On the sixteenth of the month Shaaban, they were informed that the Dankji, governor of the borders of Kathay, intended to entertain them that day with an imperial feast; and on their arrival at his encampment, they found a square arpent655 of ground inclosed with tents, the cords of which, fastened to pegs in the ground, were so interlaced together that there was no entrance into the inclosure but by four gates, which were left on purpose. In the midst of this place, they had erected a great and very high awning of cloth, supported on wooden pillars; at one end of which was an imperial canopy of state, erected on two richly varnished pillars, between which stood a great chair of state as if for the emperor, and other seats on both sides. The ambassadors were placed on the left hand of the imperial throne, arid the Kathayan officers on the right. Before each ambassador there were two tables, one of which was covered with various meats and fruits, and the other with cakes and delicate bread, ornamented with festoons of silk and paper. The other persons present had only one table to each. At the opposite end of this great banqueting tent, there stood a buffet or side-board, full of vessels of china and of silver, for serving the liquors. During the entertainment, they were regaled by a band of music, and a number of young persons, in strange dresses, performed various tricks for their amusement. They were likewise much amused by the performance of a comedy, the actors of which wore masks representing the faces of animals; and a child, inclosed in the body of an artificial stork, walked about and performed a variety of surprising motions. In short, nothing could be more magnificent.
Next day, being the seventeenth of Shaaban, they continued their journey through the desert, and arrived in a few days at a karaul656 or strong fortress, in the mountains, which is built across the road in a pass or defile, so that travellers must necessarily enter by one gate and pass through the other. Here the ambassadors and all the members of their retinues were carefully numbered, and a new list made of all their names. From the karaul they went to Sekju or So-chew657, where they were lodged in a large public building over the gate of the city; in which, as in all their other lodgings, they were amply provided with every necessary and convenience, as provisions, beds, and horses; and even the servants had mattresses and coverlets allowed for their beds. So-chew is a large and strong city, quite square, in the entrance into Kathay. It has sixteen market places, each fifty cubits square, which are always kept clean. In these there are several covered halls or galleries, having shops on both sides; and a handsome hall of entrance, adorned with pictures. There are hogs kept in every house, and the butchers hang their pork in the shambles along with the mutton658. The city wall is flanked with towers at every twenty paces distance; and there is a gate in the middle of each side, from each of which one may see the opposite gate, as the streets pass straight through the middle of the city, dividing it into four quarters. Over each gate there is a pavilion of two stories, the roof of which is tiled with porcelain, and is shaped like an asses back, or penthouse, according to the fashion of Kathay, which is likewise followed in Mazanderan. Each of the temples in this place occupy nearly ten arpents of ground, and all are very neat, with their brick pavements polished like glass. At the gates there stand a number of fine youths, who, after regaling strangers, show them the temples.
From So-chew it is ninety-five days journey to Cambalu, or Khanbalek, where the emperor resides, the whole way leading, through a populous country, insomuch that travellers always lodge at night in a large town. Throughout the whole way there are many structures named Kargu, and Kidifu. The former are a species of corps-de-garde, which are sixty cubits high, and are built within sight of each other, having always persons on guard, who are relieved every ten days. These are intended to communicate alarms speedily to the seat of government, which they do by means of fires; and intelligence can be sent, in this manner, in the space of a day and a night, from the distance of three months journey659. The Kidifus are a kind of post-houses, which are built at ten merres660 from each other, having fixed establishments of people, with houses to live in, and ground to cultivate for their support; and all letters to the imperial city are sent by couriers from one to another. From Sakju, or So-chew, to Kamju661, there are nine stages or days journey, and the dankji who resides in Kan-chew is superior to all the other governors on the frontiers. At each stage the ambassadors were furnished with 450 horses, mules, and asses, and fifty-six chariots or waggons. The servants who tended the horses were called Ba-fu; the muleteers, who had charge of the mules and the asses,Lu-fu; and the men who drew the chariots, Jip-fu. These chariots were each drawn by twelve young men with cords on their shoulders, and they dragged through all difficulties from one lodging to another, the Ba-fu always running before as guides. At all the lodging places, where the ambassadors and their retinue stopped nightly, provisions were always found in abundance. At every city the ambassadors were feasted in a hall set apart for that special purpose, called Rasun, in each of which there stood an imperial throne under a canopy, with curtains at the sides, the throne always facing towards the capital of the empire. At the foot of the throne there always was a great carpet, on which the ambassadors sat, having their people ranked in regular rows behind them, like the Moslems at their prayers. When all were properly arranged, a guard beside the throne gave a signal, by calling out aloud three times; on which all the Kathayan officers bowed their heads to the ground towards the throne, and obliged the ambassadors to make a similar reverence; after which every one sate down to his appointed table.
On the twenty-fifth of Ramazan, the dankji, or governor of Kan-chew invited the ambassadors to a feast, intimating that they were to consider it as a banquet given them by the emperor; but as it was the fast of the Moslems, the ambassadors sent an apology, yet he sent them all the victuals which had been prepared for the entertainment. In Kanchew they saw a temple, each side of which extended 500 kes or cubits, having in the middle of it an idol fifty feet in length, lying as if asleep. The hands and feet of this gigantic idol were nine feet long, and the head was twenty-one feet round. There were numbers of smaller idols, each a cubit high, behind this large one and above his head, in such natural attitudes that they seemed alive. The great idol was gilt all over, having one hand under his head, and the other stretched down along his thigh. This idol was called Samonifu, and vast numbers of people were constantly prostrating themselves before him. The walls were also adorned with many figures. All round the great temple, there were numerous small temples, like the chambers in caravanseras, having curtains of tapestry or brocade, gilded easy chairs and stools, chandeliers, and vessels, for ornament. There were ten other temples in the city of Kan-chew like the former, and a tower having eight fronts, twenty cubits in circumference, and fifteen stories high. Each story was twelve cubits high, so that the whole tower was 180 cubits in height. In every story was a chamber finely varnished, and a gallery round, embellished with paintings. One of these paintings represented the emperor of Kathay sitting among his courtiers, and with boys and girls on either hand. This structure is called Teherki felek by the Moslems, and resembles a kiosk. At the bottom there were the figures of giants, which seemed to carry the whole tower on their backs. The whole was constructed of wood, richly gilded and varnished, and so exquisitely polished, that it seemed of burnished gold. In a vault under the edifice, there is an iron axis resting on a plate of iron, and reaching from the bottom to the top of the tower: and the whole was so ingeniously contrived, that it could easily be turned round on this axis, in so surprizing a manner, that all the smiths, carpenters, and painters of the world ought to go there, to learn the secrets of their respective trades662.
655
An arpent is a French measure nearly one and a half of which are equal to an English acre. –Astl.
656
This Persian term Karawl or Karawul, is also introduced into the Tartarian language, from which it has been adopted into Russian, in which language a guard or outpost is termed a Karaul. –Forst.
It seems more probable that the Tartar conquerors had introduced their own military term into the languages of subjugated Persia, and tributary Russia. –E.
657
In the description of this route by Forster, he brings the ambassadors to Su-tchew before their arrival at the Karaul, and interposes a desert of several days journey between these two places. –E.
658
This seemingly trifling circumstance was matter of great surprize and scandal to the Mahometans, who consider hogs as unclean animals, and to whom pork is a forbidden food. –Astl.
659
It is singular how very nearly this arrangement resembles the supposed modern invention of a chain of telegraphs. –E.
660
Six merres make a pharasang, or Persian league, which is equal to four English miles, and 868 feet. One merre is therefore equal to 1221 yards, and each post station of ten merres is equal to 12,213 yards, or almost seven English miles. –Astl.
661
Otherwise Kamgiou or Kan-chew, the Kampion or Kainpiou of Marco Polo; which is a city of Shen-si, near the great wall and the desert. –Astl.
In Forsters account of this journey, the ambassadors arrived from the Karaul, or fortified pass, at Natschieu, Nang-tsiew, or Naa-tsieu; after which, they are said to have arrived at Kham-tcheou, the Kan– chew of the text. –E.
662
The description given in the text of this Chinese pagoda has much the air of a fiction; yet we can hardly conceive the author would venture to report to Shah-Rokh what must have been contradicted by his ambassadors, if false. –Astl.