He Was,
Besides, Illiterate, And Therefore It Is Often Extremely Difficult To
Ascertain, From His Orthography, What Places He Actually Means To Name Or
Describe.
With all these drawbacks and imperfections, however, there are a
few points on which he gives credible and curious information.
He
particularizes the silk of Strana, and of Schirevan; and adds, that from
the last the raw silk is sent to Damascus, and there manufactured into the
stuffs or damasks, for which it was already so celebrated. Fine silk was
produced at Bursa, and exported to Venice and Lucca, for the manufacture of
velvet. It ought to be mentioned, that he takes no notice of Saray and
Astrakan, the latter of which was taken and destroyed by Tamerlane, in
1395. The wild asses in the mountainous deserts, and the dogs which were
harnessed to sledges, are particularly mentioned by this traveller.
The interior parts of the north of Asia were visited, in 1420, by the
ambassadors of the Emperor Tamerlane's son; and their journey is described
in the Book of the Wonders of the World, written by the Persian historian,
Emir Khond, from which it was translated into Dutch by Witsen, in his
Norden Oste Tartarye. Their route was through Samarcand to Cathay. On
entering this country, we are informed of a circumstance strikingly
characteristic of Chinese policy and suspicion. Cathayan secretaries took
down, in writing, the names of the ambassadors, and the number of their
suite. This was repeated at another place, the ambassadors being earnestly
requested to state the exact number of their servants; and the merchants,
who were with him, having been put down by him under the description of
servants, were, on that account, obliged to perform the particular duties
under which they were described.
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