The Rivers Of Both
Countries Are Large, And Surpass Our Greatest Rivers, And Much Rain Falls
In Both Countries.
In the ladies there are many desert tracks, but China is
inhabited and cultivated through its whole extent.
The Chinese are
handsomer than the Indians, and come nearer to the Arabs in countenance and
dress, in their manners, in the way of riding, and in their ceremonies,
wearing long garments and girdles in the manner of belts; while the Indians
wear two short vests, and both men and women wear golden bracelets, adorned
with precious stones.
Beyond the kingdom of China, there is a country called Tagazgaz, taking
its name from a nation of Turks by which it is inhabited, and also the
country of Kakhan which borders on the Turks. The islands of Sila are
inhabited by white people, who send presents to the Emperor of China, and
who are persuaded that if they were to neglect this the rain of heaven
would not fall upon their country. In that country there are white falcons;
but none of our people have been there to give us any particular
information concerning them.
[1] This is probably the sea about the Maldives, which, according to the
eastern geographers, divides that part of the Indian Ocean from the
sea of Delarowi, or the Magnus Sinus of the ancients. The eastern
writers often speak of the Seven Seas, which seems rather a proverbial
phrase, than a geographical definition. These are the seas of China,
India, Persia, Kolzoum, or the Red Sea, of Rum or Greece, which is the
Mediterranean, Alehozar or the Caspian, Pont or the Euxine.
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