Rubruquis seems to intimate that the Nestorian priests were employed to
consecrate the white mares by incensing them. In the rear of Lord
Canning's camp in India I once came upon the party of his Shutr Suwars,
or dromedary-express riders, busily engaged in incensing with frankincense
the whole of the dromedaries, which were kneeling in a circle. I could get
no light on the practice, but it was very probably a relic of the old
Mongol custom. (Rubr. 363; Erman, II. 397; Billings' Journey, Fr.
Tr. I. 217; Baber, 103; J. As. ser. V. tom. xi. p. 249; Atk. Amoor,
p. 47; J. A. S. B. XIII. 628; Koeppen, II. 313.)
NOTE 8. - The practice of weather-conjuring was in great vogue among the
Mongols, and is often alluded to in their history.
The operation was performed by means of a stone of magical virtues, called
Yadah or Jadah-Tash, which was placed in or hung over a basin of water
with sundry ceremonies. The possession of such a stone is ascribed by the
early Arab traveller Ibn Mohalhal to the Kimak, a great tribe of the
Turks.
