a slave. The king restored him to liberty; clothed him in purple and silken garments, and enriched him with liberal gifts; offering him great riches, and the government of the royal household, if he would embrace the religion of the country; and when he courteously declined this, he was placed by the king with Rabbi Shallum, the prince of the synagogue at Ispahan, whose daughter he afterwards married; and this Moses related to me the whole story I have here related.

Departing from these countries, I returned to Khosistan, through which the Tigris runs into Hodu, the Indian sea, or Persian Gulf, and in its passage encompasses the island of Nekrokis[19] near its mouth, which is six days journey in extent. There is only one canal of fresh water in this island, and they have no other water to drink but what is gathered during rain, and preserved, in cisterns, for which reason the land is not cultivated. Yet it is famous for commerce with India, and the islands of the Indian sea; and merchants from Sennar, Arabia, and Persia, bring thither all sorts of silk and purple manufactures, hemp, cotton, flax, and Indian cloth, with plenty of wheat, barley, millet, and rice. The Indian merchants bring also great quantities of spices, and the natives act as factors and interpreters, by which they make great gains; but in that place there are not above 500 Jews. Sailing thence with a favourable wind, I arrived, in ten days, at Kathipha[20], where are 5000 Jews. In these places pearls are found, made by a wonderful artifice of nature; for on the 24th of the month Nisan[21] a certain dew falls into the waters, which, being sucked in by the oysters, they sink immediately to the bottom of the sea, and afterwards, about the middle of the month Tisri, men dive to the bottom, and bring up great quantities of the oysters by means of cords, from which they take out the pearls.

In seven days journey from thence I came to Oulam[22], which is the entrance of the kingdom of these people, who worship the sun, and are prone to astrology, being of the children of Chus. They are men of a dark complexion, sincere and faithful in all their dealings. When any strangers arrive in their haven, their names are all set down by three secretaries, who carry their lists to the king; afterwards they introduce the merchants to him, and he receives all their goods under his protection, causing them to be landed at a place where they may remain in safety, even without a watch. There is a particular magistrate to whom all things that happen to be lost, or casually removed, are brought, and who returns them to the owners, on giving the marks or description of their property; and this strict fidelity and honest dealing is universal over all this kingdom. In this country, from the passover to the beginning of the succeeding year, the sun shines with such insufferable heat, that the people remain shut up in their houses from the third hour of the day until evening; and then lamps are lighted up in all the streets and markets, and the people labour at their respective callings all night. In this country pepper grows on trees, planted in the fields belonging to every city, all the inhabitants having their proper gardens particularly assigned and known. The shrub is small, and produces a white seed or berry, which, after being gathered, is first steeped in hot water, and then dried in the sun, when it becomes black. Cinnamon and ginger are likewise found here, and many other kinds of spices.

In this country the bodies of the dead are embalmed with divers drugs and spices, and set up in niches in regular order, covered over with nets; they there dry up completely without corruption, and every one knows his ancestors for many generations back. They worship the sun, said have many large altars erected along the coast, about half a mile without the city, to pay their devotions. On these altars there are consecrated spheres, made by magic art, resembling the circle of the sun; and when the sun rises, these orbs seem to be inflamed, and whirl round with a great noise[23]. In their orisons, every person carries a censer, in which he burns incense in honour of the sun. But among these people there are about a thousand families of Jews, as black as the rest of the natives, yet good honest men, and strict observers of the law of Moses, and not entirely ignorant of the doctrines of the Talmud.

From this country I sailed, in twenty-two days, to the islands of Cinrog, the inhabitants of which are called Dogbiim, and are worshippers of fire, among whom 23,000 Jews are settled. The Dogbiim have many priests to officiate in their temples, who are the most skilful sorcerers and enchanters in the world. Before every temple there is a large pit, in which a great fire is kindled every day, called Alhuta, through which their children are made to pass as a purification; into it likewise they cast the bodies of their dead, and even some of their nobles occasionally are so superstitious as to devote themselves to be consumed alive in honour of the deity, in which they are encouraged by their relations, as ensuring their eternal welfare. On the day appointed for the performance of this vow, the devoted person first gives an entertainment, and is then carried to the appointed spot; if rich, on horseback, but on foot if poor, accompanied by a multitude of his friends and others, and immediately leaps into the midst of the burning pit, all his friends and kindred celebrating the festival with music and dancing, until he is entirely consumed. Three days afterwards two of the priests go to the house of the devoted person, and command his family to prepare for a visit from the deceased on the same day. The priests then take certain persons along with them, as witness of the transaction, and carry with them, to the house, a figure resembling the deceased, which they affirm to be himself. The widow and children, as instructed by the priests, then demand how it fares with him in the other world: to which he answers, "I came to my companions, who will not receive me until I have discharged my duty to my friends and kindred." He then makes a distribution of his effects among his children, orders all his debts to be paid, and whatever is owing to him to be demanded. The witnesses set down all this in writing, and then he vanishes. By these arts of juggling and collusion, the priests govern every thing as they please.

In the space of forty days, one may travel to the frontiers of Tzin, which is the very extremity of the east. Some hold that this country is washed by the Nikpha, or coagulated sea, which is liable to prodigious storms; by which, when mariners are surprised, they are reduced to such extremity, that, not being able to get out, they are miserably starved to death, after expending all their provisions[24].

From Cinrog, it is three days journey to Gingala, where there are above a thousand Jews. From thence, in seven days, one may sail to Coulan, where there are none of our nation. It is twelve days journey to Zabid, where there are some Jews; and in eight days more, you get to the opposite coast, where there are very high mountains, inhabited by multitudes of Israelites, who are not under the yoke of the Gentiles, but have great cities and strong fortresses of their own.

They descend from thence in parties into the flat countries of Abyssinia, whence they return with their plunder into the mountains, where they are secure against pursuit. Many of these Jews travel for the purposes of trade into Persia and Egypt[25].

From thence, it is twenty days journey to Asvan[26], through the deserts of Saba, on the Phison, which river comes from the country of Chus, in the dominions of Shah-Abasch, or the king of Abyssinia. Part of the inhabitants of this country live like beasts, going entirely naked, and feeding only on the grass and herbs that grow by the river side, and propagate with their sisters and nearest relations, without shame or scruple. When the people of Asvan make expeditions into these parts for the sake of plunder, they constantly take with them bread, rice, raisins, and figs, which they throw among the half-famished negroes, and while they scramble for the provisions, like a parcel of dogs, the Asvanians seize them, and carry them as prisoners into Egypt, where they are sold as slaves. It is twelve days journey from Asvan to Chelvan, in which there are about three hundred Jews. From Chelvan they go, in fifty days journey, through the desert Al Tsachra, or Zara, to Zuila or Havilah, in the land of Gana[27]. In these deserts, there are vast mountains of sand, which, being sometimes carried by the force of violent winds, overwhelm whole caravans. The merchants who escape this perilous journey, bring with them from that country, iron, copper, salt, and all sorts of fruits and pulse, and likewise gold and precious stones. This country is part of the land of Chus, and is to the west of Abyssinia.

It is thirteen days journey from Chelvan to the city of Kous, which is the first in the land of Egypt, and where 30,000 Jews are settled. At the distance of five days journey is Phium, anciently Pithom, in the neighbourhood of which city the ruins of the structures built by our ancestors, during their captivity in Egypt, are still to be seen[28].

Four days journey from thence is the great city of Misraim[29], on the banks of the Nile, in which above 2000 Jews are settled. These have two fair synagogues, one of which belongs to the Jews of Palestine and Syria, and the other to those of Babylon; the only difference between which sects is in the way of dividing the law into portions. The Babylonians, every week, read one Parascha, after the manner usual in Spain, so as to go through the whole law once in every year; but the others divide each parascha into three sedarim, or smaller sections, so that they read over the whole law only once in three years. Yet both of these join in their solemn prayers twice every year. Over the whole Nathaniel presides, being head of the Sanhedrim, and ruler of all the synagogues in Egypt, to which he appoints masters and elders. He is likewise minister of the great king, who resides in the palace of Zoan, a city in Egypt, where Ali, the son of Abitaleb, was once commander of the faithful, and whose subjects are considered as rebels by the other Arabs, because they refuse obedience to the Abassidian khaliff of Bagdat.

The royal city is surrounded with walls, but Misraim is entirely open, having the river Nile on one side. This is a very large city, having many large markets and public buildings, and contains many rich Jews. The country is never troubled with rain, ice, or snow, but is often afflicted with insufferable heat. It is watered by the Nile, which begins to swell every year in the month Elul, and continues swelling during that month and Tisri[30], making the earth fruitful. The old Egyptians erected a fine marble pillar of excellent workmanship in an island at this place, rising twelve cubits above the ordinary surface of the river; and when the water overflows that column, the inhabitants are satisfied that their whole country is overspread for fifteen days journey. If the water rise only half the height of the pillar, they then conclude that only half the country is overflowed. A person is stationed by the pillar, who proclaims the height of the water every day at noon. When the water rises to a sufficient height, it indicates a year of fertility and plenty in Egypt; but when it does not overflow, nothing is sown, and sterility and famine are the consequences. The people of the country have trenches dug in their grounds, in which great numbers of fish are caught when the river recedes, which they either use in their families, or salt them for sale. These fish are very fat, and supply oil for lamps. It is an old question, on which there is great diversity of opinion, as to the cause of the overflow of the Nile; but the Egyptians suppose, that it proceeds from the falling of heavy rains in the land of Habash, which we call Havilah or Abyssinia. The fields are usually sowed in the month of September, as the Nile has then retired into its channel. Barley is reaped in February, and wheat in March; and in that month, grapes, cherries, and almonds are ripe; and encumbers, gourds, pease, beans, and lentils; and various pot-herbs, as purslain, asparagus, lettuce, corianders, succory, coleworts, &c. The gardens and orchards are watered by means of trenches filled from the Nile.

After passing Cairo, this great river divides into four branches, one of which runs by Damietta, sometimes called Caphtor. The second runs near the city of Rosir or Rosetta, not far from Alexandria. The third passes by Asmon, a very large city on the eastern borders of Egypt. Near these great branches, there are many cities, castles, and towns, to which people travel partly by land, and partly by water. No country in the world can be compared to this for the multitude of inhabitants; and the whole land is plain, fruitful, and stored with good things. Old Misraim is two league distant from New Misraim, or Cairo; but the old city is now desolate, having many ruins of walls and houses, and not a few remains of the granaries and storehouses, built by Joseph, are still to be seen. In the same place, there is an artificial pillar, built by art of magic, the like of which is not in all the land. On the outside of the city, there are the remains of an ancient synagogue, which bears the name of our teacher Moses, and to preserve its ruins, an old minister of the disciples of the wise men [31], is maintained at this place, who is styled Schech Albounetzar, or father of the watch. The ruins of Old Misraim extend about four miles.

The land of Goshen is eight leagues from Old Misraim, and in it is Bolsir- salbis, a great city, in which there are 3000 Jews. From hence you travel, in half a day's journey, to Iskaal-Lein-Al-sames, anciently called Rameses, now in ruins; where are to be seen many works of our fathers, and among these certain huge edifices like towers, bulk of bricks. From thence, in one day's journey, you come to Al-Bugg, where are 200 Jews; and in another half days journey, to Manziptha, where there are 200 Jews; Ramira is four leagues distant, having 700 Jews; and thence, in five days journey, you come to Lamkhala, where there are 500 Jews. In two days journey more, you arrive at Alexandria, which was sumptuously built, and strongly fortified, at the command of Alexander the Macedonian. On the outside of the city, there is still to be seen a great and beautiful edifice, which is said to have been the college of Aristotle, the tutor of Alexander, wherein were twenty schools, frequented in former times by the learned men of the whole world, who assembled to learn the philosophy of Aristotle, and this academy was adorned with stately marble porticos. The city itself is excellently built, and well paved, having many vaults and arches underneath, some of which are a whole mile in length, leading from the gate of Rosetta to the gate leading to the sea. The haven extends a whole mile in length, and at this place, a very high tower was built, called Hemegarah by the inhabitants, and Magar-Iscander by the Arabs, which signifies the Pharos of Alexander. It is reported that Alexander fixed a curious mirror on the top of this tower, by means of which, all warlike ships sailing from Greece, or out of the west into Egypt, might be seen at the distance of five hundred leagues. But a Greek captain, who had great knowledge of the sciences, came thither with his ship, and ingratiated himself in the favour of the king, by presents of gold and silver and rich silks. He likewise took great pains to acquire the friendship of the officer who had charge of the mirror and watch-tower, by frequently entertaining him in his ship, and at length was permitted to go into, and stay in the tower, as often, and as long as he pleased. One day, he gave a magnificent entertainment to the keeper of the tower and his men, and dosed them so plentifully with wine, that they all fell fast asleep; on which he broke the mirror to pieces, and then sailed away in the night. Since then, the Christians have infested the coasts of Egypt with their ships of war, and have taken the two large islands of Crete and Cyprus, which remain at this day under the power of the Greeks. The Pharos is still used as a beacon for the service of ships bound to Alexandria, and can be discerned by day or night, from the distance of an hundred miles, as a vast fire is kept burning there all night for the purpose.

Egypt enjoys a large share of trade, and is frequented by almost all nations; and the port of Alexandria swarms with vessels from every part of Christendom, as from Valencia, Tuscany, Lombardy, Apulia, Malfi, and Sicily. Others come from the most northern parts of Europe, and even from inland places; as from Cracow, Cordova, Spain, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, England, Flanders, Artois, Normandy, France, Poitou, Angiers, Gascony, Arragon, and Navarre. There come many also from the western empire of the Ishmaelites or Arabs, as from Andalusia, Algarve, Africa, and even Arabia, besides what come by the Indian ocean from Havilah or Abyssinia, and the rest of Ethiopia, not omitting the Greeks and Turks. To this, country likewise are brought the richest merchandizes of the Indies, and all sorts of perfumes and spices, which are bought by the Christian merchants. The city is extremely populous, on account of its extensive commerce; and for the greater conveniency in the carrying on of their dealings, every nation has its separate factory. There is, near the sea side, a marble tomb, on which are engraven the figures of all sorts of birds and beasts, with an inscription in such old characters, that no one can now read them; whence it is believed that it had belonged to some king who governed that country before the deluge. The length of this sepulchre is fifteen spans, and it is six spans broad[32]. To conclude, there are about 3000 Jews in Alexandria.

Leaving Egypt, Benjamin made an expedition from Damietta to Mount Sinai, and returned to Damietta, whence he sailed to Messina in Sicily, and travelled to Palermo. Crossing into Italy, he went by land to Rome and Lucca. He afterwards crossed the Alps, and passed through a great part of Germany, mentioning, in his remarks, the great multitudes of Jews who were settled in the numerous cities of that extensive empire, insisting at large on their wealth, and generosity, and hospitality to their distressed brethren, and gives a particular detail of the manner in which they were received. He informs us, that at the entertainments of the Jews they encourage each other to persist in hoping for the coming of their Messiah, when the tribes of Israel shall be gathered under his command, and conducted back into their own country. Until this long expected event shall arrive, they hold it their duty to persevere in their obedience to the law of Moses, to lament with tears the destruction of Jerusalem and Zion, and to beseech the Almighty to pity them in their affliction, and restore them at his appointed time. He asserts that his countrymen are not only settled in all the provinces and cities of the German empire, but through all the countries of the north, to the very extremities of Russia; and describes that country as so cold in winter that the inhabitants could not stir out of doors. He tells us that France, which the Rabbins call Tzorphat, is full of the disciples of the wise men, who study the law day and night, and are extremely charitable to their distressed brethren; and concludes with an earnest prayer to God, to remember his promise to the children of Israel, to return unto them, and to reassemble them from among all the nations, through which, in his wrath, he has dispersed them.

Towards the end of his travels[33], Benjamin mentions that Prague in Bohemia is the beginning of Sclavonia. In speaking of the Russian empire, he says it extends from the gates of Prague to the gates of [Hebrew] Phin, a large town at the beginning of the kingdom. In that country the animals called [Hebrew] Wairegres, and [Hebrew] Neblinatz are found. Interpreters disagree about the meaning of these words. But it clearly appears that Phin is no other than Kiow, then the capital of the Russian empire; and we should therefore read [Hebrew:] Chiw: and indeed the interpreters might easily have supposed that the word was wrong written, from its wanting the final nun. Russia has always been famous for its gray foxes or gray squirrels, which, in the Russian language, are called [Hebrew] in the Hebrew text, therefore, of Benjamin, we should read [Hebrew] Waiwerges, which as nearly resembles the Russian word, as a Spanish Jew could possibly write it. The name of the other animal should be written [Hebrew] Zeblinatz, by which are meant Sables. Jordanis had before this called these skins Sapphilinias pelles.—Forst.

[1] Harris, I. 545. Forster, 91.

[2] So named as descended from Javan: the Jewish writers affecting to employ scripture names for modern countries and nations.—E.

[3] Manuel Comnenes, who reigned from 1143 to 1180.—E.

[4] These names are corrupt orthographies of the Greek titles in the Hebrew. Manuel being an emperor, Benjamin names all his great officers kings.—E.

[5] Psianki may, perhaps, be Poland, and Buria Bavaria.—E.

[6] The Arabs, so called from their supposed ancestor, Ismael.—E.

[7] Perhaps Blachernae.—E.

[8] The Karaites were a sect among the Jews, who confined their observances and religious belief to the precepts of Moses, while the Rabbinists followed all the wild fancies of the Talmud. An excellent account of these sects is to be found in the Lettres Juives, or Jewish Spy, by the Marquis d'Argens.—E.

[9] Perhaps only an exaggerated account of some Jewish independent tribe in Arabia, of which there were once a considerable number, as particularly mentioned in the History of Mahomet.—E.

[10] Probably the Ahwaz, as he seems to have gone from Bassora.—E.

[11] This must be an error in the author, as the Tigris does not come near that city.—E.

[12] This story is told by other Jewish writers, but with some unimportant variations; and there have been many such pretended Messiahs, who persuaded the Jews of the east into revolts, for which consult Basnage, Histoire des Juifs.—Harris.

[13] The whole secret of this miracle may be easily explained. David escaped from prison, and told all the rest of the story to the ignorant and credulous Jews of Omaria, from whom the fable has been handed down to Benjamin and other believing relaters.—E.

[14] Shiraz, about forty miles from which are the ruins of Persepolis.—E.

[15] The distance here is extremely corrupt, and perhaps four months are meant.—E.

[16] The ridiculous impressing of ancient scriptural names for the geographical features of the country, and the nations which inhabited it in his time, and his rambling itinerary, by days journeys, without pointing out the precise direction of the routs, render it next to impossible to investigate the real objects of his observations with any decent chance of success.—E.

[17] This description suits the Calmuks.—E.

[18] Once a great city in the N.W. of Irac-agemi, not far from Cashbin. See Chardin's Travels in Persia, to be found afterwards in this collection.—E.

[19] This island has much puzzled commentators, some of whom have wandered to Ormus in quest of its situation. It is probably the flat country of Assyria, between the Tigris and Euphrates, below Bagdat, which he may have mistaken for an island; or it may refer to the Delta of the Tigris and Ahwas. The extent mentioned in the text does not say whether it is to be understood as the length or circumference of the island.—E.

[20] This must be at or near Bahrein, in the Persian Gulf, famous for its pearl-fishery.—E.

[21] Nisan, the first month of the Jewish year, contains the latter half of our March and former half of April; Tisri is equivalent to half of September and half of October.—E.

[22] From the circumstance of pepper being plenty in this place it is probable that some part of Malabar is meant, where he may have found a colony of Parsees. Astronomy is often called astrology by old writers.—E.

[23] This must have been some secret mechanical contrivance, all wonders unknown to the ignorant being attributed by them to magic art.—E.

[24] Tzin is obviously China. By the Nikpha, or coagulated sea, the sea of Tartar may be intended; concerning which, some ill-told stories may have reached Benjamin, of mariners having been frozen up. The situation of Cinrog it is impossible to ascertain; but it must have been some part of India, where voluntarily burning alive is still practised, but only by the widows of the higher casts.—E.

[25] Benjamin here obviously speaks of the Jews in the mountains of Abyssinia, still known there under the name of Falassa. It would appear, that the previously indicated courses led across the peninsula of Arabia and the Red Sea; but his names of places are unintelligible.—E.

[26] Perhaps Asowan in upper Egypt, which is rendered probable by the journey through the desert.—E.

[27] Harris considered Gana to mean Guinea; but it is probably Nigritia, or the inland country of Africa, on the Niger or Joliba.—E.

[28] Perhaps Memphis, as he evidently alludes to the pyramids.—E.

[29] Kahira, or Cairo, called also Messir.—E.

[30] Elul contains from the middle of August to the middle of September and Tisri from that to the middle of October. But the Nile begins to rise in the middle of June, and returns to its usual level in October.—E.

[31] Of the Rabbinists or Talmudists.—E.

[32] This may possibly have been the Sarcophagus brought lately from Alexandria, and deposited in the British museum, under the strange idea of having been the tomb of Alexander. Benjamin seems to have known nothing about the hieroglyphics, with which his tomb was obviously covered.—E.

[33] This short commentary upon three words in that part of the travels of Benjamin, which has been omitted in Harris, is extracted from Forster, Hist of Voy. and Disc. in the North, p. 92, and shews the extreme difficulty of any attempt to give an accurate edition of the whole work, if that should be thought of, as it would require critical skill not only in Hebrew, but in the languages of the different countries to which the travels refer.—E.



CHAP. VI.

Travels of an Englishman into Tartary, and thence into Poland, Hungary, and Germany, in 1243.[1]

This earliest remaining direct account of the Tartars, or Mongols receiving that name, which is extremely short and inconclusive, is recorded by Matthew Paris, in a letter from Yvo de Narbonne to the archbishop of Bourdeaux, and is here given as a literary curiosity.

* * * * *

Provoked by the sins of the Christians, the Lord hath become as it were a destroying enemy, and a dreadful avenger; having sent among us a prodigiously numerous, most barbarous, and inhuman people, whose law is lawless, and whose wrath is furious, even as the rod of God's anger, overrunning and utterly ruining infinite countries, and cruelly destroying every thing where they come with fire and sword. This present summer, that nation which is called Tartars, leaving Hungary, which they had surprised by treason, laid siege, with many thousand soldiers, to the town of Newstadt, in which I then dwelt, in which there were not above fifty men at arms, and twenty cross-bow-men, left in garrison. All these observing from certain high places the vast army of the enemy, and abhorring the beastly cruelty of the accomplices of Antichrist, signified to the governor the hideous lamentations of his Christian subjects, who, in all the adjoining provinces, were surprised and cruelly destroyed, without any respect of rank, fortune, age, or sex. The Tartarian chieftains, and their brutishly savage followers, glutted themselves with the carcasses of the inhabitants, leaving nothing for the vultures but the bare bones; and strange to tell, the greedy and ravenous vultures disclaimed to prey on the remains left by the Tartars. Old and deformed women they gave for daily sustenance to their cannibals: The young and beautiful they devoured hot, but smothered them shrieking and lamenting under their forced and unnatural ravishments; and cutting off the breasts of tender virgins to present as dainties to their leaders, they fed themselves upon their bodies.

Their spies having descried from the top of a high mountain the Duke of Austria, the King of Bohemia, the Patriarch of Aquileia, the Duke of Carindiia, and as some say, the Earl of Baden, approaching with a mighty power towards them, the accursed crew immediately retired into the distressed and vanquished land of Hungary, departing as suddenly as they had invaded, and astonishing all men by the celerity of their motions. The prince of Dalmatia took eight of the fugitives, one of whom was recognized, by the Duke of Austria as an Englishman, who had been perpetually banished from England for certain crimes. This man had been sent twice as a messenger and interpreter from the most tyrannical king of the Tartars to the king of Hungary, menacing and fortelling those mischiefs which afterwards happened, unless he would submit himself and his kingdom to the yoke of the Tartars. Being urged by our princes to confess, the truth, this man made such oaths and protestations, as I think might have served to make even the devil be trusted.

He reported of himself, that presently after his banishment, being then about thirty years of age, and having lost all he possessed at dice in the city of Acon[2] he set off from thence, in the middle of winter, wearing nothing but a shirt of sacking, a pair of shoes, and a hairy cap; and, being shaven like a fool, he uttered an uncouth noise, as if he had been dumb, and wandered about through many countries in search of food. At length, through fatigue, and change of air and diet, he fell grievously sick in Chaldea, insomuch that he was weary of his life. Being compelled to remain there a long time to recover his strength, and having some learning, he began to write down the words he heard spoken, and in a short time made himself so much master of the language, as to be reputed a native; and in this manner he attained expertness in many languages. The Tartars got notice of this man by means of their spies, and drew him by force among them; and, having been admonished by an oracle or vision to extend their dominion over the whole earth, they allured him by many offers of reward, to serve them as an interpreter. He gave the following account of the manners and superstitions of the Tartars, of the disposition and stature of their bodies, and of their country and manner of fighting.

The Tartars are covetous, irascible, deceitful, and merciless, beyond all men; yet, through the rigour of discipline which is exercised by their superiors, they are restrained from brawls and mutual strife. They esteem the ancient founders and fathers of their tribes as Gods, in whose honour they celebrate solemn feasts at certain fixed times; and these deities are very numerous, though only four are considered as general gods of the nation. They consider all things as created for their sole use, and do not therefore think themselves cruel or unjust in wasting and destroying the surrounding nations, whom they esteem rebels against their legitimate authority. Their bodies, though lean, are hardy and strong, with broad chests, and square high shoulders, strong, well knit joints and firm sinews, thick and large thighs, with short legs, so that, being equal to us in stature, what they want in their legs is supplied in the upper part of their bodies. Their faces are pale, with short flat noses, their eyes black and inconstant, having large eyebrows, extending down to the nose; long sharp chins, their upper jaws low and declining, their teeth long and thin, their countenances distorted, fierce and terrible.

In ancient times their country, which is situated far beyond Chaldea, was utterly waste and barren, from whence they have expelled the lions, bears, and other wild beasts. Of the tanned hides of beasts they make for themselves light but impenetrable armour, and their backs are only slightly armed, that they may not flee in battle. They use small but strong horses, which are maintained with little provender. In fight they use javelins, maces, battle-axes, and swords, but are particularly expert in the use of bows and arrows. When engaged in battle they never retire till they see the chief standard of their general give back. When vanquished they ask no quarter, and in victory they shew no compassion; and though many millions in number, they all persist as one man, in resolving to subdue the whole world under their dominion. They have 60,000 couriers who are sent before upon light horses to prepare a place for the army to encamp, and these will gallop in one night as far as our troops can march in three days. When they invade a country, they suddenly diffuse themselves over the whole land, surprising the people unarmed, unprovided, and dispersed, and make such horrible slaughter and devastation, that the king or prince of the invaded land cannot collect a sufficient force to give them battle.

Sometimes they say, they intend to go to Cologne to bring home the three wise kings into their own country; sometimes they propose to punish the avarice and pride of the Romans, who formerly oppressed them; sometimes to conquer the barbarous nations of the north; sometimes to moderate the fury of the Germans with their own mildness; sometimes in derision they say that they intend going in pilgrimage to the shrine of St James in Galicia. By means of these pretences, some indiscreet governors of provinces have entered into league with them, and have, granted them free passage through their territories; but which leagues they have ever violated, to the certain ruin and destruction of these princes and their unhappy countries.

[1] Hakluyt, I, 22.

[2] Acre, in Palestine—E.



CHAP. VII.

Sketch of the Revolutions in Tartary.

Our limits do not admit of any detailed account of the history of those numerous and warlike pastoral nations, which in all ages have occupied the vast bounds of that region, which has been usually denominated Scythia by the ancients, and Tartary by the moderns: yet it seems necessary to give in this place, a comprehensive sketch of the revolutions which have so strikingly characterized that storehouse of devastating conquerors, to elucidate the various travels into Tartary which are contained in this first book of our work; and in this division of our plan, we have been chiefly guided by the masterly delineations on the same subject, of the eloquent historian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire[1].

In their navigation of the Euxine, and by planting colonies on its coasts, the Greeks became acquainted with Western Scythia, extending from the Danube, along the northern frontiers of Thrace, to mount Caucasus. The great extent of the ancient Persian Empire, which reached at one period from the Danube to the Indus, exposed its whole northern frontier to the Scythian nations, as far to the east as the mountains of Imaus or Caf, now called the Belur-tag. The still more eastern parts of Scythia or Tartary were known of old to the Chinese, and stretch to the utmost north-eastern bounds of Asia. Thus from the Danube and Carpathian mountains, in long. 26 deg.. E, to the promontory of Tschuts-koi-nos, or the East Cape of Asia, in long. 190 deg.. E. this vast region extends in length 160 degrees of longitude, or not less than 8000 miles. Its southern boundaries are more difficultly ascertainable: but, except where they are pressed northwards by the anciently civilized empire of China, these may be assumed at a medium on the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude; from, whence Scythia or Tartary extends in breadth to the extremity of the frozen north.

Next to the nomadic nations of Western Scythia, who encountered and baffled the arms of Darius, King of Persia, under the general name of Scythians, who were perhaps congeneric, or the same with those afterwards known by the name of Goths, the dreaded name of the Huns became known to the declining Roman Empire. But our object does not require us to attempt to trace the history of these nations, under their various appellations of Huns, Topa, Geougen, Turks, Chozars, and others, till the establishment of the vast empire of Zingis connected the history and devastating conquests of the Tartars with the affairs of modern Europe[2].

In the beginning of the thirteenth century, Temugin, the son of a Mogul chief, laid the foundations of a vast empire in the north east of Tartary or Mongolia. His father had reigned over thirteen hordes or tribes of the Moguls, Moals, or Monguls: and as it was not customary for these warlike tribes to submit to be ruled over by a boy, Temugen, who at the death of his father was only thirteen years of age, had to contend with his revolted, subjects, and had to obey a conqueror of his own nation. In a new attempt to recover the command over the subjects of his, father, he was more successful: and under the new appellation of Zingis, which signifies most great, he became the conqueror of an empire of prodigious extent. In person, or by means of his lieutenants, he successfully reduced the nations, tribes, or hordes of Tartary or Scythia, from China to the Volga, and established his undisputed authority over the whole pastoral world. He afterwards subjugated the five northern provinces of China, which were long imperfectly known under the name of Kathay; and successively reduced Carisme or Transoxiana, now great Bucharia, Chorassan, and Persia: and he died in 1227, after having exhorted and instructed his sons to persevere in the career of conquest, and more particularly to complete the conquest of China.

The vast empire established by Zingis, was apportioned among his four principal sons, Toushi, Zagatai, Octai, and Tuli, who had been respectively his great huntsman, chief judge, prime minister, and grand general. Firmly united among themselves, and faithful to their own and the public interest, three of these brothers, and their families and descendants, were satisfied with subordinate command; and Octai, by general consent of the maols, or nobles, was proclaimed Khan, or emperor of the Moguls and Tartars. Octai was succeeded by his son Gayuk; after whose death, the empire devolved successively on his cousins Mangou or Mangu, and Cublai, the sons of Tuli, and the grandsons of Zingis. During the sixty-eight years of the reigns of these four successors of Zingis, the Moguls subdued almost all Asia, and a considerable portion of Europe. The great Khan at first established his royal court at Kara-kum in the desert, and followed the Tarter custom of moving about with the golden horde, attended by numerous flocks and herds, according to the changes of the season: but Mangu-Khan, and Cublai-Khan, established their principal seat of empire in the new city of Pe-king, or Khan-balu, and perfected the conquest of China, reducing Corea, Tonkin, Cochin-china, Pegu, Bengal, and Thibet, to different degrees of subjection, or tribute, under the direct influence of the great Khan, and his peculiar lieutenants.

The conquest of Persia was completed by Holagu, the son of Tuli and grandson of Zingis, who of course was' brother to the two successive emperors, Mangu and Cublai. From Persia, the Moguls spread their ravages and conquests over Syria, Armenia, and Anatolia, or what is now called Turkey in Asia; but Arabia was protected by its burning deserts, and Egypt was successfully defended by the arms of the Mamalukes, who even repelled the Moguls from Syria.

Batu, another son of Tuli, conquered Turkestan and Kipzak[3], Astracan and Cazan, and reduced Georgia and Circassia to dependence. Advancing from the Black Sea to Livonia on the Baltic, Moscow and Kiow were reduced to ashes, and Russia submitted to pay tribute. Their victorious arms penetrated into Poland, in which they destroyed the cities of Lublin and Cracow; and they even defeated the confederate army of the dukes of Silesia, the Polish palatines, and the great master of the Teutonic knights, at Lignitz, the, most western extremity of their destructive march. From Lignitz they turned aside into Hungary, and reduced the whole of that country to the north of the Danube. During the winter, they crossed the Danube on the ice. Gran, the capital of Hungary, was taken by storm, and Bela, the unfortunate king of Hungary, had to take shelter in one of the islands at the head of the Adriatic. So terrible was the alarm in Europe, that the inhabitants of Sweden and the north of Germany neglected, in 1238, to send their ships, as usual, to the herring-fishery on the coast of England; and, as observed by Gibbon, it is whimsical enough to learn, that the price of herrings in the English market was lowered in consequence of the orders of a barbarous Mogul khan, who resided on the borders of China[4]. The tide of ruin was stemmed at Newstadt in Austria, by the bravery of fifty knights and twenty cross-bow-men; and the Tartars, awed by the fame of the valour and arms of the Franks, or inhabitants of western Europe, raised the siege on the approach of a German army, commanded by the emperor Frederic the Second. After laying waste the kingdoms of Servia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria, the adventurous Batu slowly retreated from the Danube to the Volga, and established his seat of command in the city and palace of Serai, both of which he had caused to be built upon the eastern arm of that noble river. Another of the sons of Tuli, Shaibani-khan, led a horde of 15,000 Tartar families into the wilds of Siberia; and his descendants reigned above three centuries at Tobolsk, in that secluded region, and even reduced the miserable Samoyedes in the neighbourhood of the polar circle.

Such was the establishment and extent of the first Tartar or Mogul empire. The descendants of Cublai gave themselves up to luxury in the palace of Peking, amidst a mischievous crowd of eunuchs, concubines, and astrologers, and their Mogul army, dissolved and dispersed in a vast and populous country, forgot the discipline and bravery of their ancestors. The secondary Mogul sovereigns of the west, assumed entire independence; and the great khan was satisfied with the empire of China and eastern Mongalia, In 1367, one hundred and forty years after the death of Zingis, roused to rebellion by a dreadful famine, in which thirteen millions of the inhabitants of China perished, the native Chinese expelled their degenerate Mogul oppressors, and the great khan became a wanderer in the desert. The vast empire established by Zingis and his immediate successors was now broken down into four vast fragments, each a powerful empire, Mongalia, Kipzak, Zagtai or Transoxiana, and Persia; and these four khans often contended with each other. On their ruins in lesser Asia, arose the formidable, more permanent, and still subsisting empire of the Ottoman Turks, whose youthful energies threatened the subversion of the last remains of the Greek empire, which they at last effected, and might perhaps have conquered the whole of Western Europe, if their progress had not been arrested by the power of a new Mogul dynasty.

In the distribution of the vast empire of Zingis, we have already seen that Zagathai, one of his sons, received the subordinate rule of Transoxiana, or the rich country on the rivers Jihon or Amu, and the Sir or Sihon, the Oxus and Jaxartes of the ancients. This extensive and fertile country, now called Western Turkestan, Great Bucharia, Kharism, Chorassan, and Balk, with some other smaller territories, is bounded on the west by the Caspian, on the east by the Belur-tag or Imaus, on the north by the deserts of western Tartary, and on the south by the mountains of the Hindoo-koh, and the desert of Margiana. The descendants of Zagatai were long considered as the khans or sovereigns of this fair empire, which fell into civil war and anarchy, through the divisions and subdivisions of the hordes, the uncertain laws of succession, and the ambition of the ministers of state, who reduced their degenerate masters to mere state puppets, and elevated or deposed successive khans at their pleasure; and the divided and distracted country was subjected or oppressed by the invasions of the khans of Kashgar, who ruled over the Calmucks or Getes in eastern Turkestan, or little Bucharia, on the cast of Imaus or the Belur-tag.

In this state of misery and depression, a new hero arose, in 1361, to vindicate and re-establish the fame and empire of the Moguls[5]. Timour, usually called Tamerlane, was the son of the hereditary chief of Cash, a small but fruitful territory about forty miles to the south of Samarcand. He was the fifth in descent from Carashar-Nevian, who had been vizir or prime minister to Zagathai, of which sovereign Timour was descended in the female line. After various fortunes, he in 1370, rendered himself absolute sovereign of Transoxiana, then called Zagatai, after its first Mogul ruler; but for some time, he affected to govern as prime minister, or general, to a nominal khan of the house of Zingis, who served as a private officer at the head of his family horde in the army of his servant. After establishing his authority in Zagatai, and conquering Kharism, and Candahar, he turned his arms against Persia or Iran, which had fallen into disorganization by the extinction of the descendants of the great Holacou, and which country he reduced under subjection. He successively reduced Cashgar, or eastern Turkestan, and Kipzak or western Tartary, and invaded Syria and Anatolia. In this invasion, in 1402, was fought the great battle of Angora, in which Bajazet, the great sultan of the Turks, was defeated and taken prisoner. By this great victory, the progress of the Turkish arms was checked for a time, and perhaps Europe was saved on that day from being subjected to the law of Mahomet. Yet the vast empire which Timour established, fell into fragments after his death, in 1405, and his descendants have sunk into oblivion; while the race of Othman and Bajazet still rule over a large empire in Europe and Asia, nearly commensurate with the eastern Roman empire, still called Rumi in the east.

Having thus traced an outline of the revolutions of empire in Tartary, down to what may be considered as modern history, it is only necessary farther to mention, that all eastern Tartary and Mongalia is now subject to China, and Kipzac and all the northern to Russia. Hardly any part of it now remains independent, except Zagatai; or Transoxiana, Kharism, Candabar, and the deserts of Western Tartary: the former of which is subject to the Usbeks, and the latter to the Kirguses.

[1] Gibbon, Dec. and Fall, IV. 355.

[2] Decl. and Fall, XI. 402.

[3] Dashte Kipzak, or the plain of Kipzak, extended on both sides of the Volga, towards the Jaik or Ural, and the Borysthenes or Dnieper, and is supposed to have given name to the Cosacs.—Gibb.

[4] As reported by Gibbon, from Matthew Paris, p. 396, forty or fifty herrings were sold for a shilling. This must be an error, perhaps for 40 or 50 thousand; as a shilling of these days was worth at least from fifteen to twenty modern shillings in effective value; and within memory herrings have often sold, in a very plentiful fishery, for a shilling the cart-load, when salt could not be had in sufficient quantity.—E.

[5] Decl. and Fall. XII. I.



CHAP. VIII.

The Travels of John de Plano Carpini and other Friars, sent about the year 1246, as ambassadors from Pope Innocent IV, to the great Khan of the Moguls or Tartars.[1]

INTRODUCTION.

In the collection of early Voyages, Travels, and Discoveries, by Hakluyt, published originally in 1599, and reprinted at London in 1809 with additions, there are two separate relations of these travels. The first, in p. 24, is the journal of John de Plano Carpini, an Italian minorite, who, accompanied by friar Benedict, a Polander, went in 1246 by the north of the Caspian sea, to the residence of Batu-khan, and thence to Kajuk- khan, whom he calls Cuyne, the chief or Emperor of all the Mongols. The second in p. 42, is a relation taken from the Speculum Historiale of Vincentius Beluacensis, lib. xxxii. ch. 2. of the mission of certain friars, predicants and minorites in the same year, 1246, to the same country; and in p. 59. of the same collection, there is a translation by Hakluyt into antiquated English of this second account. From this second narrative it appears, that Vincentius had received an account of the journey of the second mission from Simon de St Quintin, a minorite friar belonging to the party; and that he had worked up along with this, the whole of the narrative which had been separately published by Carpini of his journey; which indeed forms by far the larger and more interesting portion of the work published by Vincentius. This latter edition, therefore has been considered as sufficient for the present collection, because to have given both would have been an unnecessary repetition; and it is here translated from the Latin of Hakluyt, I. 42.

The object of this mission or embassy seems to have been as follows: A prodigious alarm was excited in Europe, by the victorious and destructive progress of the Mongals or Tartars; who, under the command of Tuschi-khan, and of Batu-khan, the son of Tuschi, advancing through Kipzhak, Russia, Poland, and Hungary, all of which they had most horribly ravaged and laid waste, had penetrated even into Silesia; while by the eastern side or the Caspian, penetrating through Transoxiana and Persia, under the command of Zagatai-khan, likewise a son of Zingus, and Holagu-khan, a nephew of Zagatai, they had made their appearance on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris. In this alarming conjuncture, it was thought advisable by Pope Innocent IV. in a convocation of the clergy at Lyons, in 1245, to send ambassadors to these formidable conquerors, to endeavour to pacify them, and induce them to turn the destructive tide of their conquests in some other direction, and perhaps partly in the hope of endeavouring, if possible, to convert them to the Christian faith, and inducing them to direct their arms against the Turks and Saracens, who oppressed the Holy Land. For this purpose, six monks were selected from the new and severe orders of predicants and minorites. John de Plano Carpini and Benedict, travelled through Bohemia and Poland to Kiow in Russia, and thence by the mouth of the Dnieper to the camp of Korrensa, or Corrensa, a general of the Mongals; whence, crossing the Don and Wolga or Volga, they came to the encampment of Bata-khan, called also Baty and Baatu, who sent them to Kajuk-khan, the emperor of the Mongals, whom they call Cuyne. The other ambassadors were Asceline, with Friars Alexander, Albert, and Simon de St Quintin: who went by the south of the Caspian, through Syria, Persia, and Chorassan, to the court of Baiju-Nojan, or as they call him Bajothnoy: but of the particulars of this journey very little has been preserved by Vincentius, so that in fact, the travels here published belong almost exclusively to Carpini.

The full title given by Hakluyt to this relation is worth preserving as a literary curiosity, and is as follows:

"The long and wonderful voyage of Friar John de Plano Carpini, sent ambassador, by Pope Innocent IV. A.D. 1246, to the great Can of Tartacia; wherein he passed through Bohemia, Polonia, Russia, and so to the city of Kiow upon Boristhenes, and from thence rode continually post for the space of sixe moneths through Comania, over the mighty and famous rivers, Tanais, Volga, and Jaie, and through the countries of the people called Kangittae, Bisermini, Karakitay, Naimani, and so to the native country of the Mongols or Tartars, situate in the extreme north-eastern partes of all Asia; and thence back again the same Way to Russia, and Polonia, and so to Rome; spending in the whole voyage among the sayd Tartars, one whole year, and above four moneths: Taken out of the 32 booke of Vincentius Beluacensis his Speculum Historiale."

[1] Hakluyt. I. 24. and 42. for the Latin of the two relations; and p. 59. for the old English translation of the second.



SECTION I.

Introductory Epistle by John de Plano Carpini.

To all the faithful in Christ, to whom this writing may come, I friar John de Plano Carpini, of the order of minorites, legate and messenger from the Apostolic see to the Tartars and other nations of the east, wish the Grace of God in this life, and glory in the next, and perpetual triumph over all the enemies of the Lord. Having learnt the will of our lord the Pope, and the venerable Cardinals, and received the commands of the holy see, that we should go to the Tartars and other nations of the east, we determined to go in the first place to the Tartars; because we dreaded that the most imminent and nearest danger to the Church of God arose from them. And although we personally dreaded from these Tartars and other nations, that we might be skin or reduced to perpetual slavery, or should suffer hunger and thirst, the extremes of heat and cold, reproach, and excessive fatigue beyond our strength, all of which; except death and captivity, we have endured, even beyond our first fears, yet did we not spare ourselves, that we might obey the will of God, according to the orders of our lord the Pope, that we might be useful in any thing to the Christians, or at least, that the will and intention of these people might be assuredly known, and made manifest to Christendom, lest suddenly invading us, they might find us unprepared, and might make incredible slaughter of the Christian people. Hence, what we now write is for your advantage, that you may be on your guard, and more secure; being what we saw with our own eyes, while we sojourned with and among these people, during more than a year and four months, or which we have learnt from Christian captives residing among them, and whom we believe to, be worthy of credit. We were likewise enjoined by the supreme pontiff, that we should examine and inquire into every thing very diligently; all of which, both myself and friar Benedict of the same order, my companion in affliction and interpreter, have carefully performed.



SECTION II.

Of the first Mission of Friars Predicants and Minorites to the Tartars.

At the same period, Pope Innocent IV. sent Friar Asceline of the order of friars predicants, with three other friars from different convents, with apostolical letters to the army of the Tartars, exhorting them to desist from slaughtering mankind, and to adopt the true Christian faith; and from one of these lately returned, Friar Simon de St Quintin, of the minorite order, I have received the relations concerning the transactions of the Tartars, which are here set down. At the same period, Friar, John de Plano Carpini of the order of minorites, with some others, was sent to the Tartars, and remained travelling among them for sixteen months. This Friar John hath written a little history, which is come to our hands, of what he saw among the Tartars, or learnt from divers persons living in captivity. From which I have inserted such things, in the following relation, as were wanting in the accounts given me by Friar Simon.



SECTION III.

Of the Situation and Quality of the Land of the Tartars, from Carpini.

The land of Mongolia or Tartary is in the east part of the world, where the east and north are believed to unite[1]; haying the country of Kathay, and the people called Solangi on the east; on the south the country of the Saracens; the land of the Huini on the south-east; on the west the province of Naimani, and the ocean on the north. In some parts it is full of mountains, in other parts quite plain; but everywhere interspersed with sandy barrens, not an hundredth part of the whole being fertile, as it cannot be cultivated except where it is watered with rivers, which are very rare. Hence there are no towns or cities, except one named Cracurim[2], which is said to be tolerably good. We did not see that place, although within half a day's journey, when we were at the horde of Syra, the court of their great emperor. Although otherwise infertile, this land is well adapted for the pasture of cattle. In some places there are woods of small extent, but the land is mostly destitute of trees; insomuch, that even the emperor and princes, and all others, warm themselves and cook their victuals with fires of horse and cow dung. The climate is very intemperate, as in the middle of summer there are terrible storms of thunder and lightning, by which many people are killed, and even then there are great falls of snow, and there blow such tempests of cold winds, that sometimes people can hardly sit on horseback. In one of these, when near the Syra Horde, by which name they signify the station of the emperor, or of any of their princes, we had to throw ourselves prostrate on the ground, and could not see by reason of the prodigious dust. It never rains in winter, but frequently in summer, yet so gently as scarcely to lay the dust, or to moisten the roots of the grass. But there are often prodigious showers of hail; insomuch, that by the sudden melting of one of these, at the time when the emperor elect was about to be placed on his throne, at which time we were at the imperial court, above an hundred and sixty persons were drowned, and many habitations and much valuable things were swept away. In summer there are often sudden and intolerable heats, quickly followed by extreme cold.

[1] This strange personification of the East and North, as if they were stationary geographical terms, not merely, relative, only means that Mongalia lay in the most north-easterly part of the then known world. —E.

[2] Called likewise Karakum, or Caracorum, and said to signify the Black Sand.—E



SECTION IV.

Of the Appearance, Dress, and Manner of Living of the Tartars.

The appearance of the Mongols or Tartars is quite different from all other nations, being much wider between the eyes and cheeks, and their cheeks are very prominent, with small flat noses, and small eyes, having the upper lids opened up to the eyebrows, and their crowns are shaven like priests on each side, leaving some long hair in the middle, the remainder being allowed to grow long like women, which they twist into two tails or locks, and bind behind their ears. The garments of the men and women are alike, using neither cloaks, hats, nor caps, but they wear strange tunics made of bucram, purple, or baldequin. Their gowns are made of skins, dressed in the hair, and open behind. They never wash their clothes, neither do they allow others to wash, especially in time of thunder, till that be over. Their houses are round, and artificially made like tents, of rods and twigs interwoven, having a round hole in the middle of the roof for the admission of light and the passage of smoke, the whole being covered with felt, of which likewise the doors are made. Some of these are easily taken to pieces or put together, and are carried on sumpter-cattle; while others are not capable of being taken to pieces, and are carried on carts. Wherever they go, whether to war, or only travelling to fresh pastures, these are carried with them. They have vast numbers of camels, oxen, sheep, and goats, and such prodigious multitudes of horses and mares, as are not to be found in all the rest of the world; but they have no swine. Their emperor, dukes, and other nobles, are extremely rich in gold and silver, silks, and gems. They eat of every thing that is eatable, and we have even seen them eat vermin. They drink milk in great quantity, and particularly prefer that of mares. But as in winter, none but the rich can have mares milk, they make a drink of millet boiled in water; every one drinking one or two cups in the morning, and sometimes having no other food all day; but in the evening, every one has a small quantity of flesh, and they drink the broth in which it was boiled. In summer, when they have abundance of mares milk, they eat little flesh, unless it is given them, or when they catch venison or birds.



SECTION V.

Of their Good and Bad Customs.



Some of their customs are commendable, and others execrable. They are more obedient to their lords than any other people, giving them vast reverence, and never deceiving them in word or action. They seldom quarrel; and brawls, wounds, or manslaughter hardly ever occur. Thieves and robbers are nowhere found, so that their houses and carts, in which all their treasure is kept, are never locked or barred. If any animal go astray, the finder either leaves it, or drives it to those who are appointed to seek for strays, and the owner gets it back without difficulty. They are very courteous, and though victuals are scarce among them, they communicate freely to each other. They are very patient under privations, and though they may have fasted for a day or two, will sing and make merry as if they were well satisfied. In journeying, they bear cold, or heat with great fortitude. They never fall out, and though often drunk, never quarrel in their cups. No one despises another, but every one assists his neighbour to the utmost. Their women are chaste, yet their conversation is frequently immodest. Towards other people they are exceedingly proud and overbearing, looking upon all other men with contempt, however noble. For we saw, in the emperor's court, the great duke of Russia, the son of the king of Georgia, and many sultans and other great men, who received no honour or respect; so that even the Tartars appointed to attend them, however low their condition, always went before them, and took the upper places, and even often obliged them to sit behind their backs. They are irritable and disdainful to other men, and beyond belief deceitful; speaking always fair at first, but afterwards stinging like scorpions. They are crafty and fraudulent, and cheat all men if they can. Whatever mischief they intend they carefully conceal, that no one may provide or find a remedy for their wickedness. They are filthy in their meat and drink, and in all their actions. Drunkenness is honourable among them; so that, when one has drank to excess and throws up, he begins again to drink. They are most importunate beggars, and covetous possessors, and most niggardly givers; and they consider the slaughter of other people as nothing.



SECTION VI.

Of the Laws and Customs of the Tartars.

Men and women guilty of adultery, or even of fornication, are punished with death. Those detected in robbery or theft are likewise slain. If any one divulges their councils, especially with regard to an intended war, he receives an hundred blows on his buttocks with a great cudgel, as hard as a strong man can lay on. When any of the meaner sort commit offences, they are severely punished by their superiors. In marriage, they pay no attention to nearness of kindred, except their mothers, daughters, or sisters by the same mother; for they will even marry their sisters from other mothers, and their fathers wives after his death. The younger brother also, or some other of the kindred, is bound to marry the wives of a deceased brother.

While I remained in the country, a Russian duke, named Andrew[1], being accused before duke Baatu, of conveying Tartar horses out of the country and selling them to other nations, was put to death, although the fact was not proved against him. After this, the widow and younger brother of Andrew came to Baatu, supplicating that they might not be deprived of the dukedom, upon which Baatu commanded them to be married according to the Tartar custom; and though both refused, as contrary to the religion and laws of Russia, they were compelled to this incestuous union. After the death of their husbands, the Tartar widows seldom marry, unless when a man chooses to wed his brother's wife or his stepmother. They make no difference between the son of a wife or of a concubine, of which the following is a memorable example. The late king of Georgia left two sons, Melich and David, of whom the former was lawful, and the other born in adultery; but he left part of his dominions to his bastard. Melich appealed to the Tartar emperor for justice, and David went likewise to the court, carrying large gifts; and the emperor confirmed the will of their father, even appointing David to have the superior authority, because eldest born. When a Tartar has more than one wife, each has her own house and establishment, and the husband eats, drinks, and sleeps, sometimes with one and sometimes with another. One is considered as principal wife, and with her he resides oftener than with the others; and though they are sometimes numerous, they very seldom quarrel among themselves.

[1] In the previous account of the travels of Carpini, Hakl. I. 27. this Andrew is said to have been duke of Sarvogle, or Seirvogle, perhaps meaning Yeroslave.—E.



SECTION VII.

Of their Superstitious Traditions.

In consequence of certain traditions, they consider many indifferent actions as criminal. One is, to thrust a knife into the fire, or any way to touch a fire with a knife, to take meat from the pot with a knife, or even to hew any thing with an axe near a fire; as they consider all these things as taking away the force of the fire. Another is, to lean upon a whip, for they use no spurs, or to touch arrows with their whip, to strike their horse with their bridle, to take or kill young birds, or to break one bone upon another. Likewise, to spill milk, or any drink, or food, on the ground, or to make water in a house; for the last offence, if intentional, a man is slain, or he must pay a heavy fine to the soothsayers to be purified; in which case, the house, and all that it contains, has to pass between two fires, before which ceremony no person must enter the house, nor must any thing be removed from it. If any one takes a bit of meat that he cannot swallow and spits it out, a hole is made in the floor of the house, through which he is dragged and put to death. If any one treads on the threshold of a house belonging to one of their dukes, he is put to death. Many such things they account high offences.

But to slay men, to invade the territories of others, to take away the goods of other people, and to act contrary to the commands of God, is no crime among them; and they know nothing of the life to come, or of eternal damnation. But they believe in a future life, in which they shall tend flocks, eat and drink, and do those very things which they do in this life. At new moon, or when the moon is full, they begin any new enterprise; they call the moon the great emperor, and they worship that luminary on their knees. All who dwell in their houses must undergo purification by fire, which is performed in this manner. Having kindled two fires at a convenient distance, they fix two spears in the earth, one near each fire, stretching a cord between the tops of these spears, and about the cord they hang some rags of buckram, under which cord, and between, which fires, all the men, and beasts, and houses must pass; and all the while, a woman stands on each side, sprinkling water on the passengers, and reciting certain verses. If any one is killed by lightning, all that dwell in the same house with the dead person must be thus purified; otherwise, the house, beds, carts, felts, garments, and every thing else would be abandoned as unclean. When any messengers, princes, or other persons arrive, they and their gifts must pass between two fires for purification, lest they should bring witchcraft, poison, or any other mischief.



SECTION VIII.

Of the Beginning of their Empire.

The land of Mongolia was formerly divided among four different tribes or nations. One of these was the Yeka-Mongal, or the great Mongols. The second Su-Mongal, or the Water Mongols, who called themselves Tartars, from a river of that name in their territories. The third was named Merkat, and the fourth Metrit. All these tribes resembled each other in form, and complexion, and spoke the same language, though they were divided into distinct provinces, under separate princes. In the land of the Yeka-Mongal, lived one named Zingis, a great hunter, who used to rob and take much prey, going into the neighbouring districts, where he seized all that came in his way, and associated many under his command, till at length the people of his nation attached themselves to him, and followed him as their leader to do evil. After some time, Zingis went to war with the Su-Mongal or Tartars, slew their duke, and subjugated the nation; and he successively reduced the Merkats and Metrites to his growing dominion. The Naymani, to whom all the surrounding tribes then paid tribute, were much indignant at the elevation of Zingis; but their great emperor had lately died, leaving the authority divided among his sons, who were young and foolish, and knew not how to rule the people; yet they invaded the territories of the Mongals, slaying the inhabitants and carrying off much prey. On this Zingis collected the whole strength of his subjects, and the Naymani, united with the Cara-Cathayans, gathered a mighty army in a certain narrow valley to oppose him, in which a great battle was fought, and the Mongals obtained the victory, the confederates being mostly slain, and those who escaped were reduced to subjection. Zingis established his son Occoday, Ug dai, or Octai-Khan, in the land of the Kara-Kitayans, where he built a town called Omyl or Chamyl[1]; near which, and to the south, there is a vast desert, in which there are said to be certain wild men, who do not speak, and have no joints in their legs, yet have sufficient art to make felt of camels wool for garments, to protect them from the weather.

[1] Called Chamil or Hami in the maps, in lat. 43 deg. N. and long. 92 deg. E It stands in a province of the same name, on the north side of the great desert of Cobi, and to the N.E. of the land of the Kalmuks, or little Bucharia.—E.



SECTION IX.

Of the Mutual Victories of the Mongals and Cathayans.

After their return from conquering the Naymani and Cara-Cathayans, the Mongals prepared to go to war with the Kythaos, or Cathayans[1]; but the Mongals were defeated in a great battle, and all their nobles were slain except seven. Zingis and the rest who had escaped from this defeat, soon afterwards attacked and conquered the people called Huyri[2], who were Nestorian Christians, from whom they learned the art of writing. After this they conquered the land of Sarugur, and the country of the Karanites, and the land of Hudirat, and returning into their own country, took a short respite from war. Again assembling a great army, they invaded Cathay, and after a long struggle, they conquered the greater part of that country, and besieged the emperor in his greatest city. The siege lasted so long, that the army of the Mongals came to be in want of provisions, and Zingis is said to have commanded that every tenth man of his own army should be slain as food for the rest. At length, by great exertions, the Mongals dug a mine underneath the walls of the city, through which a party entered and opened the gates for the rest of the army, so that the city was carried, and the emperor and many of the citizens put to the sword. Having appointed deputies to rule over his conquests, Zingis returned into Mongalia with immense quantities of gold and silver and other precious spoil. But the southern parts of this empire, as it lies within the sea, has not been conquered by the Mongals to this day[3].

The people of Cathay are Pagans, having a peculiar kind of writing of their own, in which they are reported to possess the scriptures of the Old and New Testament. They have also lives of the fathers, and houses in which they pray at stated times, built like churches; they are even said to have saints, to worship one God, to venerate the Lord Jesus Christ, and to believe eternal life; but they are not baptised[4]. They have no beards, and they partly resemble the Mongals in their features. Their country is exceeding fruitful in corn, and abounds in gold and silver, wine and silk, and all manner of rich commodities, and the whole world has not more expert artificers in all kinds of works and manufactures.

[1] The inhabitants of Northern China, then a separate kingdom from Mangi, or Southern China.—E.

[2] The Huirs or Uigurs.—E.

[3] This probably alludes to the difficulty experienced by the Mongals in forcing a passage across the great rivers Hoang-ho and Kian-ku—E.

[4] These absurd notions must have been picked up by the credulous papal messengers, from ignorant or designing Nestorians in Mongolia.—E.



SECTION X.

Of the Wars of the Mongals against the Greater and Lesser India.

When Zingis and his people had rested some time after their conquest of Cathay, he divided his army, and sent one of his sons, named Thosut- khan[1], against the Comaniam, whom he vanquished in many battles, and then returned into his own country. Another of his sons was sent with an army against the Indians, who subdued the lesser India. These Indians are the Black Saracens, who are also named Ethiopians. From thence the Mongal army marched to fight against the Christians dwelling in the greater India, and the king of that country, known by the name of Prester John, came forth with his army against them. This prince caused a number of hollow copper figures to be made, resembling men, which were stuffed with combustibles, and set upon horses, each having a man behind on the horse, with a pair of bellows to stir up the fire. When approaching to give battle, these mounted images were first sent forwards against the enemy, and the men who rode behind set fire by some means to the combustibles, and blew strongly with their bellows; and the Mongal men and horses were burnt with wildfire, and the air was darkened with smoke. Then the Indians charged the Mongals, many of whom were wounded and slain, and they were expelled from the country in great confusion, and we have not heard that they ever ventured to return[2].

[1] Probably Tuschi-Khan.—E.

[2] It is needless to remark upon the confused and ignorant geography, and the idle tale of a Christian empire in India in this section. The strangely ill-told story of the copper images, by which the Mongals were scorched with wild-fire, may refer to the actual employment either of cannon or rockets against the Mongals in this invasion.—E.



SECTION XI.

Of Monstrous Men like Dogs, and of the Conquest of Burithabeth.

In returning through the desert, we were told by some Russian priests at the emperor's court, that the Mongals found certain women, who, being asked where their men were, said that all the women of that country had human shapes, but that the males had the shape of great dogs. After some time, they met the dogs on the other side of a river. It being in winter, the dogs plunged into the water, and then rolled themselves in the dust on the land, till the dust and water was frozen on their backs; and having done this repeatedly till the ice was thick and strong, they attacked the Mongals with great fury; but when the Mongals threw their darts, or shot their arrows at them, they rebounded as if they had fallen on stones, neither could their weapons in any way hurt them. But the dogs killed some of the Tartars, and wounded many with their teeth, and finally drove them out of the country[1].

On their return home, the Mongals came into the country of Burithabeth, of which the inhabitants are pagans, and conquered the people in battle. These people have a strange custom of eating their kindred when they die. They have no beard, for we saw some of them going about with certain iron instruments in their hands, with which they pluck out any hairs they find on their faces[2].

[1] It is surely unnecessary to remark on this ridiculous story of the canine men, which no commentary could reduce to sense.—E.

[2] These people may possibly have been the Burats. The same practice of eradicating the beard is still followed by the native tribes of America.—E.



SECTION XII.

How the Mongals were repulsed at the Caspian Mountains, by Men dwelling in Caves.

When Zingis sent the before-mentioned armies into the east, he marched personally into the land of the Kergis[1], which, however, he did not now conquer. In this expedition the Mongals are said to have penetrated to the Caspian mountains, which being of adamant, attracted their arrows and other weapons of iron[2].

[1] The Kirguses, inhabiting Western Turkestan, between Lake Balkash and the Caspian.—E.

[2] The remainder of this short section is so ridiculously fabulous as not to merit translation, and is therefore omitted.—E.



SECTION XIII.

Of the death of Zingis, and concerning his Sons, and the Tartar Dukes or Princes.

Zingis is said to have been killed by lightning. He had four sons, the first was called Occoday, or Oktai, the second Thosut, Tuzi, or Tuschi, the third Thiaday, or Zagathai, and the name of the fourth I could not learn. From these four all the dukes of the Mongals are descended[1]. Cuyne, or Kajuk, the eldest son of Occoday, or Oktai, is now emperor; and he has two brothers Cocten, and Chyrinen. Bathy, or Baatu, Ordu, Siba, and Boru are the sons of Thosut-khan. Baatu is richer and mightier than all the rest, being next in power to the emperor; but Ordu is the superior of all the dukes. The sons of Thiaday are Hurin and Cadan. The sons of the son of Zingis whose name I could not learn, are Mengu, Bithat, and several others. The mother of Mengu was Seroctan, the greatest lady among the Tartars, and the most honoured except the emperor's mother, and more powerful than any subject except Bathy. The following is a list of their dukes: Ordu, Bathy, Huryn, Cadan, Syban, and Ouygat, who were all in Hungary; Cyrpodan, who remains beyond the sea[2], making war against certain soldans of the Saracens, and other transmarine nations. Mengu, Chyrinen, Hubilai, Sinocur, Cara, Gay, Sybedey, Bora, Berca, and Corensa, all remain in Tartary. But there are many other dukes whose names I could not learn.

[1] Other authors give a different account of the family of Zingis. According to Harris, I. 556, Zuzi, or Tuschi, was his eldest son, who died six months before his father, and his son Baatu got a great part of Tartary for his share. Zagathai, a son of Zingis, got Transoxiana, or the country of the Kirguses. Tuli, another son, had Chorassan, Persia, and western India. Octai had Mongalia and Cathay, or Northern China. Carpini, or rather Vincentius, has sadly confounded all authentic history, by his rambling colloquial collections from ignorant relators, and has miserably corrupted the orthography of names of nations, places, and persons.—E.

[2] Probably meaning in Persia, beyond the Caspian Sea.—E



SECTION XIV.

Of the Power of the Emperors, and of his Dukes..

The Tartar emperor enjoys incontrollable power over all his subjects, insomuch, that no man dare abide in any other place than he has assigned; and he even appoints the residences of all the dukes. The dukes appoint the residence of the millenaries, or commanders of a thousand men; the millenaries do the same with the centurions, or captains of hundreds; and the centurions direct in what place the decurions or commanders of tens are to dwell. Whatsoever order any of these officers receive from their immediate superiors must be instantly and implicitly obeyed. If the emperor demands the virgin daughter or sister of any one, she is instantly delivered up; nay, he often collects the virgins from all the Tartar dominions, and retains such as he pleases for himself, giving away others among his followers. All his messengers must be everywhere provided with horses and necessaries without delay: and all messengers coming to him with tribute or otherwise, must be provided on their way with horses, carriages, and all necessaries; yet messengers from strange countries, suffer great distresses and much want of provisions and clothing, especially when sent to any of the princes, and when they have to make any stay; as they often allot for ten men, what would hardly suffice for two, and if they suffer any injury it is even dangerous to complain. Many gifts are demanded of them, both by the princes and others, and if these are refused they are contemned. Owing to this, we were constrained to expend in presents, a large portion of what had been bestowed upon us by well disposed persons to defray our expences. In fine, every thing whatever belongs to the emperor, so that no one dare to say that any thing is his own; and the dukes and princes exercise an equally incontrollable dominion upon all below them.



SECTION XV.

Of the Election of the Emperor Occoday, and of the Expedition of Duke Bathy.

On the death of Zingis-chan, the dukes assembled and elected his son Occoday, Ugadai, or Oktai-khan, emperor in his place; who immediately, in a council of the nobles, divided the army, and sent Bathy, or Baatu-khan, who was next in authority, against the land of Altissodan and the country of the Bissermini[1], who were Saracens, though they spoke the language of the Comanians. Bathy defeated these people in battle; but the city of Barchin, which was surrounded with strong walls, resisted for a long while, until the Tartars filled up the ditches and won the place, which they destroyed. Sargat surrendered without resistance, for which the city was not destroyed, but many of the citizens were slain and made captives, and much spoil was taken, and the city was filled with new inhabitants. The Tartars marched next against the rich and populous city of Orna, in which were many Christian Gassarians, Russians, and Alanians, and many Saracens, the lord of the city being of that nation. This town stands on a large river, and is a kind of port, exercising great trade. Being unable to reduce this place by force, the Tartars dammed up the river, and drowned the whole city, with the inhabitants and their goods. Hence they invaded Russia, and besieged Kiow a long while, which they at length took, and massacred the inhabitants. This was a large and populous city, but is now reduced to nothing, and scarcely has two hundred houses: and when we passed through Russia, we found immense numbers of human skulls and bones scattered about. From Russia and Comania they proceeded against the Hungarians and Polonians, where many of them were slain: and had the Hungarians withstood them manfully, the Tartars had been utterly defeated. In their return from thence, they invaded and defeated the pagan Morduans: whence they marched against the Byleri of greater Bulgaria, which they almost entirely destroyed. Thence they proceeded to the north against the Bastarci of greater Hungary, whom they conquered; and going farther north, they came to the Parossitae, and thence to the Samogetae, reaching even to the ocean; and from thence returned into Comania.

[1] The Busurmen, Musurmen, or Mahometan inhabitants of Turkestan.—E.



SECTION XVI.

Of the Expedition of Duke Cyrpodan.

At the same time Occoday-khan sent duke Cyrpodan with an army to the south, against the pagan Kergis, who have no beards, whom he subdued. After which he marched against the Armenians, whom he conquered, and likewise subdued a part of Georgia. The other part of that country is likewise under subjection, and pays an yearly tribute of 20,000 yperperas. He thence marched into the dominions of the great and powerful soldan of the Deuri, whom he defeated; and proceeded to the country of the soldan of Aleppo, which he subdued; and afterwards reduced the caliph of Baldach or Bagdat to subjection, who is forced to pay a daily tribute of 400 byzants, besides baldekins[1] and other gifts. Every year the Tartar emperor sends messengers to require the presence of the caliph; who sends back great gifts besides the regular tribute, to prevail on the emperor to excuse his absence.

Duke Cyrpodan and his army still propose to invade more distant countries, and have not yet returned into Tartary.

[1] This is probably a manufacture of Bagdat or Baldach, from whence its name; and may have been flowered silk or cloth of gold.—E.



SECTION XVII.

Of the Military conduct of the Tartars.

Zingis-khan divided the Tartars into companies or divisions of ten, of, an hundred, and of a thousand each, every one of which had its appropriate officer. Over every ten millenaries he placed one general; and over an army of several bodies of ten thousand men, two or three dukes, one of whom had the superior command. When they join battle against their enemies, unless the whole army retreat by common consent, all who fly are put to death. If one, two, or more of a decury proceed bravely to battle, and the rest do not follow, the cowards are slain. If one, two, or more of the decury are made prisoners and the rest do not rescue them, they are put to death. Every man must have two bows, or at least one good bow, three quivers full of arrows, an axe, and certain ropes to draw the military machines. The rich or officers have sharp-pointed swords, somewhat curved and sharp on one edge. They wear helmets, coats of mail, and cuisses, and their horses even are armed. Some have their own armour and that of their horses made of leather, ingeniously doubled and even tripled. The upper parts of their helmets are of iron or steel, but the hood which protects their neck and throat is of leather. Some have all their defensive armour composed of many small plates of iron, a hand-breadth long and an inch broad, perforated with eight small holes, by which they are tied with small leather thongs to strong thongs of leather underneath, so that the plates overlap each other in regular series, and are firmly knit together. The armour both of men and horses is often made in this fashion, and is kept finely burnished. Some carry lances having hooks, to pull their enemies from horseback. Their arrow-heads are exceedingly sharp on both edges, and every man carries a file to sharpen them. Their targets are made of wicker, but they are hardly ever carried, except by the night guards, especially those in attendance upon the emperor and the princes.