The Province Of Chorassan Is Almost On The Borders Of China.
From China to
Sogd is about two months journey, through impracticable deserts of sand,
where there is no water; for which reason the Chorassanians can make no
irruptions into China.
The most westerly province of China is Medu, which
borders on Thibet, and the two nations are often at war. A person who had
been in China, informed us, that he had seen a man at Canfu, who had
traveled from Samare, all the way on foot, through all the cities in
China, with a vessel of musk on his back for sale; which he might easily
do, as the part of Thibet, which produces musk, is contiguous to China. The
Chinese carry off as many of the animals which produce musk as they can
procure; but the musk of Thibet is far better than that of China, because
the animal feeds on aromatic plants in the mountains of Thibet, while in
China it has to subsist upon the ordinary pastures; and because the
inhabitants of Thibet preserve their cods of musk in its natural state of
purity, while the Chinese adulterate all that gets into their hands; for
which reason the musk of Thibet is in great request among the Arabs. The
most exquisite of all the sorts of musk, is that which the musk animals
leave behind them, in rubbing themselves on the rocks of their native
mountains. The humour whence the musk is generated, falls down towards
the navel of the animal, where it gathers into tumors like grumous blood;
and when this tumor is ripe, it produces a painful itching, on which the
animal rubs himself against rocks or stones till he bursts the tumor, and
the contents run out and coagulate on the stone; after which, the wound
heals, and the humour gathers again as before. There are men in Thibet who
make it their business to collect this species of musk, which they preserve
in bladders, and which, having ripened, naturally surpasses all others in
goodness, just as ripe fruit exceeds in flavour that which is pulled green.
There is another way of procuring musk, either by ensnaring the animals, or
shooting them with arrows; but the hunters often cut out the bags before
the musk is ripe or fully elaborated, in which case, the musk at first has
a bad scent, till the humour thickens, after which it turns to good musk,
though this sometimes takes a long while. The musk animal is like our
roebuck, his skin and colour the same, with slender legs, and smooth
slightly bent horns; having on each side two small white teeth, about half
a finger-length, which rise about his muzzle, not much unlike the form of
the teeth of the elephant, and by which he is distinguished from other
roebucks.
The letters from the emperor of China, to the viceroys, governors, eunuchs,
and lieutenants, are conveyed on post-horses, which are distinguished by
cut tails, and these are disposed at regular stations, all over the empire,
almost like the posts among the Arabs. In China, every man, from the
emperor to the meanest of the people, makes water standing [8]; and for
this purpose, persons of dignity have gilded hollow canes, a cubit long, to
convey their water to a distance. They are of opinion, that pains in the
kidneys, strangury, and even the stone, are occasioned by urining in a
sitting posture, as the reins cannot free themselves absolutely from evil
humours, except by evacuating in an erect position. They do not mould the
heads of new born infants into a round form as we do, as they allege that
this practice injures the brain, and impairs the senses. They suffer their
hair to grow, which is carefully combed. The nation is divided into tribes,
like those of the Arabs and some others, and no man ever marries in his own
tribe: just as the children of Thummim among the Arabs never take a wife
from that tribe. Or, for example, a man of the tribe of Robayat marries a
daughter of the tribe Modzar, and a Modzar marries a Robayat; and they are
of opinion, that such alliances add to the dignity and power of their
children.
In the kingdom of the Balhara, and all the other kingdoms of the Indies,
there are men who burn themselves in consequence of their belief in the
doctrine of transmigration. When a man has come to this resolution, he asks
leave of the king, which being obtained, he goes in procession round all
the public squares of the city, and proceeds to the place appointed, where
a pile of dry wood is ready for the purpose, having many persons all round
to feed the fire, which blazes prodigiously. At last the person comes
forward, preceded by a number of instruments, and moves round the pile in
the midst of his friends and relations. During this ceremony, some person
places on his head a garland of straw, or dry herbs, filled with burning
coals, on which they pour sandrach, which takes fire as strongly as
naphtha; notwithstanding of which, he continues his progress without
betraying any sense of pain, or change of countenance, though the crown of
his head be all on fire, and the stench of his burning flesh is felt all
round. At length, he comes up to the pile, and throws himself in, where he
is soon reduced to ashes. A credible person says, he once saw an Indian
burn himself; and when he came near the pile, he drew out a cangiar, or
sharp knife, with which he ripped himself open, and pulling out the lap of
his liver with his left hand, cut off a piece of it with his cangiar, and
gave it to one of his brothers, talking all the time with the most
invincible contempt of death and torture, and at length leaped into the
fire, in his passage to hell.
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