Nothing In The World Can Be More Pleasant Or
Delightful Than This Lake, From Its Immense Variety Of Rich Objects
On all
sides; particularly the city ornamented with so many temples, monasteries,
palaces, gardens, trees, barges, and innumerable people taking
Their
recreations; for they ordinarily work only a part of each day, spending the
remainder in parties of pleasure with their friends, or with women, either
on the lake, or in driving through the city in chariots. All the streets
are paved with stone, as are all the highways in the kingdom of Mangi, only
a space on one side being left unpaved for the use of the foot posts. The
principal street of Quinsai has a pavement of ten paces broad on each side,
the middle being laid with gravel, and having channels in every place for
conveying water, it is kept always perfectly clean. In this street there
are innumerable long close chariots, each of which is accommodated with
seats and silk cushions for six persons, who divert themselves by driving
about the streets, or go to the public gardens, where they pass their time
in fine walks, shady bowers, and the like, and return at night in the same
chariots to the city[7].
When a child is born, the father notes down the exact point of time, and
with this memorandum goes immediately to some astrologer, of whom there are
many in every market place, to consult the destiny in regard to his future
fortunes; and they use the same forms before celebrating their marriages,
to ascertain the lucky times. When a person of note dies, the kindred
clothe themselves in canvas or sackcloth, and accompany the body to the
funeral, both men and women, people being employed to play on musical
instruments, and singing all the way prayers to their idols; and being come
to the place, they cast into the fire in which the body is burnt, many
pieces of cotton paper, on which figures of slaves, horses, camels, stuffs
of silk and gold, money, and all other things are painted, which, by this
means, they believe the dead person will really possess in the next world;
and they make a grand concert of music, under the idea of the joy with
which the soul of their departed friend will be received by their idols in
the other life which he is now to begin. As their timber houses are very
liable to accidents by fire, there are stone towers in every street, to
which they carry their goods for security on such occasions. On most of the
bridges there are guard-houses, in which soldiers continuallv watch, five
in each by day, and five by night, in case of any alarm or disturbance. In
every guard-house there hangs a great bason[8], on which the warders strike
the successive hours, beginning one at sunrise, and beginning a new series
at sunset. These guards patrole during the night, and if they see any light
or fire in a house after the appointed time, or meet any person in the
streets after legal hours, they cause them to answer before the judges or
magistrates of the district.
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