But They Have A Statue Or
Image On The Ground, Called Natigai, The God Of Earthly Things, And
Images Of His Wife And Children.
This is likewise worshipped with incense,
gnashing of teeth, and lifting up the hands; and from this, they beg for
favourable weather, productive crops, increase of children, and all manner
of worldly prosperity.
They believe the soul to be immortal, and that when
a man dies, his soul enters into another body, better or worse, according
to the merits or demerits of his former life: As that a poor man becomes a
gentleman, then a prince or lord, and so higher, till at length the soul is
absorbed in God. Or if he have deserved ill, it descends to animate the
body of a lower and poorer man, after that the body of a dog, always
descending to the lowest rank of baseness. In their manners, the language
of the Tartars is comely; they salute one another with grace and
cheerfulness, conducting themselves honestly, and they feed in a cleanly
manner. They bear great reverence to their parents, and if any one be
undutiful or regardless of their necessities, they are liable to the
jurisdiction of a public tribunal, especially assigned for the punishment
of ungrateful or disobedient children. Persons condemned to imprisonment
for crimes, are discharged after three years confinement, when they are
marked on the cheek, that they may be known as malefactors.
All barons or others, who approach within half a mile of the residence of
the great khan, must be still and quiet, no noise or loud speech being
permitted in his presence or neighbourhood. Every one who enters the hall
of presence, must pull off his boots, lest he soil the carpets, and puts on
furred buskins of white leather, giving his other boots to the charge of
servants till he quits the hall; and every one carries a small covered
vessel to spit in; as no one dare spit in the halls of the palace.
[1] The deserts or Tartarian wastes are probably meant in this passage. - E.
[2] Instead of this number, 10,000 post-houses, at 400 horses each, would
require four millions of horses. The number and proportion of horses
in the text would only supply 500 inns; or would allow only 20 horses
each to 10,000 inns. The text, therefore, must be here corrupted. - E.
[3] This must allude to a species of corn-spirits or brandy, distilled from
rice, fermented with water, named Arrak. - E.
[4] This evidently points out the use of coal in northern China. - E.
SECTION XIII.
Some Account of the Provinces of Kathay, or Northern China, and of other
neighbouring Countries subject to the Great Khan[1].
Ten miles from Cambalu is a great river called Pulisangan[2], which empties
itself into the ocean, and by which many vessels ascend with merchandize to
a certain handsome bridge, all built of serpentine stone, curiously
wrought. This bridge is 300 paces in length, and eight paces broad, so that
ten men may ride abreast. It is secured on each side with a wall of marble,
ornamented with a row of pillars. The pillar on each side, at the summit of
the bridge, has the image of a great lion on the top, and another at its
base; and all the others, which are at intervals of a pace and a half, have
figures of lions on their tops only. After passing this bridge, and
proceeding to the westwards for thirty miles, continually passing through
vineyards, and fertile fields, with numerous palaces on all sides, you come
to the fair and large city of Gouza, in which there are many idol temples,
and in which cloth of gold and silk, and the purest and finest cambrics or
lawns, are manufactured. It contains many common inns for strangers and
travellers; and the inhabitants are very industrious in trade and
manufactures. A mile beyond this city, the road divides into two; that to
the west leading through the province of Kathay, and that to the south-east
towards the province of Mangi, from Gouza to the kingdom of Tain-fu[3]. In
this journey, you ride for ten days through Kathay, always finding many
fair and populous cities, well cultivated fields, and numerous vineyards,
from whence all Kathay is supplied with wine; and many plantations of
mulberry trees, for rearing silk worms. Tain-fu is the name of the kingdom
or province, and of the chief city, which is large and handsomely built,
carrying on much trade, and containing great magazines of military stores
for the khans army. Seven days journey farther to the west, there is a
pleasant country, having many cities and castles, and carrying on great
trade. We then come to a very large city, called Pian-fu, in which there is
vast abundance of silk and much trade.
Westwards from Pian-fu, there is a pleasantly situated castle called
Thaigin, containing a spacious palace with a fine hall, in which there are
portraits of all the famous kings who have reigned in this country. This
castle and palace are said to have been built by a king named Dor, who was
very powerful, and was only attended on by great numbers of young damsels,
who used to carry him about the castle in a small light chariot. Confiding
in the strength of this castle, which he believed impregnable, Dor rebelled
against Umcan, to whom he was tributary. But seven of his courtiers or
attendants, in whom he placed confidence, made him prisoner one day while
hunting, and delivered him to Umcan, who dressed him in mean clothes, and
set him under a strong guard to tend his cattle. At the end of two years,
Umcan called Dor into his presence, and after a severe reproof and
admonition for his future obedience, dressed him in princely robes, and
sent him back to his kingdom with a powerful escort.
About twenty miles beyond the castle of Thaigin, we come to the great river
Caramaran[4]; which is so broad and deep that it has no bridge between this
place and the ocean.
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