Travelling Eastwards For Seven Days Towards Kathay, There Are Many Cities,
Inhabited By Idolaters, Mahometans, And Nestorians, Who Live By
Commerce
and manufactures, and who make stuffs wrought with gold and flowers, and
other silken stuffs of all kinds, and
Colours like those made among us, and
also woollen cloths of various kinds. One of these towns is Sindicin, or
Sindacui, where very excellent arms of all kinds fit for war are
manufactured. In the mountains of this province, called Idifa, or Ydifu,
there are great mines of silver.
Three days journey from Sindicin stands another city, named Iangamur[8],
which signifies the White Lake. Near this place, the khan has a palace, in
which he takes great delight, as he has fine gardens, with many lakes and
rivers, and multitudes of swans, and the adjacent plains abound in cranes,
pheasants, partridges, and other game. There are five sorts of cranes here,
some of which have black wings, others are white and bright; their feathers
being ornamented with eyes like those of a peacock, but of a golden colour,
with beautiful black and white necks; a third kind is not unlike our own,
in size and appearance; the fourth kind is very small and beautiful,
variegated with red and blue; the fifth is very large, and of a grey
colour, with black and red heads. In a valley near this city, there are
astonishing numbers of quails and partridges, for the maintenance of which
the khan causes millet and other seeds to be sown, that they may have
plenty of food; and a number of people are appointed to take care that no
person may catch any of these birds, which are so tame, that they will
flock around their keepers at a whistle, to receive food from their hands.
There are also a great number of small huts built, in different parts of
the valley, for shelter to these birds, during the severity of winter,
where they are regularly fed by the keepers.
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