The Siege Lasted So Long, That
The Army Of The Mongals Came To Be In Want Of Provisions, And Zingis Is
Said To Have Commanded That Every Tenth Man Of His Own Army Should Be Slain
As Food For The Rest.
At length, by great exertions, the Mongals dug a mine
underneath the walls of the city, through which a party entered and opened
the gates for the rest of the army, so that the city was carried, and the
emperor and many of the citizens put to the sword.
Having appointed
deputies to rule over his conquests, Zingis returned into Mongalia with
immense quantities of gold and silver and other precious spoil. But the
southern parts of this empire, as it lies within the sea, has not been
conquered by the Mongals to this day[3].
The people of Cathay are Pagans, having a peculiar kind of writing of their
own, in which they are reported to possess the scriptures of the Old and
New Testament. They have also lives of the fathers, and houses in which
they pray at stated times, built like churches; they are even said to have
saints, to worship one God, to venerate the Lord Jesus Christ, and to
believe eternal life; but they are not baptised[4]. They have no beards,
and they partly resemble the Mongals in their features. Their country is
exceeding fruitful in corn, and abounds in gold and silver, wine and silk,
and all manner of rich commodities, and the whole world has not more expert
artificers in all kinds of works and manufactures.
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