If I Were To Describe All The Pomp And Magnificence Of These Festivals, And All Die Dainties And Delicate Dishes Which Are Served Up, I Should Become Prolix And Tiresome.

The birth days of their lords are celebrated with great reverence among the Tartars.

That of Kublai-khan, their great emperor, is held yearly, on the twenty-eighth day of September, and is kept with greater solemnity than any other festival, except that of the new year, which is celebrated on the first day of February, when the Tartar year commences. On his birth day the great khan is clothed in a most splendid robe of cloth of gold, and about 2000 of his barons and soldiers receive, on this occasion, silken garments of a golden, colour, and girdles wrought in gold or silver, with each a pair of shoes. Some of those who are next to the khan in dignity, wear pearls and jewels of great value. These splendid garments are only worn on thirteen solemn festivals, corresponding to the thirteen moons or lunar months, into which the Tartar year is divided, when all the great men of the court are splendidly habited, like so many kings. The birth-day of the great khan is celebrated by all the Tartars throughout his extensive dominions; and on this day, all the kings, princes, governors, and nobles, who are subject to his authority, send presents to him in honour of the day, and in token of submission. Such as are desirous of obtaining any place of dignity or office, present their petitions to a council of twelve barons, appointed for that express purpose; and their decision is considered as equivalent to an answer from the khan in person. All the people of the immense dominions who acknowledge the authority of the great khan, whether Christians, or Jews, Mahometans, Tartars, or Pagans, are bound, on this anniversary, to pray solemnly to their Gods for the life, safety, prosperity, and health of the great khan.

On the first of February, which is the commencement of the Tartar year, the great khan, and all the Tartars, wherever they may happen to be at the time, observe a very solemn feast; and all of them, both men and women, are desirous, on that occasion, to be clothed in white garments, that fortune may be favourable to them for the remainder of the year. On this occasion, the governors of provinces, and rulers of cities, and all who are in office or authority, send presents to the khan, of gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones, likewise of many white cloths of various kinds, and other white things, and many white horses. It is the custom of those who bring presents, if they can, to present nine times nine of every particular article, whether it be gold, or silver, or cloths, or horses; and on this occasion, the khan sometimes receives 100,000 horses. On this grand festival, all the elephants belonging to the great khan, about 5000, are brought into the great court of the palace, covered with splendid housings of tapestry, wrought with the figures of various kinds of birds and beasts, each of them bearing on their backs two chests filled with vessels of gold and silver; and many camels are paraded on the same occasion, covered over, with fine silken cloths, and loaded with other necessaries for the court.

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