NOTE 1.–So Sanang Setzen relates that Chinghiz, on returning from one of
his great campaigns, busied himself in reorganising his forces and
bestowing rank and title, according to the deserts of each, on his nine
_Orlok_, or marshals, and all who had done good service. ‘He named
commandants over hundreds, over thousands, over ten thousands, over
hundred thousands, and opened his treasury to the multitude of the people’
(p. 91).
daring of all the Mongols’; and Mirkhond speaks in like terms
Wassf calls them ‘a kind of goblins rather than human beings, the most
daring of all the Mongols’; and Mirkhond speaks in like terms.
NOTE 13.–Friar Odoric gives a description, short, but closely agreeing in
substance with that in the Text, of the Palace, the Park, the Lake, and
the Green Mount.
NOTE 1.–[The Buddhist Government of Khotan was destroyed by Boghra Khn
(about 980-990); it was temporarily restored by the Buddhist Kutchluk
Khn, chief of the Namans, who came from the banks of the Ili, destroyed
the Mahomedan dynasty of Boghra Khn (1209), but was in his turn
subjugated by Chinghiz Khan.
to penetrate to the region of the Ponent, because that the defile was so
narrow and perilous, the sea lying on the one hand, and on the other lofty
mountains impassable to horsemen
This is the country beyond which Alexander could not pass when he wished
to penetrate to the region of the Ponent, because that the defile was so
narrow and perilous, the sea lying on the one hand, and on the other lofty
mountains impassable to horsemen. The strait extends like this for four
leagues, and a handful of people might hold it against all the world.
Alexander caused a very strong tower to be built there, to prevent the
people beyond from passing to attack him, and this got the name of the
IRON GATE. This is the place that the Book of Alexander speaks of, when it
tells us how he shut up the Tartars between two mountains; not that they
were really Tartars, however, for there were no Tartars in those days, but
they consisted of a race of people called COMANIANS and many besides.[NOTE
3]
NOTE 11.–’On the west side, where the space is amplest, there is a lake
very full of fish. It is in the form of a fiddle, and is an Italian mile
and a quarter in length. It is crossed at the narrowest part, which
corresponds to gates in the walls, by a handsome bridge, the extremities
of which are adorned by two triumphal arches of three openings each….
The lake is surrounded by palaces and pleasure houses, built partly in the
water and partly on shore, and charming boats are provided on it for the
use of the Emperor when he chooses to go a-fishing or to take an airing.’
(Ibid. 282-283.) The marble bridge, as it now exists, consists of nine
arches, and is 600 feet long. (_Rennie”s Peking_, II. 57.)
Major St. John also noticed the bitterness of the bread in Kermn, but his
servants attributed it to the presence in the wheat-fields of a bitter
leguminous plant, with a yellowish white flower, which the Kermnis were
too lazy to separate, so that much remained in the thrashing, and imparted
its bitter flavour to the grain (surely the _Tare_ of our Lord”s
Parable!).
Unecan of Polo
Here we see plainly that the Unc Chan of Rubruquis is the Unc Can or
Unecan of Polo. In the narrative of the former, Unc is only _connected_
with King or Prester John; in that of the latter, rehearsing the story as
heard some 20 or 25 years later, the two are _identified_. The shadowy
_rle_ of Prester John has passed from the Ruler of Kara Khitai to the
Chief of the Keraits. This transfer brings us to another history.
come to a province called EGRIGAIA, containing numerous cities and
villages, and belonging to Tangut
Starting again from Erguiul you ride eastward for eight days, and then
come to a province called EGRIGAIA, containing numerous cities and
villages, and belonging to Tangut.[NOTE 1] The capital city is called
CALACHAN.[NOTE 2] The people are chiefly Idolaters, but there are fine
churches belonging to the Nestorian Christians. They are all subjects of
the Great Kaan. They make in this city great quantities of camlets of
camel”s wool, the finest in the world; and some of the camlets that they
make are white, for they have white camels, and these are the best of all.
Merchants purchase these stuffs here, and carry them over the world for
sale.[NOTE 3]