The monk
continued to carry this cross about with him wherever he went, and the
Nestorian priests became envious of the profit which he derived from its
use.
[1] From the whole of this story, it would appear that the lady Cota was
hysterical from constipation; and that Sergius had the good fortune to
remove the cause by a few doses of rhubarb. - E.
[2] About L. 30, perhaps equal in efficacy to L. 300 of modern days; no bad
fee for administering a dose of rhubarb. - E.
[3] This surely was a sinless infirmity, and needed not to have been
recorded to his dishonour. He was probably afflicted with chilblains,
in consequence of the severity of the Tartarian climate. - E.
[4] L. 1500 in weight, equal at least to L. 15,000 of our modern money; a
most magnificent present to an itinerant beggar. - E.
SECTION XXXVI.
Account of the Country under the Dominion of the Great Khan of the Manners
and Customs of his Subjects; of a Wonderful Piece of Mechanism, constructed
by a French Goldsmith; and of the Palace of the Khan at Caracarum.
From the time of our arrival at the court of Mangu-khan, the leskar or camp
made only two days journey towards the south; and it then began its
progress northwards, in the direction of Caracarum. In the whole of my
journey I was convinced of the truth of what I had been informed by Baldwin
de Hainault at Constantinople, that the whole way eastwards was by a
continual ascent, as all the rivers run from the east towards the west,
sometimes deviating towards the north or south, more or less directly, but
never running east, but this was farther confirmed to me by the priests who
came from Kathay[1]. From the place where I found Mangukhan, it is twenty
days journey south-east to Kathay, and ten days journey right east to Oman
Kerule, the original country of the Moal and of Zingis[2]. In those parts
there are no cities, but the country is inhabited by a people called
Su-Moall, or Mongols of the waters, who live upon fish and hunting, and
have neither flocks nor herds. Farther north, likewise, there is no city,
but a poor people of herdsmen, who are called Kerkis. The Orangin are there
also, who bind smooth bones under their feet, and thrust themselves with
such velocity over the ice and snow, as to overtake beasts in the chase.
There are many other poor nations in those parts, inhabiting as far to the
north as the cold will permit, who join on the west with the country of
Pascatir, or the Greater Hungary, of which I have made mention before[3].
In the north the mountains are perpetually covered with snow, and the
bounds are unknown by reason of the extreme cold.
