The
Inhabitants, Who Are Mahometans, Are Expert Manufacturers, And Are Subject
To The Great Khan.
There is a custom in this province, that when any
married man goes to a distance from home, and remains absent for twenty
days, it is lawful for his wife to marry another husband; and reciprocally,
if the wife absents herself for twenty days, the husband may take another
wife.
The next province, Ciascian[4], of which the chief city is named Sartan, is
subject to the Tartars, and has many cities and castles. In its rivers
abundance of jaspers, chalcedonies, and other fine stones are found, which
are carried by merchants all the way to Ouchach or Kathay, and sold there
with great profit From Peim to Sartem, and quite through this latter
province, the soil is very sandy, having very little water, and that
generally bad. When an army passes through this province, all the
inhabitants take their wives and children, with all their cattle and
valuables, two days journey into the sands, to places where they know that
good water is to be found, and remain there till the army has quitted the
country; after harvest also, they uniformly take all their corn into the
desert, and hide it in pits, and the wind soon obliterates all traces of
their footsteps, so that their enemies are unable to discover where they
have deposited these precious hoards. After travelling for five days
through the sands from this province, we arrive at the great city of Lop,
which is at the entrance of a great desert called the Wilderness of Lop[5].
The inhabitants of this place are Mahometans, and are subject to the great
khan.
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